What is there in Shivasamudram Falls?
Shivasamudram waterfall is on Kaveri river and divided into two different falls which are 8km apart from each other – Bharachukki and Gaganachukki falls. Bharachukki falls is the famous of the two falls but we found Gaganchukki falls equally good. Even during off season (before rains) both the falls had decent flow and not completely dried out.
The thing that we liked about these falls was that government is trying to make it more tourists friendly and have constructed lookout points, toilets and parking lots. Also unlike Hognekkal falls which was all littered up these falls were very clean.
When to visit Shivasamudram falls?
Best time is definitely after monsoon when the Kaveri flows in full form. But it wont be disappointing to visit in summers also. We had visited the falls in May and it was not that bad.
How to reach the Shivasamudram Falls ?
We drove to Shivasamudram falls and it took us around 2 hrs to reach Gaganchukki falls. GPS would be the best option- just punch in Gaganchukki and it will direct you to the right place. We had no problem locating the falls. If you are travelling from Bangalore, first Gaganachukki falls will come from there you can ask the guard for directions to Bharachukki falls, though there are sign boards on the way so locating these falls shouldn’t be a problem.
How much time do you need for Shivasamudram falls?
We had left around 7am in the morning from Bangalore and around 9 am we had reached Gaganachukki falls. After making few pit stops here and there we reached Bharachukki falls around 11am.
Usually at Bharachukki falls, tourists are allowed to go down to the gorge and take a small boat ride, but unfortunately when we visited the falls this facility was shut down temporarily as earlier that week someone had drowned there. Also, there were a lot of monkeys there so we didn’t stay at Bharachukki for a long time. We took a small detour but we if we had not we could have reached back to Bangalore around 2pm.
In all, Shivasamudram is worth a half day trip but there are few places nearby which can be combined with this trip.
Places near Shivasamudram falls
Talakad : This place is famous for being a deserted a town but by no means it is that. It has few temples which have been unearthed and most of the tourists come here. We also visited Talakad which is around 32km from Bharachukki falls (GPS Talakad – sign boards are also there). It has good architecture but not a must visit place. It was a very hot day when we visited this place and moreover there were so many tourists so it was pretty crowded.
There are many other places nearby such as Bheemeshwari, Chanapatna, BR Hills , check the below link for more details. – http://www.karnataka.com/mandya/barachukki-gaganachukki-falls-shivanasamudra/
Tips when travelling to Shivasamudram falls
- Carry your own food and water. Though there is a small eatery outlet near Gaganachukki falls but its better to carry your own food.
- Beware of monkeys. There are a lot of monkeys near Bharachukki falls.
- Carry spare clothing. If you take the boat ride at Bharachukki falls there is a high possibility that you will get wet (there are washrooms near both the falls).
Our Experience
We didn’t have much expectation from these falls and hence we were pleasantly surprised that they had some water in them and also were well maintained well. At least the areas near the falls were not littered which made us feel really good.
The road to this place was superb with just few bad patches. Overall we liked this place but we would like to visit this place once after the rains to see the falls in full form.
Fledgling Travelers 