Shivanasamudra - Sometimes Falling may make you Beautiful

Life is never ending battle between you and the uncontrollable force that creates pain to us. In general, people live with baggage on their backs. Everyday, we walk in this life with pain, doubts and worries. At the end of the day, you're your own hero. When you're feeling low, don't look for somebody's hands, lift yourself up and start traveling  to a place where falling looks beautiful.  Shivanasamudra is a small town  situated on the banks of the river Kaveri and is the location of  one of the first hydro-electric power stations in Asia.

Riding towards Kanakpura, me and Atlee took the village route instead of  the National Highway, to reach Ganalu Waterfalls. It's a less known waterfalls near Bangalore and an unexplored place near Ganalu Village. Gliding through the forests. it was like crossing border from India to Pakistan. After a few kilometers of walk, we could the see a natural wonder that sits across the valleys. Trekking down the hills, we went near the waterfall to get some good pics of the beauty. The trek was difficult as rocks were sharp and had no grip with water flowing on it. It was like Bear Grylls on his adventure.

With good time listening to the sounds of water, we next head to the famous Shivanasamudra Waterfalls. Shivanasamudra falls literally means Shiva's Sea and is surrounded by deep forests of the Kaveri Wildlife Sanctuary. Shivanasamudra is segmented waterfall with several streams formed adjacent to each other. The island town of  Shivanasamudra divides the river  Kaveri into two different falls, one is Gaganachukki and the other is Barachukki. Ganganachukki and Barachukki are collectively called as Shivanasamudra Falls.

Ganganachukki is a huge horsetail shaped waterfall dropping from height of 90m and two large parallel streams that cascade down through a rocky bed from a height of over 320 feet.  A Mosque is close  to the falls and provides the beautiful view of the falls. Situated at a distance of 1km from the Ganganachukki, Barachukki is little wider and most popular than its counterpart. It cascades down from a height of 70m forming several streams through the wide rocky formations establishing a superb natural beauty. Though geographically both the falls are adjacent, the view points of these falls are about 15km away.

On the way to Barachukki, you can see the Wellesley Bridge - the oldest heritage stone bridge that was constructed at Shivanasamudra near Madhyaranga across River Kaveri. The bridge is 400m long and  looks similar to Wellesley Bridge at Srirangapatna and it was a place where many movie scenes were shot. The bridge is considered to be an engineering marvel as it was designed to withstand the force of the river even when its in spate. Due to heavy rains in the year 2018, a flooding occurred and a few pillars of the Bridge got washed away and the path is broken now.

Watching sunset from the Wellesley bridge was a magical moment. When the sun goes down in the horizon creating a beautiful view that the strongest words aren't enough to describe its magic. The phenomenon of the sun drowning in the endless water makes a magnificent prospect with colors  going from red to orange then a mixture of warm, dreamy colors like purple and indigo. Its as if the colors and intensity of the light is just enough to calm you. Setting of the sun shows how a end of our journey can be so beautiful.

There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says, if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you!