Sangama and Mekedatu, Kanakpura – The Goats Leap

Sangam and Mekedatu are some of the most visited places around Bangalore. Sangama is the confluence of two rivers – Arkavathi and Kaveri. Just 4 km from Sangama is Mekedatu, one of the most beautiful gorges in Karnataka. As there is very little information about how to reach Mekedatu and what do expect in Sangama, I will try to explain it in depth. If you got any further questions feel free to comment down below or ping me on my social media.

Nightmare turning into reality: After relishing the beauty of Chunchi falls we headed to Sangama. You can see farmers laying Raagi crops on the roads. They are lethal for the bikers, one has to be extra careful when passing over these crops. With my previous experience on these roads, I warned all my friends to ride carefully. I was happily cruising at 60 km, just 4 km before the destination, I saw the car in front of me suddenly slowing down (some random person carelessly crossed the road). I tried to apply breaks as well, unfortunately, these Raagi crops were just below the tires. I lost the balance and fell on the road. I got bruises on the knees, the brake lever broke down and there were some scratches on the bike. Luckily there were no major injuries to me or the pillion rider. The only thing I was afraid of actually happened. And the worst part of it was my action camera was turned off just before 5 minutes 🙁 Otherwise, it would have been a great content on the YouTube 😀 After a recovery time of 15 minutes we were ready to ride again, but this time with the break not working it was not easy to ride.

Sangama: There is a forest check post before entering the reserved forest, the forest persons would check for alcohol. Alcohol is strictly prohibited in this area. The ride from Checkpost till Sangam was scenic as we had to cross the reserved forest stretch. We reached Sangama at 3 in the afternoon. A perfect time for lunch. There are many food stalls from parking to the river bank. All the stalls would be serving delicious, fresh fish fries of different varieties. If you are a “pure” vegetarian better get your food packed from home. For everybody else its time to dive in for some hot fish fries, rice, and Sambar. If you don’t like local food stalls like this, then you can hop onto Hotel Mayura which is at the end of the line.

We decided to reach Mekedatu first, to reach Mekedatu one has to cross the river and catch the forest bus to Mekedatu. To cross the river you can either opt for a coracle ride which charges around Rs. 50 per head or if the water level is low then you can cross the river on foot. We decided to cross the river on foot. We realized the water level is high in the middle of the river. It was till my waist level. Fortunately, I remembered to take out my mobile from the jeans, otherwise, the trip would have cost me a bomb.

The Endless wait: There was a bus standing to take the passengers to Mekedatu, we paid Rs. 90 per head for a two-way journey. There were hardly a couple of folks along with us. We had to wait for 45 minutes more for the bus to get full and finally take us to Mekedatu. I was unsure if we could have just walked instead. (After research I found mixed opinion if we can walk instead of taking the bus.)

Mekedatu: Mekedatu means goat’s leap in Kannada. River Kaveri flows into a deep and narrow gorge, so narrow that a goat could leap over it and that is how it got its name. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger saved its life by jumping over the gorge whereas the tiger did not attempt to take the risk and abandoned the chase. When reaching the gorge the river flows ferociously onto the rocks sculpting them into some amazing shapes. The river Kaveri flows through a deep ravine of just 5-10 meter wide. The water flow is very fierce at this place during monsoons making it very dangerous to swim here. It is highly recommended to stay away from the edge as much as possible as the rocks are steep and slippery. There are cases of many tourists losing their balance and falling in the river never to be found again. We took some time to capture the beauty of the rocks before walking back to the pickup point. luckily we didn’t have to wait for eternity this time for the bus to take us back to Sangama.

The water current is strong

Taking a dip in River Kaveri: We reached Sangama back at 5 pm. We had the plan to jump into the water to rejoice. We walked towards the Kaveri river where the water was unpolluted and there was less crowd. But there are stones on the bottom of the river which makes it very difficult to walk. Arakavathi river has a sand bed which is ideal to walk and play but it is much polluted.

Look at those bright fresh face after playing in the water

After taking bath, we changed into dry clothes, had some more fish fries, and started riding to Bangalore. We gave a quick tea break at Kanakpura before proceeding further. I reached my home at 8 pm. It was a great time spent with my close friends.

1. Sangama will be open from morning 6 am to 5.30 pm. While Mekedatu will be open from 8.30am to 5.30 pm

2. Food stalls are available at Sangama, don’t forget to try fish here.

3. No accommodation is available at this place.

4. You can take a Coracle ride to reach the other side of the river, if the water level is low then you can opt to walk as well.

5. The coracle ride takes around Rs. 50 per head for to and fro. 

6. There are forest buses from Sangama to Mekedatu which costs around Rs. 90  per head for to and fro.

7. Try to take bath on the Kaveri river instead of Arakavathi. If you are accompanied with kids then there is no other choice than the Arakavathi River.