Deepakalgudda, Pandavar Gudda, Agani and Majagahalli Super Drive

The Monsoon is a beautiful time of the year where everything is green and serene. Personally, most of my travel happens in monsoon months being an avid waterfall and grasslands lover. On a beautiful monsoon month of September along with 3 of my friends I planned for this trip to Sakleshpur and the idea was to stay somewhere in between the serenity of Jungle and Hike to the beautiful twin peaks of Deepadhakalgudda and Janekallu Gudda along with visiting few waterfalls on the way. After so much of exploration I decided to stay in a beautiful Homestay called the Vasantha Paradise located inside a very beautiful forest near the Banal village of Saklkeshpur Taluk.  

We started the journey on a beautiful drizzly Saturday morning in my car and the plan was to leave the city as early as possible to avoid the traffic. We hit the roads by 6.30 am sharp and took the Tumkur road and proceeded towards the Nelemangala road. Then we took the left to Hassan after Nelemangala and had a small break at the Parijatha restaurant around 7.30am for our Breakfast. Parijatha restaurant has always been our choice on any trip towards Hassan considering the pipping hot sambar and idly they provide and relatively serves very fast breakfast. 

With filled stomach and happy hearts, we started the travel again and it’s always a pleasure to drive in the Nelemangala - Hassan highway considering the amazing roads and views it provides. The mild drizzle and the AR Rehman’s songs made the trip more interesting and the drive of 230 odd KMs to reach Sakleshpur never gave any hint of tiredness to us. Finally, we reached the Sakleshpur town around 11.30 and we took a short break to have some lovely sugar cane juice on the way.... If someone have time and hit the road little early they can also cover the ruins of Shettihalli church on the way as it’s a very picturesque place on monsoon. Its situated in the banks of Gorur Hemavathy Resorvoir 

From Sakleshpur we drove further 20 kms and the first stop was the beautiful Majagahalli falls also called as the Hanbal Falls. This is medium sized 2 styled falls and very apt for taking bath. After a relaxing bath we drove again to banal village where the homestay is located. The homestay is present inside the forest and needs a 4*4 jeep to reach from the Banal village, so we informed to park the car near a home and they came and picked us with a jeep. The ride for the next 1 km was so thrilling and we loved the fact we will be staying in such a place which is so away from civilization (Driving every day to work crossing KR puram Junction I welcome anyplace so away from Traffic :) ) 

The homestay is such a beautiful one surrounded by grasslands and for me it’s a dream place to stay among greenery and Tranquility. We were welcomed by a nice lunch and the Homestay owner Mr Babu advised us to take some rest before we start our first trek the very very beautiful twin peaks of Deepadhakal Gudda and Janekallu gudda. After some rest we started our trek to the peaks which is 5-6 kms from the Homestay and there was another option to off-road till the base and then hike to the Peaks. We opted to Hike from the homestay and there is also a very beautiful stream on the way to explore before we hit the trail. Once we reached the base around 3.30pm (A Homestay is located here at the base) we started to hike to the Frist peak, Deepakalgudda and the to say the least this place is so pristine among the grasslands I have been, and the monsoon added another green dimension it. We dint struggle much to reach the peak considering it was little steep and reached there around 4.15 pm. 

The view from the peak was so mesmerizing and we spend quality 20 mins there to sit and enjoy the silence of mist. A very beautiful hanging rock is present there at the peak and its possible to climb it for some memorable photos. Then we hit for the second peak, Janekallu gudda and we also completed reaching it in 1 hrs. time from Janekallu. Enjoying every second of the time we descended back to the base around 6 pm and it does get dark quite soon in the western Ghats of Karnataka especially in the monsoon months. We came back to the Home stay and spent rest of the evening with some camp fire, snacks, songs and a satisfying dinner. The home stay offers Camps and rooms for stay and we opted for the Camps for its unique placement of camps on ridges and views. 

Next day morning We were woken up by amazing sounds of chirping birds and the homestay owner Babu requested us to get ready and to hike one smaller peak called the Pandavar gudda located exactly behind the homestay. This was a small hike and we were able to reach the mist ridden peak in 30 mins time and visited the very beautiful old “Bettada Bhairaveshwara Temple" on the way back from the peak. We were exploring what’s the plan for rest of the day as there is so much to do and see in the nearby areas and finally we decided the visit one more lovely waterfalls in the Agani area as informed by one of the care takers of the homestay. After the breakfast we vacated from the homestay and thanked everyone for taking good care of us in that stay. 

Around 10am, we started back and hit the roads to Agani Village which is around 20 kms from the homestay and on the way back to Sakleshpur. Once we reached Agani village we enquired the villagers regarding the falls and they guided us perfectly to the spot. After a walk of 10 mins we reached the waterfalls and beyond my imagination this waterfall had 3 cascading layers and each one was so different and lovely. It was such a picturesque waterfall and we spent next 1 hour taking bath in all the 3 cascading layers. The natural cold water immediately took away all the tiredness we had due to hiking the peaks and driving from Bangalore 

Finally, by 12pm, we packed everything, said good bye to these lovely hills of Sakleshpur area and started our travel back to Bangalore but not before telling each other we should visit this beautiful place again. This trip was such a soul cleaning and mind cleaning trip for us and much needed after living and working in concrete jungles of Bangalore