Murudeshwara
Jog Falls is one of the famous waterfalls in India. I have been thinking about it since i visited Dudhsagar waterfall last year. Finally this year i got a chance to visit it in the monsoon season. I booked a seat with my trekking group Trek Mates India in advance as i didn’t wanted to miss it. We were thirty four people in the group. People from places like Pune, Aurangabad and Banglore also joined us. On friday at 3.20 pm we caught the Matsyagandha express train from the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. It was totally a fun time in the train. We played antakshri,dum shrad and other games in the train. Dum shrad was real fun. At around 6.30 am we reached the Murudeshwar station. It was really a very nice climate at the station. Murudeshwar town was welcoming us with both its hand open. Our trek lead Manoj had already arranged a bus for us to reach the hotel. After reaching hotel we all were told about our hotel room numbers and we checked in no time. The view from our hotel window was awesome. We can see the Murudeshwara temple and beach from our room. It was an amazing view. Everyone got ready quickly and assembled at the hotel’s eating point for the breakfast. It was a good south Indian breakfast.
After the breakfast we decided to see the Jog Waterfalls first. Two mini buses were hired for us. It took around 3 hours for us to reach the falls but the journey by bus through the dense jungle was amazing. We were greeted by the awesome climate and the greenery. I can not forget the cool breeze from the window of my bus.
JOG Falls
Jog Falls is the second highest plunge waterfall in India. It lies in the Sagara taluka of Shimoga district of Karnataka. It is also known by other different names like Joga Falls, Gersoppa Falls or Jogada Gundi. Jog falls are created when Sharavathi river falls from a height of 253 m (830 ft). It is one of the major tourist attraction in Karnataka. Jog Falls is in its full swing during the monsoon time.
The place to see the Jog falls is well maintained by the Karnataka Tourism. Proper parking facility is available even for bigger vehicles like bus. A good restaurant is also available. After spending a good quality time of around 3 hours at the Jog falls, we decided to return back to our hotel.
While returning back we found a small river stream and we spent a good time in the stream and clicked some good pics there. At around 6 pm we reached our hotel and decided to visit the Murudeshwara temple.
Murudeshwar
Murudeshwara is a town in the Bhatkal Taluka of Uttara Kannada district in the state of Karnataka, India. “Murudeshwara” is another name of Hindu god Shiva. Famous for the world’s second-tallest Shiva statue, Murudeshwara beach town lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea and is also famous for the Murudeshwara Temple. The nearest airport to Murudeshwar is Mangalore International Airport at distance of 160 km. Murudeshwar has a railway station on Konkan railway route of Indian Railways.
The origin of name Murudeshwar dates back to the Ramayana and has a story behind it. For knowing the complete story, you can check out the below wikipedia link in the Related Links section. There is a beautiful cave below the God Shiva statue which depicts the complete story of it’s origin in the form of art. It is a must visit. This complex also houses a 20 storied temple known as Raja Gopura. It is well equiped with the lifts. You can go to the 20th floor and view the entire complex and click photos from this height to cover the entire complex. It is beautiful view from this point. This complex was built in it’s present form by business man and philanthropist R. N. Shetty.
This place is so beautiful and divine that me and my roomies decided to visit it again in the early morning. We got at 4.30 am in the morning and visited this place again. The memories are still so fresh in my mind. I will never forget this visit.
Gokarna – Om Beach
We decided to have our breakfast at the Naveen Beach Restaurant. It is really a nice restaurant, built on the pillars standing in the sea water. Try to get a table on the back side of the restaurant. It is an amazing view at the backside of this restaurant and the breakfast also was very good. After having breakfast we decided to move to the Om Beach. Earlier we planned to go to the Gokarna Beach but due to some reason we changed our plan. We hired a private bus to go to the Om Beach. Luckily the bus had the video coach facility and we watched the movie ‘Chennai Express’ through our journey and all of us enjoyed a lot. You can reach to Om beach by your own vehicle also. It is a beautiful beach. It is called Om beach because this beach is in the form of auspicious ॐ [Om] symbol. This beach is very clean and has a great view.
We spent a great time here and played some good games here on the beach. Kabaddi was the most interesting one.
After spending some time here, it was time to pack up and catch our train back to Mumbai. We took our lunch in the Kumta town and reached the station station to catch our train.
It was an awesome tour with other 33 awesome people. Made some good friends. This trip is going to last forever in my heart.
We also Kabaddi match on the Om Beach. We enjoyed a lot. Here is a small video of the same.
Last but not the least, please help to keep our jungles,mountains and beaches clean.