Trip to Chikmagalur - Part III (Mullayanagiri, Bababudan Giri, Manikyadhara)

After the Belur’s Chennakesava temple visit, we proceeded towards Chikmagalur. After reaching Chikmagalur to make the most of the time available for that day we directly moved towards Mullayanagiri (aka. Mullangiri or Mullayangiri). This peak (6317ft above MSL) is supposed to be the highest in Karnataka. The road condition from Chikmagalur to Mullayanagiri was bad. The starting stretch from Chikmagalur to a junction where we have to take a diversion to Mullayanagiri is good but right after the diversion the bad road starts. The route is full of greenery and there are number of coffee estates on the way. Then after 10 kms there is again a junction with two routes, one towards Mullayanagiri and other towards Bababudan giri/ Datta peeta. Ofcourse we took the left towards the peak. After few kilometres we stopped for some break and to enjoy the viewpoint. The view was treat to watch. It was intermittently drizzling so whole atmosphere was enjoyable. After taking a small break we again started. Within few minutes we were at the top.

From this place one can see the beautiful green valleys through the clouds. There was also some fog, which made it more enjoyable. Till this point only vehicles can reach, there are some small hilltop points, which you have to climb yourself to view better view of the valley.

Through the fog we could see a hilltop to which there is step way. We could see people climbing up and down. Thanks to my optimistic friend Dara who motivated me to climb to the top. It took us approximately 15 minutes from down to the top. From wherever we see it looked like a viewpoint to us. I thoroughly enjoyed this small hike with my friends.

On the hilltop there is a small temple and there are some water taps. While browsing some sites I found the meaning of the name Mullayanagiri. The word "Mullaya" means Shiva. So it is Shiva giri. I could not see the Shiva temple but I saw a small Nandi on the hilltop. We took opportunity to click some snaps at this place.


People said there were some caves on the route in front of Nandi. But we were not in much of enthu to see the caves considering the route. Especially me. Dara was ready and Raghu was neither Ok nor Nok!! Once we finished our photo session we climbed down and reached to our parking place in 10 minutes.

We spent some more time at the parking place and then headed towards Bababudangiri. As we did not have lunch anywhere we all were feeling hungry. In the mean time we were done with our stock of snacks :)

I would like to suggest everyone regarding the food point. In these routes there are no proper restaurants or cafes. Have some proper meal at Chikmagalur or carry a good amount of food items with you.

After some 20Kms we saw a small waterfall on our right side. This was beautiful!! We stopped there. This place was Attigundi. Before checking the fall everyone gathered at the snacks stall and started munching. The stall guy kept on filling the jar with Buns! We tried almost everything that was available at his small stall.....:D

Attigundi Waterfalls
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDIiSMwL2Q

Then we took the steps to reach the top of the fall. There has been some kind of wall constructed on top of which the water is falling. The water was too cold to enter. But after seeing others I also decided to get into the water. It almost froze me! The water looked very clean. We spent some time there playing with kids.
Then after few minutes we moved towards the Bababudan giri. There is a shrine at this place, which is worshipped by both Hindus (Dattatreya) and Muslims (Baba Budan). There are some stories about this Sufi sant who came here to spread the message of peace without discrimination of religion. Unfortunately the shrine was closed due to some renovation. It was already 4:30 PM.

After talking to local people we came to know that there was a waterfall at a 4 kms distance from there. So we decided to check that out. This place is called Manikyadhara. Again after reaching this point we got into a coffee stall first! We ate good number of Mirchi bajjis. These were very spicy as that guy used normal green chilli. There were steps towards the fall. This fall was okay as there was not much of water. We took some snaps and headed back towards chikmagalur. It was already 6.30 PM by the time we started from there. After reaching the town we checked in to a budget lodge and planned for the next day trip to Kemmangundi.