Madagadakere, Chikmagalur

Chikmagalur. For most people in South Karnataka and beyond, any mention of this place would bring to mind mountains adorned with lush greenery, thick clouds, coffee estates, and a steaming cup of coffee, in no particular order. A beautiful hill-station, to put it simply. In reality though, Chikmagalur is situated mostly in the plains, just at the foot of the towering Chandradrona Mountain Range, with smaller hills scattered around for good measure. And this is what gives it a different kind of beauty. It is, for all practical purposes, a convenient 'halt' from where one can travel to all the beautiful places that abound this region.

Apart from the usual tourist spots here, about which much has been written and photographed, and which are all in the mountains (or are mountains), there is probably only one well-known spot visited by tourists, and that is Ayyanakere (kere meaning lake) in Sakharayapatna, a small town (or a big village depending on how you look at it) around 23km from Chikmagalur. But that is not what this post is about. There is another lake hidden in this region, among the foothills of the Western Ghats. Most people do not know about it even though it is barely 5km from Ayyanakere as the crow flies. It is not a well-known place because of the longer route needed to get there, and lack of facilities and good roads. 35km from Chikmagalur, Madagadakere is the place for people who want to explore relatively unknown places. For people who, like me, want to find hidden gems like this lake. 

Madagadakere is one of the most beautiful and serene lakes I've ever seen, and is as large as its more famous neighbour - Ayyanakere. Surrounded by lofty hills on almost all sides, with rustic villages nearby, this place makes for a wonderful view. The village nearest to the lake is Hale Siddarahalli, which was inaccessible to our little Alto, because of some er..puddles. Apparently hundreds of years old and restored only 25 years back, the lake overflowed in 2012 and 2013 after a long time. As was expected from this year's unforgiving monsoon, the lake has overflowed again. The quantum of water flowing into this lake is so much that the small roads connecting these villages are out of bounds for anything short of a boat. The one road which is manageable is again a 'danger zone' for small cars. This road connects the villages directly to the Chikmagalur-Kadur Highway.

Bad roads and lack of facilities notwithstanding, a visit to Madagadakere just after monsoon is worth it. It is accessible by two routes, one via Sakharayapatna, and the other via a deviation from the Chikmagalur-Tarikere Road. Both routes take you through very different landscapes, and being the mountain-lover that I am, we took the route via the Chikmagalur-Tarikere Road. This route, apart for some small stretches and of course the inundated part near the lake, is quite good, if a bit narrow. We visited this place in early August when the rains were at their best, on a cold and cloudy evening. Visiting as a group is recommended as the route is quite lonely with only a couple of villages on the way and three little villages near the lake. Initiatives are being taken to develop the lake as a tourist spot, with better accessibility and facilities, and I am doing my bit to showcase this mesmerising place with my trusty 550D. Away from the crowd-ridden hotspots, this place will give you peace of mind, and that, according to me, is what visiting Chikmagalur should be all about.

The pictures that follow will describe the beauty of Madagadakere much better than a lengthy explanation of every aspect of the lake. Thanks for dropping by.

Serene green fields and scary clouds contrast sharply with each other. 

The 'little puddle' that forced us to turn around and find an alternate path to the lakeside.

Rainwater from the hills gushing through fields into the lake.

Finally! A view of Madagadakere and the surrounding hills.

Another view of the lake.

The alternate path a villager showed us led right into the water! The road resurfaces in the distance. That's the power of monsoon rains here.

A view of Deviramma Betta, the last peak of the Chandradrona Mountain Range.

The road leading back to the Chikmagalur-Tarikere Road.

Chikmagalur's First Train

The Indian Railways has always been the backbone of our country since the time it was started. People have had an intimate relationship with trains, depending on them for everything from daily commutes to family vacations. I had never really thought about the value a train holds in normal people’s lives (non-railfans, to be precise) until the 19^th of November, 2013 – the day when my town, Chikmagalur got its first train service, which meant that it was finally connected to IR’s massive network spanning more than 65000km. This line is absolutely beautiful to say the least, and the railways have had to face a lot of challenges while constructing this line. A railway line descending over 200m in about 40km is no joke.

The Lakya Viaduct - probably the toughest, and easily the most scenic landmark of this route.

Children watch the coupling process.

On the day of the inauguration, I went to the new railway station early in the morning with my dad, and found that the rake for the Inaugural Run had already arrived, and the reversal process was going on. Krishnarajapuram Diesel Loco Shed had been kind enough to send one of their best performers - WDM3A 16294R – looking stunning with its new paintjob. We spent some time at the station, watching people go gaga over the ‘new’ train, and went back home.

The inaugural function was scheduled to start at 1330hrs. and we went to the station again at around that time to find that the Union Minister for Railways, Mr.Mallikarjun Kharge and the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr.Siddaramaiah were already present, as were numerous other dignitaries from different areas of politics and railways and everything else. We decided not to waste much time with the speeches and entered the platform where the train was waiting. The level of excitement and anticipation among the thousands of people gathered there was just something that I have never seen before in any kind of event. Everyone was obviously interested in the locomotive, which was looking even more stunning now, after being decorated with loads and loads of flowers.

After a salvo of speeches from the dignitaries, the Railway Minister and Chief Minister performed a remote commissioning of the railway line(by pressing a button!), inaugurating the train in the process. The moment the dummy signal on the dais turned green, the real ones turned green too, and 16294 let out an ear-splitting 15-second honk that had everyone screaming with happiness. Never have I seen a train horn eliciting this kind of response from the public. The train departed even as the ministers looked on, and I boarded the train and joined my dad, who was waiting with two new tickets bought for us by my friend. 

The rest of the journey was just epic, to say the least, and people were on a level of happiness that spread around like wildfire and soon everyone was cheering. People both on and off the train were so excited at seeing a train chug away after decades of promises that they waved and shouted at each other as the train passed by, sending out huge clouds of black smoke. For once, everyone enjoyed getting their face covered by black smoke.

Railway workers were the happiest of the lot, seeing their hard work pay off.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, and I am glad that I decided to travel in the inaugural special. For a railfan, seeing such events unfold has to be one of the best experiences of a lifetime. Adding to this, the beauty of this railway line is tremendous, and I will let my videos do the talking.

I managed to cover the event as best as I could with both photos and videos on one camera, and here are the links:
Photos on Facebook

Videos on my YouTube Channel