dudhsagar,goa, trekking
Full view of Dudhsagar Falls. PC : Yashwant Shetty

Dudhsagar Falls

Trek to Dudhsagar Falls is undoubtedly mesmerising. It will leave memories in your mind which you will never forget. Dudhsagar as the name suggests means the ‘Sea of Milk’. Dudh in hindi language means Milk and sagar means Sea.

Dudhsagar Falls is a beautifull waterfall located on the Mandovi River in the Indian state of Goa. It lies on the border of Goa and Karnataka state. It is 60 km from Panaji city by road and 46 km from Madgaon railway junction by train. Dudhsagar Waterfall is located in the Bhagwan Mahavir Wild Life Sanctuary at Collem(Kulem) in South Goa. Nearby is the Tamdi Surla Temple built by the Kadambas.

dudhsagar,goa, trekking
Closer look up of Dudhsagar Falls. PC : Yashwant Shetty

We were a group of 70 trekkers from Mumbai and Pune city to view this beautifull creation of the nature. I along with other 69 other trekkers joined the Trek Mates India trekking group to view this beautifull waterfall. It was saturday morning and a group of 35 trekkers gathered at the   Dadar station to catch a train for Pune station where 35 other trekkers were waiting for us to join. From Pune we boarded the Goa Express for Dudhsagar at 3.30 pm. Our trek leaders has already booked the train seats for us. Soon we formed sub groups in the train and started playing songs and cracked some jokes. Travelling in train is always a fun part. Around 2 am, our leader started waking everyone so that we should be ready when the train stops at the Dudhsagar. We were still 1 hour away from Dudhsagar. Around 2.40 am, we reached Castle Rock station. Some young crowd started getting down at this station as this station is also a popular point to start the trekking for Dudhsagar Falls. We were told by our leader that the train will stop at the Dudhsagar station, so no need to get down at this station. After 20-25 minutes our train reached Dudhsagar after crossing 10 tunnels. The train halted here for around 1 minute. There is no platform here so, all of us got down from train very carefully from the train’s steps. There was complete darkness and nothing was visible. So, we decided to sit on the sides of the tracks and wait till morning. There was one small shelter nearby but it was already preoccupied. So, we were left with no option except to wait on the sides of the tracks. At around 5.30 am , all of us started getting ready for our trek. I told to my leader i will be back in 15 minutes “Main gaana gaa kar aata hun”. He didn’t got me and i replied “I will back after attending the nature call ” and i get lost behind the rocks with a bottle of water. Two of the trekkers waited for me and rest of them started their trekking.

dudhsagar,goa, trekking
Lower part of Dudhsagar Falls. PC : Yashwant Shetty

After covering a distance of around 1 km from Dudhsagar station, one could easily feel the Dudhsagar Falls in the air. Their is a mist in the air and you can easily hear the sound of the waterfall. Once we reached the waterfall, everyone’s face was worth looking. Everyone was saying “OMG… what a beauty”. Indeed it is a beauty worth praising.

dudhsagar,goa, trekking
Rail Tunnels on Dudhsagar Falls trek

Legend associated with Dudhsagar Falls

Like most places in Goa, the Dudhsagar waterfall too has a legend attached to its name. The legend tells the story of this powerful and wealthy king who ruled a kingdom in the Western Ghats. The King had a beautiful daughter, who used to enjoy taking a bath during the hot summers, in the picturesque lake near the forest on the edge of the King’s palace grounds. It was her habit to finish her bath and have a jug full of sugared milk in a jug made of pure gold.

One day when she was finishing her usual jug of milk she found herself being watched by a handsome prince standing amongst the trees. Embarassed by her inadequate bathing attire, the Princess poured the sugared milk in front of her to form an improvised curtain to hide her naked body, while one of the maids rushed to cover her with a cloth. Thus was the legend born. The sugared milk  poured down the mountain side and continued to flow as waterfall as a tribute to the everlasting virtue and modesty of the Princess of the Ghats. The Dudhsagar continues to flow to this day and attracts thousands of visitors to one of the most popular and famous tourist spots in the state of Goa.

Everyone in our group was mesmerised by the beauty of this waterfall. Everyone was busy in praising this beauty. All the cameras were out. Every photographer was busy in capturing this beauty. All of us clicked lots of pictures here and never to forget our group photograph in front of the Dudhsagar Falls. Suddenly, it started raining and everyone got busy to find a place to hide himself especially the photographers. Protecting the camera from rain is most important. Some people took out their rain coats to protect themselves. Some have big rain coats which not only protected them but also their backpacks. We were told by our leader that we have to walk 14 kms (to Kulem station) from Dudhsagar Falls to catch our train back to home. Out of curiousty, i asked my leader when the train stops here why we need to walk 14 kms. He smiled and replied because in the evening this place will be crowded and it will be difficult to get inside the train and since we have our seats already booked, it is better to catch the train from the Kulem station. I agreed and along with my fellow trekkers started our trek on the railway track.

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Dudhsagar Falls in Chennai Express starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone

The Dudhsagar Falls has been recently shown in the bollywood movie “Chennai Express” which stars Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. After walking some distance, we reached a place where we can catch the glimpse of the train passing in front of the Dudhsagar Falls. All of us were eagerly waiting for that moment but again the rain started playing spoilsport. Some of us were having umbrellas with us. So, we started clicking photos under the umbrellas. After the clicks, one of my trek mate shouted “Be carefull , here is a Viper snake ” and everyone shouted back “where where” and we pointed our cameras towards the snake to click him. But the snake was more intelligent than us and vanished within second below the railway tracks. We didn’t wanted to disturb him so, we moved ahead. After covering a distance of around 4 kms, we reached Sonalium station. It was a very small station like Dudhsagar with no platforms but there was some place to sit. We put our bags down and relaxed for some some time as we have to cover another 8 kms on foot. Our leader informed us that the goods train halt here  and if some one is unable to walk then he can board that train by asking the driver. Around 2o people decided to stay back and rest of us moved ahead.

We continued to walk on the railway tracks. It was a dense jungle, full of flora and fauna. We witnessed some beautifull insects, butterflies,flowers,plants etc. And yes there was this beautifull couple of butterflies which was continously following us. I tried to clicked them but everytime i failed. May be they didn’t wanted me to disturb their privacy. We passed through around 15 tunnels in the trek. Some of these tunnels were small and some were long. We were already told to carry torches with us while going on this trek. Some tunnels were so dark that we were feeling difficulty even with torches. When you are inside the tunnel and a train comes, always put your bag down and lean towards the wall of the tunnel as any train might have it’s doors open and can hit you.

dudhsagar,goa, trekking
Jungle Trekking in Goa Dudhsagar Falls

After covering another 4 kms, we found a small stream in the jungle. The water was coming with good flow and the water was really very cold. We decided to halt here and spent some time in the stream. We had a great time in the stream and clicked some beautifull pictures there. We again started our trek to cover our remaining distance of 4 kms. On our way, we met another trekking group which had come from Banglore to view this beautifull waterfall. On the sides of the tracks, there was small path to walk. Some bikers were coming from the opposite side. One of them told us that they are coming from Goa and are taking tourists to the Dudhsagar Falls. Finally we reached the Kulem station and we were still having 2 hours to rest. Everybody was hungry so, we ordered Veg Biryani at the station and completed our lunch. We took some rest at the station and clicked some more pics there. Finally, our train came at 4.30 pm and all of us got inside the compartment to capture the seats. On return journey, the train again passes in front of the Dudhsagar Falls and we got another chance to view this beauty. This time we were more lucky as we saw this big waterfall with a big rainbow over it. It was really a breathtaking view.

From the train, we got down at Belgaum station where our trekking group TMI has arranged two semi luxury buses for us. One was for Mumbai and another one for Pune as next day it was Monday morning and everyone has to reach office on time.

Dudhsagar waterfall is not much attractive during the summer season but in the monsoon season this waterfall becomes one of the most powerfull waterfall of India and is worth watching. Bathing or swimming in Dudhsagar during monsoon is not advisable.

dudhsagar,goa, trekking
Group pic with my trekking team at Dudhsagar Falls.

The beauty of Dudhsagar Falls is worth praising again and again and is guranteed to leave you spellbound. You will cherish these memories through your entire life. Falling short of words to praise this beauty…..

I also made a small video on Dudhsagar. You can check it below. If you like it, then please don’t forget to click the like and subscribe button. Thanks.

Dudhsagar Falls beautiful jungle trek. Totally Mesmerising.

As  a Nature Lover i request to all you trekkers and travelers, please do not leave any plastic or non biodegradable objects at the waterfall or in the jungle. Lets keep our nature clean and green.   🙂

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