Hanumaan-Gundi, Kudremukh, Lakya Dam & Malpe Beach

---

Hanumaan-Gundi, Kudremukh, Lakya Dam & Malpe Beach.

KudreMukh is the name given to a peak of a mountain for it shape like a horse-face (kudure=horse & mukha=face).
Hanumaan-Gundi (Gundi=pit/hole)
When we started from Infy All we have planned was to visit these places called Kudremukh & Hanumaan-Gundi. At the end of the day when we returned, the story was very much different and exciting. All in all we visited five places - HanumaanGundi waterfalls,
Kudremukh Park, Lakya dam, Bahubali temple and Malpe beach + resort.
We started at around 8 in the morning. After the round of mock fights for the window seats settled down, we started the breakfast round! If it would have been just idli-wada then I would rather avoid mentioning it here. But the hot halwa provided us the energy for singing, yelling and hu-ha-hu-ha for the coming Antaakshari.

(See the happy faces after eating halwaa) (see the pic)
When the teams started repeating the songs in antaakshari, we switched over to Dumb-
Charades.
We reached to Hanumaan-Gundi a little after 11a.m. Before that we made a halt in KudreMukh National Park to view the scenic beauty of the place.

(Yes, it’s basically an effect of the cool breeze!)(see the pic)
You can feel the passing by clouds near you at this place.
Hanumaan-Gundi is one amazing waterfall surrounded by dense jungle and hills. There is a small (but deep) pond at the basin of the fall. Those who knew swimming exploited their skills to its full extent! The water was extremely cold.

(A few minutes before leaping inside the pond)(see the pic)

Overall temperature of the place was also down by five degrees. A couple of guys even made a plan to climb to the point from where the water was falling into the basin. But the idea was dropped keeping in mind the time constraint.

At 1p.m. we were moving towards the KudreMukh Park and restaurant for luncheon. The park was a beautiful place except the fact that the security guys didn’t allow us to walk/run/sleep on the lovely lawn!!!

(KudreMukh Park)(see the pic)
There is a small aquarium also in the park. We had the lunch @2.30p.m. and immediately
headed towards the Lakya Dam.
The good hearted Ranger provided us with some details about how the iron-ore is separated from the ground and transported through the pipeline to Mangalore. The dam is essentially a dumping place of slag/slurry that is removed from iron-ore. Sushma was still interested in Manganese excavation from that place but the poor Ranger couldn’t give her any info (you
could see the clear disappointment on her face)!!!
Our next target was the famous Bahubali temple near Karkala. It’s huge idol of Bahubali - carved from a single stone. It said to be of 1436A.D. (inauguration was done on 2/29/1436 to be precise).

(Bahubali idol - 1436 A.D.)(see the pic)
Anand even felt some mystic vibrations from the yagna-rock!
After having tea-coffee break we headed towards Malpe beach. I guess the bahubali temple visit made HBRians high-spirited to play all those exciting (and exhausting) beach sports!!!

(Malpe beach resort: culmination point)(see the pic)
It was almost 8.15 when we dragged ourselves for dinner at the Malpe-resort.
We reached back to Mangalore @11p.m.
Technical Details (KudreMukh/Hanumaan-Gundi):

Distance from Mangalore - 110 Km (approx)
Places to visit: KudreMukh Park (garden), iron ore factory (you need prior permission), Lakya dam.
Near by spots: HanumaanGundi waterfalls, Shringeri.

Technical Details (Malpe beach):

Distance from Mangalore - 60 Km (approx)
Places to visit: Malpe beach and resort.
Near by spots: Udupi, Manipal.

Author: Prashant Jani (PrashantJaniSyahoo.com)
www.geocities.com/prashantjanisite

---