Shivanasamudra (also called the Shivasamudra) is a small tiny island town located at a distance of 135 km from Bangalore in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka. Here the River Cauvery meanders to fall into cascading Shivasamudram Falls. The island town of Shivanasamudra divides the river into twin waterfalls. This creates the fourth largest island in the rivers course. A group of ancient temples are located here and there likely was a village.
This is also the site of the hydro-electric power station, set up in the early 1902. It is supposed to be the first of its kind in Asia.
This sparking waterfalls flows through the abundant sylvan forest of Karnataka in Deccan Plateau, plunges 320 feet into gorge into a spate, breaking into a cloud of misty foam. The falls are 893 metres wide.
This is a segmented waterfall. Segmented waterfalls occur where the water flow is broken into two or more channels before dropping over a cliff, resulting in multiple side by side waterfalls.
Cauvery forms many islands throughout its journey from Talacaurvery to Bay of Bengal. One such island is Shivanasamudra. At Shivasamudram, this water falls has twin jumps, the Gagana chukki and the Bara chukki (also spelled Bhara chukki) . Gagana chukki is a large horsetail and Bara chukki is a jagged crashing cascade. Monsoon season makes this waterfall swell to enormous proportion, creating a waterfall perhaps a thousand feet wide. The two falls are really majestic in the monsoon season. The Gaganachukki and Barachukki waterfalls are best visited post monsoon, when there’s abundant water
Apart from the waterfalls the other attraction is the island known as Madhya-Ranga, a renowned pilgrim center. Ranganatha Swamy temple which lies on the Madhya-Ranga Island is very near to Barachukki fall. It is one of the three temples those are built on the islands formed by river Cauvery on its way.
These waterfalls and surrounding hills fall into Cauvery Wild life sanctuary which provides a wide opportunity of excursion, trekking in the forest, rock climbing, bird watching, fishing and other activities for naturalist.
The trekkers need to trek to 2kms through the lush greenery, along the banks of Cauvery to approach the falls. Sitting on the benches provided at the watch tower you can revel the beauty of the river plummet into a spray of mist.
BEST TIME TO VISIT:
June to September (the water falls looks full and gorgeous during this season). The climate is moderate entire year.
HOW TO GET HERE?
By Rail
The nearest railway station is Mandya town.
By Air:
The nearest airport is Mysore Airport.
By Road:
Shivanasamudram is located 65 kms from Mysore, 135 kms from Bangalore.
GETTING HERE FROM BANGALORE:
There are two ways to reach Shivanasamudra from Bangalore.
- You can drive along the Bangalore Mysore highway till Maddur. Immediately after Maddur Bus station, take a left towards Malavalli. Keep going further straight from Malavalli and you'll reach Shivanasamudram. This route would take around 135 kilometers and the road is good upto Maddur, after which, the road condition deteriorates. However, this is the best road to reach Shivanasamudra from Bangalore. A non-stop journey would take approximately 3 hours from Bangalore.
- Alternately, one can reach Malavalli from Bangalore via Kanakapura. Take the Kanakapura road from Bangalore which is in good condition. Immediately after Kanakapura, the road branches into two. Take the road which is slightly to the right to reach Malavalli. The left branch leads to Sangama, Makedattu and Chunchi falls. The stretch from Kanakapura to Malavalli is not in good condition and road repair work is in progress at some places. After reaching Malavalli, take a left turn to go to Shivanasamudra. Until sometime back, one would have avoided this route and take the Bangalore-Maddur-Malavalli-Shivanasamudra route instead, as the roads in that route were in better condition. Now the Kanakpura Road had been redone, and this route is shorter and the drive more scenic and enjoyable.
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