MADIKERI(MERCARRA) IN KODAGU(COORG) OF KARNATAKA STATE

MADIKERI is a principal town of Kodagu district and a city of significance.The entire belt of Kodagu earlier called Coorg is a patch of dense vegetation between the Deccan plateau and the Western Ghats and most part of it is scenic and hilly.The entire belt of Kodagu was developed by the English into various kinds of Plantations and the history of Kodagu is interwined with that of Mysore and Malabar.

Madikeri as a city is some six hours drive from Bangalore and can be accessed through Mysore or through Channarayapatna. It can also be accessed from Magadi but no full fledged road exists it appears to me. The climatic conditions in Madikeri is that it is colder and resembles in appearance to Ooty.

The entire town of Madikeri which was called Mercara by the English seems to have evolved around a Fort built atop one of the hills. The unique feature of Madikeri is that it could be called as a Station of Hills as against a hill-station because the entire land scape is a series of hills and valleys with steep slopes and risings. Buses to places like Puttur and Sulya not to mention Mangalore ply via this city. The Historical greatness of this city is that it has provided distinguished soldiers of all ranks to the Indian armed forces since time immemorial.. the statues of some of these eminent men adorn the city.

There are many tourist spots around this place and the people are very well behaved an important aspect of this town.

MANGALORECITY:MANGALORE AS A CITY

It might seem amusing now that in 1982 when I was asked to appear for counselling at present day NIT Suratkal I did not know where it existed and later was told it was in Mangalore also called Mangaluru in the vernacular...my earliest visit to this city was in 1982. Of late I visit the city on Holiday.

Many must be wondering how to reach this place.It is some 350 kilometers from Bangalore on the Arabian Sea coast by bus ..the bus traversing through Kunigal, Hassan and Sakleshpura and would take around 9 hours.Also note the place is accessible through many other points like Madikeri. Mangalore has an Airport which is connected to cities both national and international.There are many private buses that commute between Bangalore and Mangalore.

The State bus stand at Mangalore exists at a place called Lalbagh. Mangalore has typical coastal weather and has heavy rains during Monsoon.The city of  Udupi is some sixty kilometers from Mangalore along the sea coast.Mangalore has many beaches and one of them seen at Panambur on the Mangalore- Udupi highway and is said to be a violent beach with water currents and many are advised not to swim there.

One of the key temples in Mangalore among others is the Mangala Devi temple few kilometers from the city close to a place called Bolar..The name Managaluru is attributed to Mangaladevi Goddess.

  

Mangalore was called possibly Majarur in the past and was a key trading center in association with Elimali the modern day Ezhumala on the Arabian coast and was for many years under the dominion of the Kolathiri kings of Malabar before if fell into the hands of the Ikkeri Nayaks and later into the hands of the Mysore Kingdom. The language Tulu spoken by a large section of the populace has some similarity with the language spoken in Malabar.

What does the city of Mangalore look like...In the past it was a simple fishing village before the Portuguese influence gave it a more westernised colour and tinge possibly in the early decades of the seventeenth century establishing Churches and Educational Institutions.

The basic framework of Mangalore emerged from around a circular road that can be traced even today..the circle formed by Light House Hill Road to Pandeshwar to Mangaladevi to Kankanady and Valencia to the Bijai Church and back to the Hampankatta circle through Jyothi circle.This was the major through fare through which the city breathed since time immemorial and various institutions of significance emerged alongside this circular stretch. Bunder which was the port of ancient times fed economically this "Economic Circle" if one may call it. Within this circle were arterial roads which can be seen even today one of them being the road through Falnir and even the Balmatta road.

ALLEPPEY (ALAPUZHA) , THEKKADY AND MUNNAR.

Some time back as a part of an office  excursion in 1997 went on a tour of Southern Kerala..and is worth recording and mentioning.It basically covered Alleppey , Thekkadi and Munnar..the latter two places in the Idukki district of Kerala. Ernakulam, Alleppey, Thekkady and Munnar form a circular travel loop.

Allepey also called Alapuzha is on the Arabian coast few hours drive from Ernakulam also called Cochin. Alapuzha translates into a Sack like river..technically it could also mean Big River..but what is seen here is not a big river but a big pond or lake formed by the backwaters from the Arabian Sea.A Back Water is formed due to certain coastal conditions and the pressure of the sea water inward forming a large lake in-land.At high tide the excess sea water drains into this lake with its height increasing a few meters and during  low tide the excess water tends to drain into the sea.The waters in a back water will be very quiet and serene with very less or minimal directional water currents making it safe and ideal for boating. The backwaters at Alapuzha is formed through a large narrow conduit running tens of kilometers upstream from the sea making it even safer.

A boat ride on a small steamer could last more than an hour and would cover a large expanse and many boat houses are permanently anchored in the lake for permanent stay for tourists an interesting phenomenon.

We took a halt for the night at Kottayam and set outfor Thekkadi in the bosom of the Western Ghat mountains a lake formed by the streams of the Western Ghat forests  and part of the Periyar game reserve. The boats used for boating here are smaller in size and the rides are smaller than the one at Alleppey and wild animals like elephants can be spotted on the top of the Ghats near-by. Being the Boss I got to sit on top of the steamer and had a very splendid view of the surroundings for nearly an hour.

Few Hours deep into the Western Ghats towards the Tamil Nadu border is the hill station of Munnar. I just happened to stay in the resort there for the night after  having a stroll through the narrow roads and small townships. Munnar  is a very quiet and eloquent place like say Madikeri in Coorg which I had visited an year before on a similar trip.

MAGADI NEAR BANGALORE

Some 50 kilometers from Bangalore is a place called Magadi a prominent place with a fort and a temple and is a crucial spot to my observation with thick vegetation around which must have been some kind of a Forest centuries ago.

Magadi used to be the capital of the Gowda clan that ruled Bangalore and eventually settled at Magadi for historical and tactical reasons. The Wodeyars seem to have annexed this place into their control. The Fort is being repaired on modern lines by Governmental involvement.

I feel the place   Magadi has received less attention and prominence that it deserves; If we were to look at the map   Magadi must have become a key transit point and route for vehicles and people who vie to reach places like Coorg and yonder through the western ghats into Kerala and could have developed as a solid via-media into these districts. An Englishman by name Kenneth Anderson who lived in Whitefield and held a position in the modern day HAL has some bearing with this town around which he is believed to have hunted for Tigers in the thick jungles and this person has written couple of books on wildlife.

Kenneth Anderson 1910 to 1974

Yonder to Magadi are places like Rayasamudra , Banihole and even Madikeri, Virajpet and into cities of Kerala. In Magadi town there are few who know much about these towns mentioned above.

Let this place once the citadel of the valarous communities of Karnataka increase in significance and open more land routes of stature to improve the overall economy of the belt which extends from Ramanagaram to Chennarayapattana.

How to reach Magadi ? there are many direct routes. One of the intermediate nodes is a place called Tavarakere some 15 kilometes from Kengeri through the ring road  and Magadi must be some 20 kilometers from this place called Tavarakere.