Man and Machine trip- Day 3 Mandya-Devarabeta (The Sangam Panther- A walk back)

Man and Machine  trip- Day 3 Mandya-Devarabeta (The Sangam Panther- A walk back)

 I wished to start early in the morning to enjoy the charm of interior Karnataka landscapes.  But failed to get up on time. It was7 am. I took my bike inside the lodge which I securely parked last night, and within 30 minutes I drove to Malavallli road.

A water tank at Malavalli road

The breeze when I open the wiser of helmet always enlightened me about joy-of-riding. It does not have to do with a particular destination or the length or duration of the ride. It opened my eyes and my delusion was shattered, and I started riding to some really beautiful destinations. I felt that I became a true motorcycle tourer as I was enjoying the ride, the journey more than the destination. I stopped worrying about how long I rode.

This road was fairly in bad condition if you drive a car.  For biker, at low speed, it's fair and justified. Landscape with sugar cane fields and occasional water tanks can be seen.  Everywhere farmers doing their daily activities.

GPS and Google map on my phone leading me in correct roads.  I always fear about battery charge will stay for all day. I had it before on some trip with iPhone.  So took two power banks with me. In addition, I put my s5 on ultra power saving mode.

Usual sight of cattle and domestic animals in roadside is a lost scenery in Kerala. But here they abundant and agricultural activities in flourish mode.

Small villages flashed away from my rearview mirror and reached Malavallli.    After followed a wrong route, corrected myself and hit a national highway.

After a long pace my bike turns right in a junction.

A cop told me to pull over and checked my license.   No issues.  Again plains.  Now I could feel the company of Kavery as the road goes through turns and high s

Again a forest Check post, without checking or noticing me even I could see so many officials there.

I remembered KA went too many times in his named sudden death through this same road.  I could imagine those times road without tarmac like a village road.  Actually I came through such a road as a pet my Google map said and this is the shape of that path

KA mentioned this path is curvature and difficult to pass on the last 4 miles.  Exactly so I met the ghat road before the village.  In my mind KA'S sudden death roaring to climb the rough path with a turned body of a village woman.   He was on a rescue mission from a ferocious man eating panther, in  Sangam.

Month is June   Gulmohar trees carry the May flowers on both sides of the road made the view a splendid one.   The empty road seems welcoming my bike with a hand full of red flowers and the red carpet. This is a common view in this area. I liked it as in Kerala roads lacks this special feasts of the eye.

Sangama as popularly known joining point or river Akravathi to river Kavery.It is a small village and the people are friendly.

Fishing is banned here by new conservation law.  Still there fish and fishing activities occur confidentially.  But normal tourists never can be an angler here.   Or commercial fishing can lead to jail. I wonder how then you can see dozen of makeshift shops selling fish with different sizes and mouth-watering look and smell on frying.   I was hungry and decided to taste it. But the unhygienic appearance pulls me back. I started my work to investigate KA and his adventures. My priority to find the old forest rest house where KA stayed.  Then to visit the village.  But both of them are not in the same condition now.  I went to the nearest forest Check post. After introducing myself the ranger in charge and a small group of officials and villagers around me. They are enthusiastic about my old photos on the phone belongs to the old buildings and places related to them. They told old buildings are demolished and clearly remember the old days and identified the sites. 

  I got permission to visit the places too including a forest office near the hill.

At that time one man came forward and offered help. a 45-year-old man named Anman Nayak came to me and suggested to go around with him.  The Old photos on my phone have coincided with new areas. He Muthee tree where once KA parked his car in front of forest bungalow still there.  Instead of the forest bungalow, Karnataka tourism's hotel stands in glorious looks. But I could see some parts of old forests building near to it and we took snaps of all.

Anman Nayak in new Sangam village

The Anman Nayak invited to his house and I was thrilled to see the old type of normal village huts and surroundings as KA mentioned. But there are modern type houses. In reinforced concrete and all street is paved by concrete and electricity and the water network is excellent.

sangam village

School and health centre also have good buildings.  He told that government doing everything and all the people in the village make a living by an influx of tourists.  

   I was despaired to know that the old village has been moved out of its original place to a new location. Because the land is under forests department and old cattle Patti also demolished and under protection. He showed the sites of both and this also near to the main street of Sangam. Saw some elderly people there.

Nobody in my enquiries could five any clues of KA or the panther. I could not perform an authentic study and not able to find anyone relating to our storyteller.

Bus waiting area

 Makedatu

Now I wanted to visit Makedatu.  For that one should cross side of the Akravathi River and the same sands where once KA searched for pug marks of a man eater.

Tourists made this beautiful place as a water bin and plastics bottles and snacks covers are found everywhere. There's a private bus running in the forest up to mekhadatu. At this point I tasted the fried fish, as I couldn't longer control the smell and my hunger.

The bus is waiting for us to fill in its maximum capacity.

Maybe about 4 km through unpaved forest road the bus roared. Dry and dusty road with boulders everywhere made the journey a memorable one.I seated on to the hr engine cover in very front side of the bus. At makeduth Kavery is very slim and looks like a small stream.I felt Makedatu is a huge hill of rock which is actually bisected by Kavery River. Numerous rocks and water flow acted like a knife throughout centuries and still continues the cutting. You can see the evidence in the black and granite wall of the riverside everywhere.

A death trap

Makedatu

Today tourists are less. None of them cares about their steps, which in case a false one will be deadly. Some of them under alcohol and I felt it is very bad to permit insane people to enter this sure to death places. Actually, a considerable able percentage of tourists lost a life every year.

If you slip, death is sure. And in rain slip is sure

50 rupees was the ticket fee for bus and entry and its worth.  Nobody is allowed for a walk through the dense jungle road.

We returned in an old bus, about half an hour later.

I remembered KA again here as he sat down on the huge rock and looking to the downstream in a fine evening.

Whilst returning I took a look at the long sand area of the riverbed at Sangama and found one man p cleaning and preparing fishes in the river itself.  After befriending him I learned the fishes commercially transported from a nearby dam, and not from any rivers.  Some of the people believes the fishes are fresh from Kavery and buy it with a good price. I also gave one fish at 60 rupees.  But for me, it's a good price. In Kerala, you have to pay more.

He told some fishes coming from Kerala. I noted later from a roadside fish vendor told me this is a fresh and cheap fried fish from the river. When I looked I knew the fish and its sardine, a sea fish.

Some drops of rain waved me when I depart from Sangama and Gulmohar trees protected from it

Muthee trees in Riverside. This jungle path leads to Muthathi

I stopped again at the boulder where I assumed KA mentioned it as he waited for the leopard.  Took some snaps

Again after confirmed the distance between the village and the boulder

After riding long, Took a turn to the right at the junction of ......... had food from the local hotel.

And ride towards Jawalagiri

The afternoon was nice and cool and the road was laid with potholes.  I pushed on keeping an average speed of 40 to 60is possible. By the time I entered out of the forest into better roads my ankles, neck and back were pretty much disassembled. Stopped in the middle of nowhere and took a ten-minute rest to get enough tolerance to move forward.

I Started afresh and the remaining distance is minimum and stopped at a small coffee shop.

Very soon I Enter Jawalagiri forest. Though the notice and warning of wild animal on the way, I couldn't find anything.  It is a dry forest but finds occasional water tanks.

 By the time I entered out of the forest into better roads my ankles, neck and back were pretty much disassembled. Stopped in the middle of nowhere and took a ten-minute rest to get enough tolerance to move forward.

Reached Jawalagiri, by 3.45pm. Above expectations, it was a village having 30 shops rather than a town. But it has some main government offices, especially the forest department.

Entrance of Jawalagiri

I went to the forest office after had a round in the town. No officials present at that time of 4pm and I found a guard in his quarter s nearby, eating his late lunch.  Their officers are at official duty, later I discovered for bagging of a poacher com bandit known as junior Veerappan.  I was denied permission to stay in the forest bungalow.  I talked to the ranger in charge over phone and he was suspicious about my paper I sent earlier. He connected to DFO and my application readily rejected.

Forest office in Jawalagiri

Another guard told me us a Trichur based bakery owner in the street and he can c help me to have a lodging in the town for a day. But I missed the last chance to stay in a forest bungalow where KA and Don stayed.

Forest rest house

I ride to Thally then Gummalpuram. I was ecstatic and continued to ride at a decent pace of 40 to 50 K mph. Even though it was sunny, the cool breeze made up for it. All alone, I continued to ride imagining how beautiful it could be while riding to Thally.

Diversion to Gummalapuram from the Main road

I wished to write a travelogue but mixed it up with an old post.

I have published a post depend on Kenneth Anderson's story The Sangam Panther. Here I copy it again for the new readers, obviously I am too lazy to write the same. I changed some photos and incidents from the original. We will come back for the travelogue in the next post.

The Sangam Panther- A walk back

Sangam is a small village near to the confluence of Rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi. Kenneth Anderson wrote a good experience of this area in the story  "The Sangam Panther". Please read in the book Maneaters and Jungle killers. A man-eating Panther was active in this area and KA bags it in a hair raising style. As I liked the story and so liked to the geography of this area, I just compile some photos and thoughts. Click the images for bigger pictures.

The Plot

Sangam is around 100 Km from Bangalore. After reaching Kanakapura on NH209, take a left turn to Sangam on SH 92.  About 16kms from Kanakapura you will reach a junction, to the right of which is Cauvery fishing camp. The ghat roads at Sangam will give you more joy. Sangam is sounded by hills of Deccan Plateau and water at Sangam is not so deep. After Sangam Cauvery water flows to Hogenakal and to Stanley Reservoir.

Sangama- 2007

Sangama- Now

Sangam in relation to major towns

The Road, Kanankapura to Sangam in 2014

The Road, Kanankapura to Sangam in 2007

the  confluence of Rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi

 The Village

Sangama Village. Newly constructed houses can be seen.

The Main  "tourist Street" in the area near the old village. now Only shops and no huts. 

borders of TN and Karnataka

Two main Hamlets present now, with some modern Buildings.

Muthee trees along the riverside

Muthee trees along the riverside can be seen in Google maps

 The old bungalow is abandoned I think, but the tree where he parked KA's car is still there. The location of the abandoned bungalow just next to the river is confusing. Photo from 2006- KA yahoo group.

NOW  WE CANNOT PARK OUR CAR HERE. photo of the same area, with old Muthee tree, is converted to a mini-park.

When one sees the bungalow, one can imagine how the scene would have been 50 years back with the great man sitting on the balcony, smoking his pipe and staring at the forest. photo from 2006- KA yahoo group

Photo of the same place pictured above. Old forest bungalow where KA stayed has been demolished and a new hotel under government runs here now.

Old forest bungalow. The location of the abandoned bungalow just next to the river is indescribable.photo from 2006- KA yahoo group

But one of the old structure still seen here. Villagers said this stands in the same place of the above Pic.

A crocodile spotted on the riverbed in other bank.Photo courtesy Team BHP

Preparations.

After reaching the village, KA spent time to get an idea about the locations and formed his plans. He purchased 4  young buffaloes and a dog as baits and walked all around the village.

 More plans and Preparations.

 The alternate route  to the bungalow

Make-Dat

KA described :

From this point Sangam, about 3.5 kilometres downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep gorge so narrow that one would think that a goat can leap across it ('Mekedatu' means 'goat's leap' in Kannada). It is not really so narrow and no goat commonly found in that part of India could cross that distance in a single leap. It is about 100 km from Bangalore via Kanakapura. The name comes from an incident which is believed to have been witnessed by herdsmen in that area a long time ago. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger made a desperate attempt to save its life by leaping from one side of the gorge and managed to cross over the raging river below, whereas the tiger did not attempt to replicate this feat, and abandoned the chase. The point where the goat leapt has widened since then from erosion caused by the river Cauvery.

I am not able to understand what is written, still  acclaimed that any crocodile will read this notice board and will not swim in this area.

The Road, Kanankapura to Sangam -

Road To Sangama

  

Read the passages, it will speak self.

Gorge

The water flows very fast through the gorge,

gouging pits in the rocky riverbed. The climb down is steep and the rocks slippery, making it very dangerous to swim in the river. Drownings continue to occur here, although people have been warned about the danger by a small board and writing on rocks.

Death Trap

Out of tourists visit this place, a high number of people drown in the river, either when swimming or slipping off the cliff. It is a very dangerous place. The 4 feet shallow water is very deceiving as it seems harmless but has claimed the life of 100's of people in the past years. The water current is very fast, and a person can drown in minutes. Just a small slip might be fatal. There are also crocodiles in the water. The place lacks warning signs in several places, but crocodiles and slippery surfaces make it one of the riskiest tourist spots.  The rock surface near the cliff, both during the season or during the dry season, is very slippery and deceiving. Usually, young people and students, who venture near cliff drown here.

KA sat on the edge of the rocks and watched the troubled, racing river. A hundred yards away, downstream, where the surface had become placid again, an occasional fish broke water, leaping into the air, as if evincing sheer exuberance and the joy of living. A fish-eagle circled in the ethereal blue of a clear sky. After a while, he retraced to the bungalow. He had still not found any panther tracks.

The rock



KA had noticed a rock at its edge hardly a mile away from the village. He took the dog, tied it at the foot of the rock and walked away down the road. Silently he clambered up and lay flat on its top. The rock was still warm from the sun that had been shining on it all day.

The killer struck again:

Photo courtesy: animalpictures.com

While KA waiting on the rock, a hyena disturbed the bait dog several times, and KA describes its nuisance behaviours in depth. Around midnight a group of men armed with lathes and a matchlock came to the spot to inform, the panther had seized one of the five sleeping inmates in the hut, a woman about 25 years old. She had shrieked aloud as she found herself being dragged away, waking the other four persons in the room, who were her father, two brothers and mother. Meanwhile, the panther was trying to drag her out through the opening in the thatch by which it had entered. The girl struggled violently. The panther dropped her and bit her viciously. One of the brothers struck a match to lighten the darkness of the hut's interior. Her father, with commendable bravery and presence of mind, hurled the only missile which came to his hand, at the panther The missile happened to be a brass water-pot of some weight, and it struck the panther full on its side.

KA describes that Maneaters, whether tigers or panthers, invariably have a streak of cowardice in their natures and this panther was no exception to the general rule. Leaving its victim, it had dashed out of the hut through the opening in the thatch. The screams of the mauled woman and the general pandemonium had awakened the whole village.

The Night with Cattles

The exact site of old "Cattle Patti"

 The Night on a zinc roof

 Read the passages, it will speak.

 

Some pictures around the area 

The final meeting 

Photo courtesy: animalpictures.com

After a night-long vigilance on the dog shed over the Zinc roof, KA heard noises of jungle folk when the panther was approaching, but could not see due to the darkness. somehow the panther discovered him and came directly under the roof where KA hindered.

Peering forward slowly, KA began to scan the village lane in both directions. Starlight was not good at that moment, only enough to prevent the night from being obscure. The lane to right and left appeared as a faint blur and of a slightly lighter shade than the surroundings. He could hear nothing and see nothing. Then Anderson caught the faintest of sounds. It appeared to be a hiss such as a cobra might make.  And it came from in front and directly below him. Was it the hiss of a snake or the faint noise a panther makes when he curls back the skin of his upper lip?

Read the story for what happened next.

Photo courtesy: animalpictures.com

You must read the story for a thrilling experience.  Then you can enjoy and love this area more and more. Thank you, Kenneth Anderson, for this excellent story.

Links to other blog posts related to Kenneth Anderson stories:

The Man-eater-of-crescent-mountains

Killer-from Hyderabad WB

The-black-panther-of-sivanipalli-

Kankanhalli-town-with-that-alliterative.

Bailurman-and-machine-trip-part-12

Biligundlu-man-and-machine-trip-part.10

Hogenakkalman-and-machine-trip-part-9

Panapatti-man-and-machine-trip-part-8

Kempekaraiman-and-machine-trip-part-7

Gerattiman-and-machine-trip-part-6.

Around-anchettyman-and-machine-5

spotted-devil-of-gummalapur-4

man-and-machine-trip-3-

the-killer-of-wayanad- 2

man-and-beast-trip.html 1


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