A weekend in Bheemeshwari

Last weekend we decided to go out of Bangalore and relax in a place which is not too far away. Bangalore is surrounded by greenery, forests and rocky hills and we decided on Bheemeshwari which lies on the bank of Cauvery, just 103 kms from the IT capital. The Cauvery Wild life Sanctuary covers these areas. The Jungle Lodges and Resorts – JLR, A Government of Karnataka Undertaking, which specializes in Eco Tourism manages three properties on the same Cauvery stretch -Galibore and Doddamakali.

We had booked for a day visit and my experience in Bheemeshwari with JLR was excellent and it was affordable. The officers and even forest guards are very co-operative and food was very good.


We left city by 7am and reached by 10.30Am. It was a great weather with cool breeze ans a bit of a drizzle. The villages , people, landscapes were very beautiful to see
After reaching JLR , we were welcomed by lemon juice and given an orientation of the day's activities.

We started with a trek in a near by hill in the forest with a forest guard. The range is called Basavana Betta. In that lush greenery, one could spot Elephants, Leopard, the endangered Malabar giant squirrel, Deer, Sambar, Peacocks and several birds and animals.

The forest guard Mutthaiah was very kind in explaining about the forests . By this time we had entered the forest , the guard has stopped us upon hearing some sound in the nearby bush and alerted us and took on another route to hill. It was a tough climb up for us as we reached the top. From there , we first saw the animals that were there in the bush .There was an elephant herd and we could see about three elephants. If our forest guard was not alert, we would have had to face them.


From the top of watch tower we could see the panoramic view of Cauvery Wild Sanctuary and mighty river Cauvery ,which flowed in the center of the forest. After spending some time we returned to JLR. We had planned to go to the river till lunch time, but the forest guard told us that the elephants may head to the river .


On the banks of river there were very beautiful log huts which were spacious and seemed affordable.If you didnt have any activities just relax on these hammocks , listening to the song of river and birds.


We headed towards Golghar for lunch and walked beside the river to reach our dining hall. The smell of delicious food flooded the entire landscape as we did appreciate the fact that JLR provided us with such food in a forest, which is the difference between a government and a private resort. Our hats to the people behind JLR.


Later the forest guard told us it was very dangerous to go to the river as crocodiles were there in river. We saw them sleeping lazily on the rock far away as we went on a coracle ride. We sat on one of the small rocks on the banks and watched some birds fishing. The cormorants were too fast for me to capture them on the lens, while the cool breeze was very soothing.

Finally it was time to leave as we had some hot tea and bajji and returned to the city, rejuvenated.


Getting there:

Total Distance from Bangalore to Bheemeshwari 103 Kms
Bangalore to Kanakapura 55 Kms ==> Kanakapura to Sathnur 25 Kms ==> Sathnur to Muthathi village 18 Kms ==> Muthathi Village to Bheemeshwari 5 Kms

Posted by birding and wildlife enthusiast Ramesh J S in his blog