Travel: 2011

Talacauvery, from where the Kaveri River originates in the Brahmagiri hills, is considered among the most sacred places in Karnataka. It is at a height of around 1276 m above sea level. This is a sacred pilgrim center among the Kodavas. This place is marked by a tirtha kundike or Brahma kundike (small spring/pond) from where the river emerges as a small perennial spring, but flows underground again to emerge a short distance away.

From Talakaveri, steps lead up to the nearby Brahmagri peak, where the 7 great sages called the Sapta Maharishis had performed a special yagna. From the peak, as well as on the drive to Talakaveri, tourists can enjoy a good view of the misty blue Brahmagiri hills.

A small water tank has been constructed at the point of origin. There is also a temple build at the spot where regular puja rituals are done. The temple is dedicated to Lord Agastheeswara, who is considered to be the link between great Sage Agasthya and river Cauvery.

An important day here at Talacauvery is the first day of Tula month according to Hindu calendar. The day is called Tulasankramana. Thousands of devotees come to Talacauvery on this day to witness the rise of fountainhead sprouting water at a specific time. It is considered auspicious by devotees to take a dip in the holy waters. The day is celebrated on various places along the banks of river Cauvery where devotees take a holy dip in River Cauvery.
Apart from devotees, it is a great place for tourists as well, as the entire area is surrounded with breathtaking sceneries.

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, is a hill (betta in Kannada) located in the Chamarajanagar district of the state of Karnataka,at a height of 1450m India and is extensively wooded. It is also the highest peak in the Bandipur National Park. It lies in the core area of the Bandipur National Park and is frequented by wild life including elephants. Dense fog predominates and covers the hills round the year and thus gets the prefix Himavad(in the native language of Kannada) and the temple of Venugopalaswamy (Lord Krishna) gives the full name of Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta.

It was never Safe to trek here in Gopalaswamy Betta. Tiger, Cheetah, Wild dogs may attack. Other aspect you have missed here is it is illegal to trek and is a punishable offense.

How to reach:
From Bangalore to Gopal swamy betta is is 230 Kms.
From Mysore to Gopal swamy betta is is 82 Kms. It takes 2 hrs to reach there from Mysore.

Dont's: Liquor and Cigar

Timing: 8:30 am to 4 pm.

From Bangalore to Gopal swamy betta via Mysore, Nanjangudu, Begur, Gundulpet. After Gundalpet in the NH-67, want to take right in the second village, where you can find an arch on the right side. On the foot hills of Gopal swamy betta is a forest office check post. The forest officers will check thoroughly all the vehicles. Carrying plastic carry bags are prohibited. Strictly liquor and cigars are not allowed. Road condition is bad. Only one KSRTC bus available to Gopalswamy betta that too only one trip at 11am. On week days there is no crowd and on week ends there is more crowd that too late in the morning.
There is a guest house in Gopal swamy betta and that they will allow only Government employees with proper permission. They don't allow public to stay on night time. Temple is very clean and neat and the climate is awesome.
If you have luck you can see wild animals like Elephant, deer, bear. We saw elephants in foot hills of the betta while going to gopalswamy temple. And also you can see elephants little far from Gopal swamy temple. Securities do not allow for trekking near temple. Trekking stopped from January 2011.
We visited on the month of August.You can see more scenic spots and every where greenery. You can see my below photos that taken in Gopal swamy betta.

All the photos were taken at 11 AM.

foot hills of Gopalswamy betta.....

Adventurous road while riding in the bike.

Once you cross the check post after 100 metres you can see a view like this. This is on the right side of the road.

This is on the left side of the road.

This is the foot hill of the betta and you can see elephants at far.

This too....

On the foot hill of the betta we saw some elephants. But we are very lucky to see the elephants. I clicked in my basic model Canon camera at 16x zoom.

Another click......

This is the place from where we saw the elephants at 16x zoom. This place is just 100 metre from the checkpost. Dont fail to stop there. Stop and enjoy the scenery.