Gokak's awesome twosome

Waterfalls are a favourite of everyone. So take a look at the enchanting twin beauties in the Belgaum district that are bound to take your breath away, says Chitra Ramaswamy .

The call of a waterfall is irresistible. The twosome we visit in the Belgaum district, are 16 km apart and vastly different from each other. We lose our way somewhere as we approach the town of Gokak, and land ourselves in the Godchinamalaki village. This inadvertently takes us to the barely known Godchinamalaki Waterfalls, an entrancing deluge in ambient environs.

We hear its roar much before it actually comes into sight. Compelled by its thunderous sounds, we walk – weaving our way between fields, brambles and bushes. The crash, the thuds, oh, they sound so close and yet we walk close to 2 kms. And finally, viola! there is Godchinamalaki – all froth and fury, its water lapping and splashing against boulders and cascading through them before thundering down a drop of 20 metres or more. Far away from the clutter and clamour of urban life, we enjoy this aqueous drama and warm up to the only sound that we hear – that of the crashing water, against rocks and boulders.

A discovery

The route to this exotic tourist getaway is as picturesque as the waterfalls. Humble homes rise up out of rolling green pastures as we pass by fields of corn and banana and temples shaded beneath coconut groves. We traverse through the countryside where rickety state transport buses make guttural noises as they move along the pothole-ridden, rain-swept roads.

The monsoons are on the wane and the lashing rains have just stopped. No wonder then, the waterfall has abandoned its onomatopoeic tenor to hurtle down the dark and weathered boulders, its edges hemmed with whipped-white lines. We look down into the gorge where the water is falling down into the dizzying depths. Far away, herds of cows and buffaloes enjoy a dip in the shallow rocky pool created by the plunging falls.
We sit on the rocky terrain, a little away from the raging waters and take in the panoramic views of rugged cliffs and water.

The Godchinamalaki transports to pristine beauty with nature’s own landscaping. The blend of white, beige and brown avalanche of splashing waters create a steady pattern of endless rhythm as it swishes over the rocks gleefully. A cool breeze together with the gentle spray of mist from the waterfalls caresses us and slowly but steadily makes us wet.

Godchinamalaki Falls that takes its name from the village is also known as Markandeya Falls and is actually two falls merging into one. The Markandeya River, one of very few rivers with a masculine name joins the Ghataprabha River near Gokak. It first tumbles down 25metres and flows into a rocky valley, from where it takes a second dip of 18metres and jumps into a narrow cleft. Two dams, each built across the two rivers, lie within a radius of 6km from the village.

Two delight

The day is for waterfalls hopping. Following a steaming cuppa at one of the few village stalls, we proceed to the Gokak Falls, also known as Northern Mysore Falls, about 16km away from Godchinamalaki and 6km from the town of Gokak.

Gokak is just as bewitching, but in an entirely different league from the earlier avalanche we just visited. The Gokak Falls is fed by the Ghataprabha River and is nicknamed the Niagara of Karnataka for the horse-shoe shape that it takes at its crest. The river snakes its way across the landscape before it leaps 52m down between two tall, craggy cliffs, to a tumble over the brink of the rugged cliff, carrying in its wake reddish brown silt. The waterfall is magical as it joyfully swishes over the boulders, creating foamy pools as it hits the bottom. Its bubbling, roaring and crashing waters create steady patterns of endless rhythm. We are treated to nature’s spectacular play from the 14m high, 210m long hanging bridge built in 1907 across the river.

For reasons of safety, only 30 odd people are allowed on the bridge at any single point of time. Besides the breathtaking vista of our environs, we watch entranced, the formation of a beautiful rainbow as the gushing water plummets down. The natural rushes and roars of nature, is soothing music to our ears and our visit here, is a well earned interlude in our otherwise busy existence.

Unlike the serene surrounds of the Godchinamalaki Falls, there is plenty of hustle and bustle in the vicinity of Gokak Falls that is home to a cotton mill and ancient temples. We also learn that the 1967 Bollywood film Ram Aur Shyam was shot here. The presence of British time turbines stands testimony to the electricity generation station and history records that it was discovered in 1885 by British explorers and that electricity was generated here for the first time in 1887 and is still the power source for the cotton mill across the street.

The 11th century Shiva temple dedicated to Lord Mahalingeshwara, built in the Kalyani Chalukyan style, faces the cotton mill and flanks one side of the gorge. Locally known as Tarakeshwara temple, the temple boasts of a huge courtyard and has a sanctum sanctorum over which looms a tower that is adorned with exquisite carvings.