Bangalore to Mysore on Bike: Day 1: Part 2: Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Brindavan gardens and Krishnarajasagara or KRS dam Karnataka AdmirableIndia.com

Bangalore to Mysore on Bike: Day 1: Part 2: Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Brindavan gardens and Krishnarajasagara or KRS dam

2nd July 2008, 01:01 am

After visiting a lot of places in Srirangapatna we moved to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. It is about 4 kms. from Srirangapatna. Ranganathittu also spelt as Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary is the abode of migratory birds from Siberia, Australia and North America. The Sanctuary was established in 1940 due to the efforts of India’s noted ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali. This unique bird sanctuary is set on the banks of the River Kaveri and has a group of six islets. Located on an island formed as a result the Kaveri River splitting into two, Ranganathittu is a natural summer home to scores of exotic birds including Cormorant, Darter, Egret, Heron, Ibis, Kingfisher, Plover, Spoonbill, Whistling Teal and many more. This bird sanctuary is perfect for those who like to go on short wildlife tours and bird watching tours. It was 2 o’ clock in the afternoon and it was hot and we were hungry. I took tickets for Rs. 65 where Rs. 50 was for entry fee for two and Rs. 15 was for the bike parking. There was a nice restaurant near the sanctuary and we had lunch over there. I ordered a vegetarian thali and puris were nice and hot. After a nice lunch we went to check out the sanctuary. To watch the birds one has to take a boat. Just for Rs. 50 I got two tickets for a boat ride. The boat ride was fun and I took some nice shots:
Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary

I also took a video from the boat:

The best part is that we found a couple of crocodiles basking in the sun. That’s one of them:

Crocodile

Check out this video of two crocodiles:

Here’s another video:

For more photos of Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, click here.

Then, we moved to Brindavan gardens as it was nearby from that place. Brindavan Gardens is located at a distance of 20 kms northwest of Mysore. It lies adjoining the Krishnarajasagara dam which is built across the river Kaveri. The work on laying this garden was started in the year 1927 and completed in 1932. Visited by close to 2 million tourists per year, the garden is one of the major attractions near the city of Mysore. It is one of the best gardens in South India. Spread over 150 acres, Brindavan Gardens has since the 1960s provided the backdrop for many Indian films. Special attractions include the Dancing Fountains. The garden is embellished with vast expanses of well laid out lawns, diverse kaleidoscopic rows of flowers and above all the amazing site of fountains encompassing a small beautiful lake holding the charm of musical fountain in its center. The entry fee is Rs. 20 per head and camera fee is Rs. 40 for a still camera and video camera is not allowed inside the garden.

Brindavan gardens

You can see the beautiful statue of Lord Krishna in the garden and that signifies the name Brindavan gardens:

Lord Krishna

I took a nice video of the garden with my still camera. Well, in this trip I was not using my Kodak camera, as it was with Lucky. I was using Payel’s Sony Cybershot:

Then, we went to check out the Krishnarajasagara dam, which lies adjoining the garden. Built in 1924, this is India’s first irrigation dam. Sir.M.Vishweswariah, the engineer who designed and built this dam, has shown his acumen in converting a dam site into a beautiful garden with colorful fountains and ponds downstream. The dam is named after the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who financed this novel project. KRS represents a marvel of civil engineering achievement in pre-independence India and was among the first in the world to use automatic sluice gates. We went upstairs and took some pictures and suddenly the battery was down. Well, we were left with two options, either we move towards Mysore or we stay at a nearby place, get the battery charged and come again to the gardens. As I was desperate to see the garden at night time, we took the second option. We found a nice budget hotel near the garden and got a room for Rs. 450 per day. I took out the battery from the camera put it to charge and ordered some tea. It took one hour to charge the battery and we went again to the gardens. I took a nice shot of the Krishnarajasagara dam:

Krishnarajasagara dam

The dam is over 3 kms long and is constructed at the junction of three rivers – Kaveri, Hemavati and Lakshmanathirtha. The view from top of the dam was amazing:

View from top of the dam

It was getting dark and we moved to other side of the garden for musical fountain. We crossed a bridge and I took this shot from there:

A shot from the bridge

The garden is open from 7:00am to 8:00pm every day but musical fountain show is only from 7:00pm to 8:45pm on weekends. The show started at 7 pm and the synchronization of water with the songs was great. I took a video for the song “Saare Jahan Se Achcha”

While returning I took a nice shot of the lightings:

Lightings