Kudala Sangama

As the name suggests this is the place where rivers meet. River Krishna and MalaPrabha meet here. Til I reached I was under the assumption even Ghati Prabha river meets here but that is not the case. Either ways very auspicious as per Hindu beliefs and later I found out that this is my best friend's kula dev. Present in Bagalkot district and is about 110 kms from Bijapur. ( Why is this imp, well I travelled from Bijapur to Kudala Sangama ) We took a KSTRC bus from Bijapur at 1 pm and reached about in 3 hours, including Lunch at a Dhaba. Pretty good food in Typical North Karnataka style. As my Mother In Law pointed out, if you dont eat the food in these places, you will not get the feel of the place. Reached Sangama Cross and took a bus further to Kudala Sangama.


Some excerpts from Wiki to save you to open another link:



Lord Basava the great prophet and social reformer was born in Bagewadi (Basavana Bagewadi), a small village in Bijapur District, in North Karnataka, also called Ingaleshwara Bagewadi. Agrahara was an important place in town. The house of Madiraja the chief of the township was situated here. Basaveshwara was born to Madiraja and Madambike on third day of Vyshakha month of Anandanama year in Rohini star, according to the Hindu calendar. (The year coincides with 1134 A.D.) Basavanna was a great saint; he is considered Guru by some and some believe in him as an incarnation of Nandi, Lord Shiva's greatest devotee. A true visionary of his time and a revolutionary who started a new religion, Lingayatism (also known asVeershaivism), which literally means 'The brave followers of Shiva'. Basavanna's ultimate aim was to make this fundamental right available to each and everyone. Basavanna, keeping welfare as the ultimate aim, expedited programmes to take religion to the people by preaching and writing religious literature in Kannada. His samadhi is at Kudalasangama.


It is believed that in the 12th century Jathaveda Muni Sarangamath had set up an education centre here and Basaveshvara, Channabasavanna and Akkanagamma were students. Basaveshvara spent his boyhood here and, after his return from Kalyana, he is said to have became one with the God at this place. The vachanas composed by him are dedicated to the presiding deity here, Sangamanatha.



I didnt know this and always thought Nandi and Basava are the same. See travel increases your GK :) Proof no 4571




We reached the place, left our luggage at a shop where we bought Pooja items for 20 / 30 bucks. Walked further to the river banks towards the temple and took a dip in the river. It took us 3 dips to get used to the chillness in the water, then we didnt feel like coming out at all. Then went for a boat ride. This river flows further to SriSaila which is one of the Jyothirlinga.




Now that we were dry, proceeded to temple. Surprising part was the temple has 2 nandi. We got to know that Each one is dedicated to one river and the corresponding Ishwara.




There is a Ganesha temple and then is the best part. What we thought was the viewing gallery. We proceeded towards it, to find out a set of stairs lead downward.







On going down, one realizes that there is a shiva linga that is being fed with water from the sangam. We prayed and went up the stairs again, this is diff from the stairs that led us down.




One can take bus from Kudala Sangama to Bagalkot or till Sangam cross and take buses that ply on the highway. We reached Bagalkot late but the Train was also late by more than one and half hour. Thanks to labnol and enquiry.indianrail.gov.in, i was able to trace the train. This reduced our wait time and also we were able to see more places in such a hectic trip.


On reaching Bagalkot, tried to buy dinner but being vegetarian there was no option. The only Udupi restaurant we saw was also closed for renovation. But we found a Bakery if we walked ahead to a place where the road split into 2. This place had one of the best Veg Puff I have eaten. Patries were not upto the mark but Plum cakes were pretty good.
Well I Travel to explore and eat, so with that I sign off till the next trip.