This is one of those “never-planned-for-this” exploration. Sometimes these unplanned explorations turns out to be the best ones.
Kanva Reservoir is located approx. 60 kms from Bangalore.The Kanva river (a tributary of the Cauvery river) is named after the sage Kanva, who is believed to have lived in the caves in the mountains and forests around the dam in the time of Ramayana
Getting there is pretty straight forward.
Drive out of Bangalore on the Mysore road. Once you cross the town of “Ramanagaram” (Ramgarh of Sholay) and proceed towards Chennapatna, you would come across “Kamat Lokaruchi” hotel on the right hand side. Drive further for about a kilometer till you find a gap in the median that would allow you to take the deviation . There are sign-boards to help you along.
From the main road, one has to cover a distance of 8 kms to reach to the water-front. This 8 stretch km take one through the village of Karmangla. Roads are motorable, with rough patches at places, making the 8kms stretch look a lot more :-) .
Best way is to go by your own vehicle. There are no buses right upto the reservoir.
At times, these rugged roads also seem to be a welcome change (gives you an opportunity to check the off-roadness of the vehicle).
Not many know about Kanva, so most of the time you would feel that you are the lone ranger on this stretch of land. Finally after what seemed a long drive (from the main road), we caught the first glimpse of the water body. It was a vast area filled with water.
During the rainy season the water level rises (obviously). At this time however, there was not much water, but there was water enuf for one to dive in for a swim. The water is murky where it is shallow. Be careful when you put ur leg inside the water. The sand underneath gives way under one’s weight.
This is an ideal spot for a short picnic. Ensure you carry enuf food/snacks. There is nothing but a solitary make-shift “shop-hut” which has basic snacks/water etc.
Best time to get here would be in the mornings, when you get to spend decent amount of time before the heat gets the better of you.
On the way back , we stopped briefly stopped at the lone village of Karmangla to get a feel of the village. We had a couple of curious on-lookers. One other “curious” on-looker would not budge until a picture of his was taken. So , we had to oblige. Here’s the picture :-)
As always, the return journey felt shorter . It was a total different world once you hit the main road. Welcome back to chaos and confusion.
Thats it from me for now. Will be back soon.