Treks and travels: Waterfalls in Kodagu

People visiting to Kodagu normally visit Abbe and Irpu falls. There are quite a number of falls in Kodagu which many of the public are not aware of.

Last week, I and few of my Office friends visited these few lesser known falls in Kodagu. Since most of us had been to Abbe and Irpu falls, it was decided to drop them and see only the less famous but beautiful ones.

Devaragundi falls in Todikana was the first falls we visited. This place is in Dakshina Kannada district near Kodagu border. One has to walk for couple of kms from a Temple at Todikana and cross two streams to reach the falls. We decided to cover this stretch by our four wheel vehicle. The first stream was crossed without much difficulty. At the second stream, looking at the water level, we decided to stop the vehicle and walk the remaining distance. The guards at a forest check post warned about getting into the water at the falls as it was very slippery.

The 35 feet falls is a nice scene to watch. Although the water tempted us to go for a shower, we resisted our urge to enter into water. The news of death of a person who got into the falls a month ago prevented us from getting into water.

After lunch at Madikeri, we set out towards Chettalli. The waterfalls we had in mind was Abbiyala falls. I had heard that this is on the road side before Chettalli. But this falls disappointed us a lot. There was not enough water and I did not even feel like taking a snap of this falls. It was raining heavily but still very little water.

We then decided to call it a day and proceed for Palace estate, where our stay was arranged. One reason for booking this place was that this estate had a private waterfall. The falls was just 4 minutes from the Home stay inside their estate. I was expecting small cascade but was surprised to find a 50ft falls with copious amount of water. The water was crystal clear and also was a very safe place to enjoy the water. Since the water was used for drinking purpose, bathing was not allowed.

Next day after visiting the Private falls again, we set out for Chelavara village. Chelavara is known for its huge waterfall. It viewed from the road itself. There is also a way to get down and to the top of the falls. The water level of falls was quite high and we could not really get too close to the falls. My attempts to take a photo of falls in full view went in vain. One wrong step would end ones life. Certainly, there was no necessity to take that risk.

One of other falls we saw in Chelavara was Balliyatra(Kabbe) falls. One of the villagers gave us the direction to the falls. To reach the falls, one has to trek for over an hour in slippery path. Since the trip was not meant for trek, people were not ready for it. There is place one could see the falls from a distance. We went to that point and enjoyed the beauty of the falls. The falls looked very similar to Bandaje Arbi falls.

I had heard of a waterfall called “Haalu hole” in Chelavara. I asked several villagers about this but none of them knew about this falls. Haalu hole remained a mystery.

Mallalli falls near Somvarpet was in our itinerary but people preferred to reach Bengaluru before night. Nothing could be done about it and we decided to drop Mallalli falls and return back to Bengaluru.

Well, this is not the end of waterfalls in Kodagu. There are still few of them and I have plans to visit them.

More photos of this trip can be seen here.