Mekedatu (Goat’s leap)

It was that time of a semester where we were feeling the need for a break from the usual go to college, listen to lecture for 4hrs, attend practicals, go back home routine. Well, you would understand this if you were an engineering student. So we decided to visit some place, and this was the first outing with engineering college friends. The place turned out to be ‘Mekedatu’. On 23^rd September, 2007 (Sunday), eight of us left to the place around 8am in the morning. We were traveling in a TATA SUMO booked by a friend, took few snaps on the way and reached a place called ‘Sangama’ (It is called so as three rivers meet in that place) , crossed the river in a round boat(Forgot its name) and walked few kilometers(very long walk) until we reached the main place. We could notice the power of water by looking at the natural stone sculptures. In no time we were busy exploring the place and got to know the depth of water. The water was flowing with immense force which could be sensed by our eyes. It is a dangerous place unless you are not careful. 

We left the place after some quality time as well as snaps, had some junk food nearby and went to a place called ‘Chunchi Falls’. But the falls was not activated due to the reduced amount of rainfall. Fortunately we found a place where we got into the water and played for a while. It was already around 6pm in the evening and time to start our return journey. On the way back we visited a local Dhaba, had dinner and came back home by 10pm in the night. It was great fun, I feel everyone should see this place(Mekedatu), you’ll surely be mesmerized by its magnificence.

Additional Info:

Makadatu is a lovely spot along Kaveri in Bangalore rural district. Sangama is the place where Arkavati merges with Kaveri. From this point, about 3.5 kilometers downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep gorge so narrow that one would think that a goat can leap and cross it (‘Mekedatu’ means, ‘goat’s leap’ in Kannada). Of course, it is not really so narrow and no goat commonly found in that part of India would do that distance in a single leap. This place is about 90 km from Bangalore via Kanakapura.

For people who are visiting this place: Be extra careful because one small mistake gives a holiday to your classmates and carry your own food with lots of water.