Travelogue 2 :Karkala

The 42 ft Gomateshwara statue 

Chaturmukha Basadi that can  be seen
from the hill

The photo session.

Pulling the chariot out 

It was the Annual Sports day and all my batchmates were busy preparing for the march past.After practice and lot of preparation our branch did win the march past, and then the celebrations started .As all our batchmates were together and we had no classes ,we decided to go on a trip. After a lot of discussion ,finally our batchmates decided to go to Karkala , a town of historical importance and a pilgrim centre for Jains.It is located at about 10km from our college . It is also a World heritage site listed by the UNESCO. We decided to visit the single stone 42-foot (13 m) Gomateshwara statue ,located at about 1km from the town .This statue of Lord Bahubali was installed at Karkala on February 13, 1432  and is the second tallest in Karnataka .It was around 12 noon when we reached the spot .We then started climbing the hill ,and after a 5 min climb we reached the destination, where the statue was located .It was indeed a very beautiful place, from where one can see the surronding forests ,rivers and the Jain Basadis.There were around 25 of us on the trip. The priest seeing us asked us to pull out the chariot which was in a shed ,for the annual Rathotsava to be held in February .Pulling the chariot under the hot sun left us all tired ,but was a great experience .Then there was a photo session in which all of them took photos with their friends.The hill is a great picnic spot to visit with friends or family .The scenic beauty surrounding the hill attracts everyone. After roaming around the hill for some time ,we left  the place at 2 30.This was a trip that would stay in our minds for a very long time ,as it was the first trip along with our batchmates.The other notable places to visit in Karkala are the Jain basadis and the Lord Venkatramana Temple ,which is also popularly known  as Padutirupathi.