Places to see near Bangaore -Muthathi and Palakkad. Review on Bangalore

I had a potent mixture of a nature and historical monument for my Sunday drive around Bangalore last Sunday ( 23/1/2005). Muthathi ( around 100 kms from Bangalore ) is a small hamlet besides river Cauvery.

Drive down Kanakapura Road , Bangalore to Satnur. Take a left and keep going - the road is good so no hiccups .

The road winds its way through a valley and all of a sudden you find the silvery coloured river Cauvery giving you company ! You have a couple of choices - the river banks provide ample space for having your own small picnic or the other option is to walk into the Jungle Loges Resort ( Rs 750 / day ). I chose the former - parked the car under some trees and unpacked my lunch box .

You need to carry your own food - there are no joints nearby ! Had a walk along the banks and tried getting a ride in a leaking coracle. Better sense prevailed so I abandoned the idea and toyed with my camcorder instead. Good news for aquarium keepers - huge shoals of rainbow gouramis sighted !

Next time you visit the place be armed with nets - even if you cannot catch them , the manoeuvres for catching them will ensure that you get some exercise. A word of caution - the water is littered with broken alcohol bottles. I even saw quite a number of groups lost in their own world.

I had started around 5.30 a.m so I packed up from Muthathi around 1 p.m.

Some one had told me that there is a place called Pallakad very near to Muthathi - so I asked a fellow the route and he gave me a fantastic direction. Totally messed up . I think I drove around 60/70 kms the wrong way. Do not go further down from Muthathi for Palakkad - the road is not good and goes through some really bad ghat section.

Palakkad is unique in the sense that though you have a river ( again cauvery ) flowing besides this small village , there is no greneery - you find only sand covering the entire village and may be a couple of kilometers around it! Myth has it that a village lady had cursed the Mysore family for trying to usurp the wealth of the village and therefore this area is barren.

Archaeoligical Dept of India is doing a commendable job in restoring the temples - yes there are 25 temples and an entire village still under the sand dunes waiting to be shown the light of the day. They have managed to dig out the main Shiva temple and you can see signs of restoration.

Do take a guide ( Rs 100 per vehicle plus a entrance fee to the village for Rs 10 per car ) - other wise you will staring at voiceless stones. Incidentally Pala and Kad are the names of two village guards and there is a temple in their memory. There is a big festival during end 2005 to be held in the Shiva temple. What is fascinating is to think how did a small pocket become a sand filled area with only cashew nut trees when only a kilometer away you have greneery?

I started back around 4 p.m and touched Malavalli , took a left for the bypass and reached Mysore - Bangalore highway just before Madur Tiffany. Did some zig zag driving to reach Bangalore around nine in the night - totally tired and satisfied with the mix of water and sand!