Ranganatittu and Somanathapura

It’s been a long time since our 'Thomson' group went for a trip. We had been to Ranganatittu ( a bird sanctuary near Mysore) and Somanathapura Temple ( an old temple built by Hoysalas) two weeks ago (24th Nov 07). It is one day trip. We started from St. Marks Road at 7 AM, after waiting 30 mins for Maheshwar. Had nice breakfast at Kamath Lokruchi. It took nearly 2.5 hours to reach Ranganatittu. (One has to take a right turn towards Hunsur, 3~5 kms after Srirangapattana). Its was off season and we could see only 5/6 varieties of birds.

Two type of boat rides are offered here 1) Public (need to wait till boat gets full and 15 mins, 25 Rs per head) 2) Private (30 mins - 250 Rs). We opted for second and shared the cost with another group of two. The gurd who took us for the boad ride was very helpful and he showed us all birds in their natural habitat and helped us in photographing the birds. We had Lunch in the Canteen there, which was not bad.

We spent nearly 3 hours there and started towards Somanathapura. This is an old temple built by Hoysalas. Architecture is similar to Belur and Halebidu. One good thing is that this temple is not destroyed. Most of the sculptures are intact. Its took an hour and a half to reach Somanathapura. Spent an hour there clicking the photos.
Reached Bangalore by 7 PM .

Team: Myself, Chetan and Maheshwar
Date: 24 - November -2007
Route:
Ranganatittu: Bangalore -> Ramanagara -> Mandya -> Srirangapattana -> (3~5 Kms) Road towards Hunsur on the right side -> (500 mts) Ranganatittu Sanctuary.

Somanathapura : Ranganatittu -> Srirangapattana -> Srinivasa Agrahara (After 1~2 kms from Srirangapattana, need to take a right turn immediately after a bridge. Ask locals) -> Karighatta -> Banoor (Roads are BAD) -> Somanathapura (Very BAD roads)

Expense: 600 per head.

PHOTOS:
Link to Ranganatittu photos.
Link to Somanathapura photos.