Jog falls, beauty at its best

Our first destination was Jog falls. I still remember that years ago I had read about Jog falls in my class 8 geography book. There was a B&W picture of the falls in the book and I used to glance at the picture every time I used to read the book (read studying for exams).

Jog Falls

  At last, the day came and after travelling around 400 kms from Bangalore we reached Jog. There is a bridge that needs to be crossed. The river Sharavathi flows below the bridge and forms the famous Jog falls a little farther once it falls from the heights.

  Once inside the gates of the Jog fall complex we parked our car, Sparky. We started walking towards the view point when both me and Ankur spotted dainty KSTDC hotels located strategically near by. Previously we had no plans of staying at Jog Falls but on seeing the beautiful place and the dainty hotels we could not resist. We decided to check first if rooms were available.

Guest house near the hotel

KSTDC hotel

  We decided that if we get rooms we will unpack our luggage, get refreshed and then set off for the falls. In case we don't get, then we'd see the falls and then head for Murudeshwar.

  Luckily there was only one room left, maybe that was for US :)

  The rooms are done tastefully. It has a large french window from where we could see the falls at a distance. It was so awesome.....it was more like the view outside your window changed each time you glanced out....sometimes its the clear blue skies, sometimes there was no falls, it disappeared behind the clouds.

View from inside hotel room

  After refreshment, both of us headed towards the railing from where the falls looks prominent. And we were floored by what we saw......there were rainbows that had formed on each of the falls. We were mesmerized and were left amazed by the sight.

River downstream

Jog falls

  Since the monsoon was good this year there was plenty of water and there were several legs of the falls.

Jog falls

  There were so many butterflies and wild flowers that has bloomed. There is a staircase which goes till the base of the falls. Around 1600 stairs needs to be traversed to get to the bottom. We started getting down but had to abandon midway as it was getting dark. That was all for the day.

Moth at Jog falls

Butterfly at Jog falls

Butterfly at Jog falls

Giant wood spider at Jog falls

Jog falls as seen while going down the steps

  The next day we got out from our hotel at around 8:30. It was drizzling in the morning and the falls was fully covered with clouds. By the time we went out, the falls was playing hide and seek with us. One moment it was visible. The next moment, when we positioned our camera to take a photo, it had gone hiding behind the clouds.

Walkway near the falls

Jog falls during early morning

  Around 10 AM, the Sun came out. Thanks the skies had cleared. Now we had to leave the hotel, as our next destination was Murudeshwar, which was around 90 Kms from there. We looked at the mighty Jog one more time and hit the roads for our next destination.

  Info about trip:
  Time of travel: Oct, 2013

  Some more photographs:

Giant wood spider at Jog falls

Giant wood spider at Jog falls

The foot bridge near Jog falls

The park near Jog falls

A nice viewpoint at Jog falls

We at Jog falls

Murudeshwar, bless us Lord Shiva

The next day from Jog Falls we headed towards Murudeshwara, the coastal town that is towered by Lord Shiva. The distance from Jog Falls to Murudeswara is approximately 87 Kms and since the road is also very good it didn't take long for us to reach Murudeshwar.

Lord Shiva (Murudeshwar)

  The good thing about the temple of Lord Shiva is that once you are near the temple you do not need to ask anybody about the direction. And that is because, from quite a distance, one can see the huge towering figure of Lord Shiva to guide them towards the temple.

Lord Shiva (Murudeshwar)

  Once we were at the feet of Lord Shiva we were awestruck. We have never seen such a huge statue of Shiva anywhere before. This is the 2nd highest statue of Lord Shiva in the world and the sitting pose of Shiva is 123 feet tall.
There was also a huge 20 storied Gopura near the temple. You can take the lift here which will take you to the top of the Gopura, from where you can enjoy a 360 degree panoramic view of the place.

Gopura

Gopura

  We climbed up a series of steps to reach the temple situated at the foot of the Shiva statue. The temple is in the design of a cave.

  After seeking blessing from Lord Shiva we looked around the place from the temple complex. Since the temple is at a good elevation we could see the surroundings clearly. The temple is surrounded by the sea on all sides except the one that connects to the mainland.

  The scene is mesmerising.

Sea line from top of the temple

Chariot of the Sun God

The Murudeshwar beach is just opposite to the temple. Tourists are advised not to go to the sea as the sea is dangerous. So once we got down from the temple we did not go to any beach, instead headed straight to one of the numerous restaurants all of which serve vegetarian dishes.

Hand of Murudeshwar statue

Murudeshwar Statue