Number of tourists visiting Ch'magaluru district goes up

Chikkamagaluru district, the land of coffee, blessed with thick forests and cascading waterfalls, has been drawing more and more visitors every year. Compared to 2014, the number of tourists increased in 2015.

The district has 30 favourite tourist spots such as Mullayyanagiri,  Seethalayyanagiri, Bababudangiri, Kemmannugundi, Manikyadhara, Kalh-attagiri, Sirimane and Hanumanagundi.

The famous religious shrines in the district are Sringeri, Kalasa, Horanadu and Balehonnur. Also, there are famous temples in Amrithapura, Marle and Hiremagaluru.
Poets like Devanooru Lakshmisha and Ambale Shastry are from the district. The Bhadra sanctuary supports a wide variety of wildlife and forests.

After Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru district attracts highest number of tourists every year.
The roads in the district are in a good condition. Better accommodation facilities and quality food are also available.

There are 250 homestays in the district. Among them, 130 are registered and the remaining 120 have applied for registration. Lakhs of people, not only from India, but also from foreign countries visit Sringeri, Kalasa, Horanadu, Balehonnur Mutt, Datta Peetha, Kemmannugundi and various other places.

In December 2015, seven lakh people visited Sringeri. In December 2014, 3.75 lakh devotees had visited the famed religious shrine. 

Kalasa in Mudigere taluk was visited by one lakh people in January, 40,000 people in February, 40,000 in March, 46,000 in April, 50,000 in May, 30,000 in June, 35,000 in July and August each, 50,000 in September, one lakh in October and 50,000 devotees in December.

Two lakh tourists visited Horanadu in January, 1.50 lakh people each in February, March, June and November, 1.80 lakh in April, 3.5 lakh in May, 2.30 lakh in June, 2.90 lakh in August, 1.30 lakh in September, four lakh in October and nine lakh in December.

As many as 1.10 lakh people visited Balehonnur in January, 90,000 people in February, 1.55 lakh people in March, 1.30 lakh people in April, 1.10 lakh people in May, 95,000 people in June and July each. 1.35 lakh in August, 90,000 in September, 95,000 in October, 1.20 lakh people in November and one lakh people visited it in December. 

As many as 19,000 people visited the Datta Peetha in January, 12,500 people in February 21,300 in March, 20,800 people in April, 20,100 people in May, 19,500 in June, 15,000 in July, 15,500 in August, 16,500 in September, 17,100 in October, 16,000 in November and 21,000 in December.

As many as 11,500 travellers visited Kemmannugundi in January, 9,000 in February, 12,000 in March, 16,500 in April, 10,000 in June, 10,700 in July, 13,000 in August, 10,000 in September, 20,000 in October, 11,200 in November and 23,000 in December.

In 2015, the district drew 1,162 foreign tourists towards it.  About 403 foreigners visited it in January, 458 in February, 439 in March, 148 in April, 92 in May, 175 in June, 32 in July, 50 in August, 55 in September, 245 in October, 115 in November and 250 in December.

During 2014, four lakh people have visited Sringeri during May and 4.20 lakh people in June. 1.30 lakh people visited Kalasa in January and 1.50 lakh in October.

Three lakh people visited Horanadu in January, May, October and December each. 1.80 lakh visitors have come to Balehonnur during October and 1.50 lakh people during December.

About 21,000 people visited Datta Peetha in March and 21,000 in December.
As many as 15,000 tourists visited Kemmannugundi in May and 13,000 people visited it in December.

The district administration needs to pay more attention to the development of roads leading to the tourist spots and  improve basic amenities at these places now, the people said.