Long Weekend Getaway: Part 5: Kundadri Hill Greenery and the Jain Temple

Continuing on from the 4th part: http://kshanaprabhaa.blogspot.in/2013/09/long-weekend-getaway-part-4-agumbe.html

We had the option of going to the other famous waterfalls near Agumbe, the Onake Abbi Falls, but the Dodda Mane folks were quick to let us know that the number of leeches we would encounter there would be ten times of what we saw at Barkana Falls. We thought we had seen enough waterfalls for the day, and decided to have lunch at Dodda Mane, take rest for about an hour and head towards Sringeri where we had planned to stay overnight.

The Dodda Mane lunch served by Kasturi Akka was heavenly, and having trekked along in incessant rain and braved the leech attacks, we definitely needed that. But just as we were planning a slow evening after coming back from Barkana, the auto driver Ashok had planted the seed of taking us to the Kundadri Hillock, where we could witness the evening mist, enjoy the ride to the top, visit the 17th century Parshwanatha Tirthankara's temple, and be amongst more greenery. This is one of the potential sunset points by the looks of it, but the Sun had decided to not show up throughout our trip anyway.

So, we went there in his auto with dangerously low levels of brake oil that ensured his drive back was mostly in careful first gear (as if we were not having enough fun already), and witnessed some really cool breeze and algae covered slippery slopes.

The priest gave a good overview of the ancient Parshwanatha temple, and we enjoyed about an hour there as nature played hide and seek with thick mountain mist covering all around the region.

Here are some pictures from the trip to Kundadri:

Anurag climbs the last few steps to the Kundadri hilltop