Kushalnagar

First, I thought Coorg was a small town. When I actually decided to go there, I realized it is a district. It is one of the 22 districts in Karnataka.

Coorg has a large cover under forest, and has coffee and pepper plantations. The district is rich as Cauvery’s source is at TalaCauvery in the Coorg District. The river flows around through the district, making the place fertile for rice cultivation. Also, the mountaineous terrain ( western ghats ) brings in rains from the South West monsoon, which makes this place perfectly right for coffee and pepper plantations also.

The Kodavas the local people, are of the warrior class. Indians first Field Marshall was General Cariappa, who is a Kodava ( I hope I got his designation correct ) All the rulers of the time, had their eye on this beautiful and rich region, and wanted to make it a part of their territory, this resulted in a lot of wars. Tipu Sultan is supposed to have waged a lot of wars against the Kodavas, lots of them were taken to Mysore as prisoners of war, and were converted to Islam. I thought Tipu was religiously tolerant, but, I am sure, all of them had their wicked side.

As Tipu was helped by the French, the Kodava King sought the help of the British for support. The Brits stationed their troops in Coorg. The most important King of the Kodavas was King Muddanna, he was responsible for the progress. It was the British who encouraged the localites to start coffee and pepper plantations, as the climate and terrain is conducive. From then on, Coorg is a cash rich district, as it is one of the largest coffee producing districts in India.

The Kodavas are the only people who are permitted to carry a gun without license. This permission was given to them by the British those days, as there were a lot of raids by Tipu and other rulers. That legislation stayed. A small daggar is part of the traditional dress of the Kodavas. Kodavas pray river Cauvery and they consider it their mother, from where all life originates. They do not believe in idol worship, and pray their ancestors, and hence all homes have photos of all the elders in the family, who are no more. A oil lamp is lit every evening, in the honour of the deceased.

I got 3 days off during Independence Day, and hence I thought I will go to Coorg, to check out Kushalnagar. I have already been to Coorg, and hence this trip was not so much for the walks in the estates.

I stayed in a home stay called Alath Cad, about 240 kms from Bangalore. We started early at about 7.30 am. The route is simple, Bangalore – Mysore – Hunsur – Thitimathi – Polibetta – Alath Cad Estate on Ammithi Road. Driving through the estate is a great experience though the roads are bad. The greenery takes over. There are lot of Tata Estates here, and they have a golf course also. It took 6 and hrs to cover the distance, and we reached Alath Cad at out 2.30 pm.

Alath Cad is a 100 acre coffee / pepper estate. River Cauvery flows right through. Due to the abundant rainfall this year, the river was full and flowing at full force. Alath Cad has deluxe, super deluxe rooms and family suites. I travel budget and opted for the deluxe room, which cost me Rs. 1200 per head for bed, breakfast and dinner.

Mr and Mrs Muddiah run this place, and they are a very warm couple. This home stay is nice, coz, they have made walkable pathways through the estate with clear direction boards to the river, trekking route and the picnic spot. There are a few cycles available, you could take one of them and go around on your own.

The property also has a sports room with a good table tennis table, carom board, basket ball net and tennis / badminton court. At the lunch room aptly called ‘The Granary’, local delicacies are served for break fast, lunch and dinner.

Fortunately, it dint rain too hard. So, I was able to go off on long walks through the estate, and got some very impressive pictures of the spiders, there were just too many of them all around. We played in the river water for a while.

My entire purpose of getting to Coorg this time was Kushalnagar, and hence the next day, we set out fairly early. Kushal nagar is about 28 kms from Alath Cad, we took about 1 hrs to reach this place. Kushal nagar is the 2nd largest Tibetan settlement in India, and the monastery is called the Namdroling Monastery. There is a large hostel for the monks, a shopping complex selling every thing that you can imagine, and 2 temple complexes.

The first complex has a very ornate top, like the gopuram of a temple, but in Buddhist style. It had many Buddhist symbols on it. Even the floor had many paintings. Inside the monastery we found exquisite Buddha statues and the saints in golden colour. The walls all around had paintings in the Potala Style. Exquisite and intricate. I went click click.

The 2nd complex is the place where the Monks do their prayers. There are 3 large Buddha statues, dragons etc and a whole lot of sparrows I have not seen for many years. The chirping of the sparrows was really nice. On the floor, there were reading desks and small independent mattresses. Each desk has a book with scriptures and bell. There were large bells in this hall and large trumpets, dunno want to call them, they were nearly 30 feet in length.

The Buddhas in this hall were just huge, and massive. You will understand when you see my pictures of this place, I am not really finding the right words to explain. The walls here are again painted with Potala style paintings.

After Kushalnagar, we headed back to the estate. Nisargadhama, Harangi Dam and Dubare Elephant camp were on the way.

Nisargadhama is a place where river Cauvery turns and hence a small island is formed. There is a suspended bridge across the river. After you cross it, there is a park, you can spend some time and get back.

Harangi Dam is beautiful and due to the excess rain, the sluice gates were opened, and water was gushing out. The fizz of the water was creating rainbows and the splash was making every one wet. We climbed the dam structure, and on the other side of the dam, the Lake was like a sea. Photographs were not permitted here, security reasons. Ticket Rs. 2.

Dubare Elephant camp is a place were people can observe the life of elephants from dawn to dusk, starting with the bath in the river to eating and then their siesta. This camp which is a Jungle Lodges Property ( a Govt of Karnataka Enterprise )has 13 elephants. You have to cross Cauvery to get to the other side. As the river was full, we got into a ferry. I am told, otherwise, people can cross on foot. The star of the camp was a 2 year old elephant calf. She knew fully well she is more energetic than most of us grown up adults. The mahout allowed us to play with it. It kicked all of us and was hitting us with its trunk. It would give its truck to us, and when we hold it, it would shoo us off with force, with a thud. It was such a darling. It was getting dark, we wanted to leave.

Kushalnagar, Nisargama, Harangi dam and Dubare elephant camp can be done as a single day excursion from Alath Cad or Madikeri.

We dint’ go to Madikeri, due to lack on time. I should make a trip again, and stay specifically at Madikeri, so then, I will be able to visit Talacauvery and Omkareshar temple.

After we got back to the estate, we sipped hot Coorg coffee, ate sumptuous pakodas. I was glad we got back, just before it started pouring. We met up with the other couples who were staying at the estate, and had a big booze party. Men can think of no other way of enjoying life.

The next morning, I took a long stroll into the estate, clicked some more snaps of spiders and coffee berries. It was raining, and I took my umbrella. Went to the picnic spot. The trip was complete, when my brother acquired a leech.

At about 1 pm, we started driving back towards Bangalore. We reached at 7 pm. The trip was good fun. It was raining every night at Coorg, and also during the day. It din’t deter us, we really enjoyed it.

Getting there

By Road : Alath Cad is about 236 Kms from Bangalore and 113 Kms from Mysore. If you are going by car or biking, take Bangalore – Mysore – Hunsur – Thithimatti – Polibetta route. Alath Cad is on Ammithi Road. It takes 5 and hrs to drive from Bangalore.

Trip Duration : 3 days

Best time of the year : Throughout the year. Even the monsoons are enjoyable, if you love the rain.

Where to stay : If you wish to visit Kushalnagar and the other places I mentioned above, and want to have the coffee estate experience, try Alath Cad home stay. http://www.alathcadcoorg.com/