Melkote and Ranganathittu

With Bangalore’s greenery diminishing with newmalls, apartments, flyovers and the Metro coming up, weekend trips away from the city are a welcome break for anyone and everyone. Mysore is a favorite destination because of its close proximity to Bangalore and numerous places of interest en route. If you are a foodie, you have plenty of options like MTR, Kamath, Kadambabs and even McDonalds to try out on the Bangalore – Mysore highway. If you are into history, you have Srirangapatna, Somnathapura and plenty of places in Mysore as well. And if you like nature, Ranganathittu is a hot spot because of the migratory birds that come there.

My friends and I planned a trip towards Mysore on a Sunday, keeping the temple town of Melkote as our final destination. We had multiple agendas, but no fixed plan. We left Bangalore at 7 am, stopping at Kadambams near Channapatna for breakfast. Famous for its puliyogere, Kadambams didn’t fail to satisfy three hungry photographers.  Stomach’s full, we decided to make our next stop at Ranganathittu.  It was a wise decision, because we managed to get a boat just for ourselves as the crowds hadn’t started coming in yet. Niranj, the bird photographer in our group, had a field day shooting Painted Storks, Swallows, River Terns, Pelicans, Black-Headed Ibis’  and other species I couldn’t identify.  The boatman was good to us, and we paid him extra after the ride. So here’s a tip – if you want to photograph birds at Ranganathittu, reach early, hire a boat for yourself and strike a deal with the boatman to take you to where the action is. Most boatmen oblige. And don’t be surprised if you end up learning a thing or two about photography from them.

Mysore was our next halt, because we had to pick up Nagesh’s wife. The mid-day heat was bad, so it was very comforting indoors. From there we headed out to have lunch at a Punjabi restaurant within Mysore (!) and headed back on the Bangalore-Mysore highway towards Melkote which happens to be in Mandya district. The route took a little longer than expected, and we reached Melkote only by 4:30. Another friend, Chitra, was already there with her family. We visited the famous Cheluva Narayana Swamy temple first. Then we headed towards the temple pond, also known as Kalyani. Bigger than most temple ponds, this one is apparently popular having appeared in many regional movies. Unfortunately I didn’t find much to photograph there. Being summer, we were all tired and thirsty. But we had to climb up to the Yoganarasimha temple. The sun was setting by the time we began our ascend. In about half an hour, we were at the temple. The sunset from atop the hill was disappointing, and soon we were down and back at the main street.

Melkote is famous for more than just its temples. The Iyengar community have perfected the art of making the tastiest puliyogere. Melkote puliyogere is apparently well known far and wide. Thanks to the ladies in our group, we got a chance to feast on this delicacy along with curd rice at Subbana’s mess.  Talking to the owner, we learnt that his family has been running this business for almost a century now, and he ‘exports’ his puliyogere to Bangalore by sending it via the government bus. Sitting in his old mess with no power,  listening to tales of  puliyogere and gobbling it was an experience by itself. We packed enough for home, and bid Subbana’s mess good bye. When we stepped out, we were greeted by clear star studded skies. What a wonderful sight it was! It was also a great way to end our road trip. We were back on the highway, and we reached Bangalore by around 10:30 pm.

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