Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Timeless 'Kanooru Kote'

Couple of weekends back I along with my friend Nagabhushana visited a desolated remnant of the fort of Kanooru (Kanooru Kote in Kannada) in the heart of the Western Ghats.



 



 
It is situated at around 70KM from Sagar in the thickest of the forest where you feel it as a remote corner of the world. Its truly very very desolate.





  The feel of the place is very mystic. There is a deafening silence in the place and you could almost feel it. The whole place once used to be the place of some dynasty is now shattered on ground and scattered apart on the forest floor.






Some remnants are still there to tell the story of the past glory. The whole place is now engulfed by the forest and you will find many of the remnants also look like part of the forest itself!










There are couple of temples which are robbed ruthlessly to find the buried wealth beneath the statue in the Sanctum sanctorum. The scene there is horrible and heart wrenching.













Reaching this place was no easy task. The route is awful and very steep at places. It took us quite a lot of time to find out that we are on right track and by the time we reached the place it was 4:00PM! I had about an hour to document the place and that short time is not enough for this mysterious and beautiful place to give justice through the images.

It's in my list to visit again.


I know nothing about its history and Googling also didn't help in getting anything more than the fact that it is a nice trekking spot for the trekking enthusiasts which is perfectly true. So if any of you know about its history or any useful information around this place please feel free to share it as  your comment so that it becomes a good documentation on this place on web which is lacking at this point of time.

Cheers,
Ash

24 comments:

Pramod Viswanath said...

Very eerie mood captured here, Ashwini. Loved the series.

Ganesh H Shankar said...

Interesting series Ashwin. How to reach this place from Sagar ? Route ?

Ashwini Kumar Bhat said...

Thanks Pramod and Ganesh.

@Ganesh - Route info: Sagar -> Kargal -> Biligar (on the way to Bhatkal)-> Take right at Biligar, there is a sign board as well -> 18km from this point is Kanooru Kote.
Last 7-8km is a very very tough terrain. Only terrain vehicles can make it on that road. We struggled quite a lot as we were on a 100cc bike :)

Unknown said...

WOW I guess this is what Ankorwat and Machupichu would have looked like when they were first discovered. Nice images and very wise descision to go BW. I loved he Gaint Wood spider image and the temple series showing the forest around it. Nice work man!

Ravi Hegde said...

Very interesting!any link with Keladi Kings?

Ashwini Kumar Bhat said...

No idea Ravi. Lets see if anyone replies with any concrete information.

Shivanand said...

Ashwin,
Good photos & blog.
Did you go by bike ?
I had gone there 3 years back with my friends. I think it was 8+8KMs treck for us. Did you miss to upload the photos taken inside the temple ?
It is heartening to see the act of robbers. Even the localites don't know when that incident happened & who did it(ordinary thieves or British). They told it may be 70-80 years back. It is told that in olden days, kings were keeping gold & valuables under idol in temples so that people dare to steal it.

Anonymous said...

Interesting Pics Ash !!!... :) ... reading from gurgaon :)

Ashwini said...

looks very mysterious.good spot to shoot a Nagavalli/Arundhati movie :)
please continue the adventures.

Ashwini Kumar Bhat said...

Thanks friends.
@Shivananda - Yes. We had gone on bike... Keeping the wealth inside the sanctum sanctorium is a very old ritual in Hindu culture and it has been followed from ages unknown. It is because of this many temples were robbed in the past and surprisingly it is being continued now as well. I had visited a similar place near Sirsi where the same shameful act was done very recently, not by the locals but from distant intruders. Sad but true.

Chetu said...

WOW...Its been a long time since I did this trek :-) There are lots of myths about that place...still people there believe there is some hidden treasure there. I am not sure if U have observed that or not...but the place is dug up at many places...idols removed...in search of treasure. U could have got a lot of info (truth or myth) if U had spoken to any old man living near that place.

molarbear's posts said...

I am not usually a great fan of B&W photography...I love the vividness of colour...but here, the desolate mood has really been evoked by the monochrome images!

It was, indeed, a visit to a desolate present of a vibrant past....thanks for the evocative documentation!

What made you choose this place?

-Deepa.

Ashwini Kumar Bhat said...

Thanks friends for the encouragement.
@Deepa - I had heard about this place as a desolate remnant of the past which is dominated by the trees now. I was curious. I had seen images from Ankorwat on NatGeo Mag and realised that how interesting it looks when huge trees dominate the once grand fort/temple. After visiting a similar place last year (but not as beautiful as this one) near Sirsi, I simply decided that I have to visit Kanooru Kote.

Aneesh said...

Ashwini, wonderfully captured in Black and White. I liked the thought of framing it B/W to give the mystique and antique/period feeling.

Wonder if Mr. Shivanand KaLve would have some info about the fort?

Shetty said...

mind blasting images maraya...

ಶ್ರೀನಿಧಿ.ಡಿ.ಎಸ್ said...

ನಾನು ಸುಮಾರ್ ದಿನ ಆಗಿತ್ತು ಈ ಕಡೆ ಬರದೇ,ಸೋ, ಲೇಟ್ ರಿಪ್ಲೈ.
:)

ಇದು ಕೆಳದಿ ಚೆನ್ನಮ್ಮ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ಕೋಟೆ. ಈ ಜಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಭುವನಗಿರಿ ದುರ್ಗ ಅಂತಲೂ ಹೆಸರಿದೆ. ಗೇರುಸೊಪ್ಪೆಯ ಕಾಳುಮೆಣಸಿನ ರಾಣಿ ಅಂತಲೂ ಅವಳನ್ನ ಕರೀತಿದ್ರು.
she had trade links with portugal rulers. ನಾನು ಸುಮಾರು ೧೦ ವರ್ಷದ ಹಿಂದೆ ಕಾನೂರು ಕೋಟೆಗೆ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದೆ:)
ನಾವು ಹೋಗುವ ವಾರ ಮುನ್ನವಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಎದುರಿನ ಗರುಡ ಗಂಬವನ್ನು ನಿಧಿಯಾಸೆಗಾಗಿ ಕೆಡವಿದ್ದರು. :(

u can google keladi chenamma, to knw more about her.

Ashwini Kumar Bhat said...

After some time looked up your blog. Very nice to find your photos and write up of Kanooru kote.

From Kanooru ,the adventurous trek route brings you to Gerusoppa Nagarabastikere, the place of really wonderful Chaturmukha Basadi. It is a must visit place given the sentiments expressed by you in the blog.
I have a booklet where it is mentioned that the Kanooru Kote came up during the rule of queen chennabairadevi of gerusoppa (1562-1606 ad ). Wanted to write this comment on blog itself, but the technicalities and my net skill limitations stopped me.

_Ashok T.Hegde (Mavinagundi)

Ashwini Kumar Bhat said...

Thanks you Shreenidhi and Ashokji.

Good to know about the history of the fort. Looks like the fort belonged to the Queen Keladi Chennamma. Thanks again for sharing the info.

Umang said...

beautiful article Ashwini.

Loved the images too.. the bw treatment makes the place all the more musterious

Unknown said...

Hello Ashwini,
daywittu colour photos kooda haaki.
Balakrishna

Ashok Dwarakanath said...

Amazing photos and write up too. Thank you for sharing these photos. I have been making a blog to make people aware about our country. It could be about incredible places or incredible people who have contributed to this country. I search for articles online and use the same text to recreate the article with some extra details. The intent is only to consolidate information in one place and then make people aware of this amazing country. Many Indians have this habit of appreciating other countries and say that they are great. But unfortunately many are not even aware of our own backyard.
I have used your photos in my blog called ashokasays.blogspot.in and have credited you too for the photos. Hope you don't mind.
Thanks, Ashok

giri.kallare@gmail.com said...

Thank you for sharing. I plan to visit kanooru kote very soon.

giri.kallare@gmail.com said...

Thank you for sharing. I plan to visit kanooru kote very soon.

Unknown said...

Where to stay when we visit this place? Any advice please...