Beautiful Riverbed perfect for the weekend picnic spot.
We started from Bangalore around 8:30 am and reached the spot at around 11am after having breakfast on the way at MTR Kanakapura Main Road. Once you enter the Mugguru forest you have to pay INR 60 as Forest entry charge. You can park the vehicle near the main entrance of sangama (Parking-INR 30).
Sangama is the confluence of two rivers – Arkavathi and Kaveri (Cauvery). You need to take the ticket of INR 50 Per Person for the traditional round boat coracle ride which will be valid for to & fro journey from main entrance. the person who will be handling the coracle might spin the coracle rapidly and will ask to pay extra amount for spinning the boat.
Once you reach at the opposite end of the river you can take the bus ride for Mekedatu gorge viewpoint which is around 4-5 km from the starting point. these buses keep running every half an hour till 5:30 PM, the fare is INR 60 per person for two way journey. A lots of colourful birds can be seen enroute, if you are lucky you can spot deers on the way to view point.
Mekedatu means goat's leap in Kannada. Kaveri flows into a deep and narrow gorge, so narrow that a goat could leap over it and that is how it got its name. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger saved its life by jumping over the gorge whereas the tiger did not attempt to take the risk and abandoned the chase. When reaching the gorge the river flows ferociously onto the rocks sculpting them into some amazing shapes.
After walking a 1 km from parking point you can see the beautiful Arkavathi river flowing through the rocky hills and deciduous forest and drops in the form of Chunchi fall. You can also enjoy the complete view of landscape from watch tower or you can trek down to the foothill of waterfall which is dangerous as it is slippery and steep. You can't get into the water as there will be police which will not allow you to go down near the fall. Chunchi Falls is worth visit post monsoon.
