‘Mekedatu’ is the place where the Kaveri (Cauvery) River flows through a narrow ravine. Legend has it that the channel was so narrow that sheep would jump across, and hence the name Mekedatu (Meke = sheep/goat, datu = cross in Kannada), more on this a bit later.
Mekedatu is about 93Kms from Bangalore. The first 89Kms till Sangam can be undertaken in a vehicle, but for the last 4Kms we need to cross a river and either take a different transport bus or go walking.
I and my friends had booked a Qualis for the journey. We started on our journey at 9:10 AM. The route to reach Sangam is via Kanakapura. Since we were unsure about the availability of food at Sangam, we had our breakfast at a hotel in Kanakapura, I am unable to recall the name of the hotel, it was some sort of Upahara.
We moved on after breakfast and most of the initial part of the journey was good, but the last 20kms or so was bad, but it may be due to the fact that they were in the process of tarring the road. But anyway the journey was not too tiring; and we reached Sangam at around 11:30 am.
You may be wondering about why the place has been named ‘Sangam’, well this is because this is the place of confluence of two rivers – Arkavathi and Kaveri (Cauvery). It is a nice place to relax and enjoy. We wanted to stay here, but this ‘Goat’s Cross’ enticed us, why would a place where Goats crossed become famous?
So we crossed the river which separates the two banks. Now we could either take a Bus or walk for 4 Km to reach the spot. We decided the later and went walking. The walking part was not as much fun as we had expected as the sun was really belting down on us and the tree cover over the road was really not something to speak about. But since the road runs parallel with the river, we were offered some fantastic views, the rock formations were just majestic to say the least. We had an urge to go to the bank, which we did at one location, but since we wanted to reach the Mekedatu point early we continued on.
Finally we reached the point, what we saw left us spell bound, we were just waiting to see if someone would come and say ‘Bakra’!!! if you know what I meant. The meaning is so simple right, the place were Goats used to jump across, If you come here you would agree that the place is so precariously up the slope that at this point I suspect even the goats would fear to venture leave alone jump!!
Enough with the literal meaning, moving ahead this is the point where the Cauvery comes through the Narrow gorge. The scenery is quite pleasing and the rock formations are just breath taking. But one should be very careful not to go to near the edge as the rocks are slippery to say the least. We sat around here for quite a while before heading back. If you came expecting to just across just like the goats used to do, you will be disappointed to say the least. But it is worth a visit if you have come till Sangam.
We were extremely tired, so we hopped onto a Special Bus which would take us back to Sangam, I am mentioning Special Bus since even though the charge is Rs 20 for 4 Kms! they charged us Rs 25 each, saying that Rs 20 is for round trip people who would be charged Rs 40. You actually need to see the bus to realise how special it is and how suited it is for the journey. We finally reached back to Sangam around 3:00 pm after a 10 horrific minutes on the bus.
We crossed the river again, and headed to the ‘Hotel Tender Coconut’!!! for the lunch. If you are planning to go into the water and would like to change into something more suited then you change here. We had a heavy lunch; and around 4:00pm we headed back to the river to chill out.
Before we moved into the river, our cab driver mentioned that there were crocodiles in a particular part of the river and asked us not to venture in that part. He mentioned that on 2nd of Jan which is just a couple of days back, the croc had caught a person and dragged the person underwater and it was just today i.e. on 6th that the croc released the body and it came up. The person was going to be cremated today. To how much extent it is true we do not know, but we believe it was true sine there are quite a few warnings posted all over the place about crocs existing here. At the max the driver must have added a bit of spice to the story that’s all.
We spent nearly two hours in the waters, before we decided to call it the day and we started to head homeward. We reached back Bangalore at 8:30pm, with a travel time of about 2hr 15min.
All in all, it was a bit different kind of experience when compared to the other two places that I ventured last week. A good place to spend time with friends, although there is nothing much to explore except the rocks.
Tips/Suggestions/Observations
- Mekedatu is 4 Km away from Sangam; which in turn is about 89 Km from Bangalore.
- You can either walk or take a bus, the bus would cost you Rs 20 per head.
- Food items mainly fish items are available on the road side.
- There is a restaurant at Sungam called ‘Tender Coconut’ where you can have your lunch.
- Nothing much to see except water and beautiful rock formations at Sangam, and the gorge at Mekedatu.
- Take lots of water!!!
- Crocodiles exits in the water at one particular portion, so be careful and do not venture out to remote places.
Hits for this post: 17220
April 29th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Hey,,,, u described very weel n the u covered all the required info… Thanks dude
May 17th, 2008 at 12:40 am
..
I won’t say it’s different from other blogs. But, yes, I can’t help mention that you well described it. Good
~sudhir
June 13th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Hahaha… really nice post, but I got scared of the crocodiles!!!
October 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Good Review.. Thnx
November 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Makedatu & Sangam are lovely places but an attractive death trap..My brother & his close friend got trapped in these waters on Nov30,2002 & we never got their bodies til now.Donno if they became crocodile preys…Soo many young lives are gone in these 2 places…its a dangerous place to be in…Adhere to warning boards their if u really want to visit the place!
November 9th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
@Shubha: Sorry to know about your brother and his friend. I would again emphasise to all to be careful. Please heed to the warnings, unknown places can be dangerous and be extra careful around water not just at this place but near any water body for that matter.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Nithin thans for the info
i am planning to take around 40 people to this place soon.
Cheers !!!!!
Vishal
January 31st, 2009 at 4:29 pm
thanks for the information. i am planning visit the place. i will take maximum care
April 24th, 2009 at 10:35 am
thanks for the information, but very nice explanition, it is good , i am planning visit the place
May 7th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
that hotel is rathna uphara, when you visit next time pleas go for vasu hotel, that is famous for dosa
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Really nice place.. for picnic ….with plenty of water everywhere…but be cautious its equally dangerous..i dont knw much about crocodiles but definetly water can alone be zeopardy…so adhere with warning-boards and dont try some unusual stuff …!
so take care…
happy journey to all…:-)
October 18th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Hello All,
Thanks for the above information, its really useful and made our trip to mekadatu a pleasant one. 4 of us went by bikes. We started at around 8:30AM from k.R.Puram via silkboard, Banashankari and then got onto Kanakapura Road. It is around 110 Kms from K.R.Puram. On the way we have visited Chenchu falls which is 6KMs inside from the main road and 10kms prior to Mekadatu. Chenchu falls (forgive me if the spelling is wrong) is not a great place but had some sort of trecking. Then we have started to Mekadatu and reached there by 1:30PM. Purchase drinks or eatables on the way itself as its bit costly in Mekadatu. To reach Mekadatu we have to cross a small river called Sangam. Dont go by boat from Sangam, its waste of money. It is very easy to cross the river and the maximum depth is around 4 feet. Sangam is the place where you can have bath and play around. After reaching the other end you have to travel for 4 KMs to reach mekadatu. Buses are available and they charge 40Rs for round trip. Road is bit bad if you have time you can have a walk aswell. Once you get down the bus you have to step down (around 100 steps) and here Mekadatu is…. Its like water flowing between two hills, actually its streamed in a hill. You can spend around 1 hours on looking at the water force. We came back by bus and then played in water at sangam for 2 hours. On the way back we have visited Pandit Ravi Shankar Ashram at around 7PM. Ashram is also good, we had dinner in Ashram itself. One good eat out zone in kanakapura is Vasu hotel and we had 3 yummy yummy dosas there…Finally we have reached K.R.Puram at aroun 9:30PM.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
thanks a million…
January 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
I visited on 26 Dec 2009 with my 19year old nephew and 90year Father . It was gr8 one day trip.
We spend good time at Sangam, I want to take my family including Kids 2Year, 6Year and want to know which are dangerous places. Please indicate which are dangerous place. Can some add marking on wikimapia for safe zone and Dangerous Zone. Before crossing the river, left side has nice sand beach. Is it safe to stay over night there?
January 8th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
@Aziz : I am in no position to tell you this, it is best to ask the locals who reside there. It may not be safe to stay overnight at the sand beach, search for some accommodation nearby. There seems to be a Jungle Lodge resort nearby at the cauvery fishing camp.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:56 am
Hi,
I was wondering why you had to take a bus to Mekadatu when you had the qualis? Is it unmotarable road, or are private vehicles not allowed?
January 26th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
@Nibu : There is a small stream of water which flows near Sangam which cuts off the direct road link to Mekedatu. You can take a vehicle but is not recommended for the vehicle and I am not sure the bus people will allow that since it would be a loss for them.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:07 am
hi, this is a very nice place if u come in rainy season, then only u can watch the falls wellly otherwise in other season u can’t enjoy the falls properly. don’t take any large bus to go for this trip, because the road is not suitable for it . it is very narrow & dangerous…..
February 27th, 2010 at 11:10 am
place were Goats used to jump across got blasted while they were shooting for a kannada movie climax. Because of those fools, we all have became a bakra.