Waterfalls in the Sahyadris’ ( Serie 3)

Western Ghats, The Sahyadri; call it as you desire but one of the most iconic and historical mountain range of Indian Subcontinent, diverse in its biological flora and fauna running along the west coast of India, it is a mind boggling feat of nature and for nature lovers it offers a passage back in time to how nature is supposed to be in all her grandeur.

As i move to the third article in this series I would be exhorting about one of the most iconic falls in the Indian Subcontinent known as Jog Falls. India’s second Highest plunge waterfall with a fall height of over 290 meter was displaying its rising strength with each passing hour as the monsoon rains relentlessly swelled the river Saravathi.

The River Saravanthi flooded with the recent rains reaches the edge of the cliff and falls in a deep chasm over 250 feet deep (and this is dangerous definitely). JOGA, also known as Gerusoppa is divided into four falls – RAJA which is one complete unbroken fall over 250 metre meets the ROARER halfway which rushes towards it at an angle of 45 deg with heavy force and both then rush downwards into the chasm. We then have the ROCKET which shoots jets of water as it falls downwards and then there is the serene RANI which falls over the cliff in a cloud of mist and water droplets. There are steps built to reach the bottom of the falls but their permission depends on the state of the falls and the weather conditions.

One can view the falls from two locations – the normal view from across the cliff where one can see the entire enclosed cliff and the the four falls distinctly and the second one is along the cliff using the series of steps built , however this is the tricky part and one has to be careful not to slip as it is a long way down in that case J. I was fortunate to witness the vigor of the falls in monsoons as they were building up their strength and the symphony of the rain and mist added to the charm.

It is quite easy to reach Jog , one needs to just take NH 69 ( Bengaluru – Honnavar road ) , 400 kms from Bengaluru. The best stay to stay out there is the State tourism run KSTDC Gerusoppa hotel which gives the best views of the fall at any given time .