Serene Sagara

We had been planning to visit  Sigandur Sri Chowdeshwari Amma at  Chowdeshwari Temple for a long time. We realised our long standing wish in February this year.  Six of us hired an Innova and set out on an eight-hour long night journey from Bengaluru to Sagara covering 350 km.  We travelled via Tumkur, Tiptur, Arsikere, Tarikere, Shivamogga and Bhadravati.  

We reached Sagara early in the morning. We had booked three twin-sharing room at the Green Embassy Hotel in Sagara. We freshened up, had a good breakfast at the new Akshaya Hotel and headed westwards to Sigandur. It was a one and a half hour journey into the heart of the scenic Sharavati Valley Wildlife Sanctuary covering 40 km. Once we arrived at the banks of Sharavati, we had to cross to the opposite bank in a ferry.

The ferry ride took about 15 minutes but the waiting time to board the ferry depends on the rush.  After reaching the other bank, it is another 4 km drive to the temple of Sri Chowdeshwari Amma.

Our next stop was Lord Aghoreshwara Temple in Ikkeri, an hour's journey of 37 km. It is a Hoysala temple with an ornate stone bull keeping guard in the stone mantap in front of the temple. An exhibition of ornate stone carvings, the temple has stood the test of time and bears the scars of various invasions.

We then visited Sridhar Ashrama at Varadahalli. There is a small hillock on top which has a humble mantap enshrined with a pair of padukas of the erstwhile godman. We then visited the Sridhara theertha, where a small spring of water oozes out from the mouth of a brass cow 'gomukha teertha'.  

We set out eastwards to Belligavi after a short break. It was an hour's drive covering 40 km. The Sri Kedareshwara Temple here is a Hoysala temple with semi-open stone pillared entrance hallway with a stone nandi.  

From there we headed northwards to Keladi Sri Rameshwara temple (Lord Shiva Temple). It is at a distance of 8 km from Sagara. This temple has an eclectic collection of some unique architectural elements. The ceiling of the hall in front of the garbhagriha has an ornately carved wooden false ceiling carved out of red sanders wood. There is a secret passage hidden in the stone wall next to the Veerabhadraswamy Temple for the women to escape during an unexpected siege by the enemies. Just outside the mouth of this passage is a hollow stone pillar acting as a drum.

We headed back to Sagara and visited the twin temples of Sri Marikamba. The next morning, we set out early on our way back to Bengaluru. We had breakfast at Meenakshi Bhavan in Shivamogga. From there we headed to the Sakkarebayalu elephant camp, which is at a distance of 15 km from there. We later visited the Gajanur dam built across river Tungabhadra.  

We stopped at the Sri Amrutheshwara Temple and Sri Channabasaveshwara Temple at Gubbi.

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