Sunday, November 29, 2009

ಆಗುಂಬೆ(Agumbe)-Splendid sunset

Agumbe is a village located in the Shimoga district in the state of Karnataka, India. Lying in the Thirthahalli taluk and the Malnad region, Agumbe is among the places in India that receive very heavy rainfall earning it the sobriquet, "Cherrapunji of the South".It is also the home of the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, the only permanent rainforest research station in India.The renowned herpetologist, Romulus Whitaker called Agumbe the capital of King Cobra. An area near Agumbe has been converted into a protected area for Medicinal Plants to help in their conservation.





Sunset Point
Agumbe has a sunset point which receives lot of visitors. On a clear day, one can see the sun setting over the Arabian Sea though the sea is at quite a distance from Agumbe.





Waterfalls
Kunchikal Falls Kunchikal Falls is the second highest waterfall in India and ranks 116th in the list of highest waterfalls in the world.[4] Its total height is 1493 ft/455 mts. It is formed by the Varahi river.
Barkana Falls Barkana Falls is the 10th highest waterfall in India with a height of 850 ft/259 mts. It is formed by the Seeta River. Onake Abbi Falls This is another waterfall near Agumbe. In the Kannada language, "Onake" means a pounding stick which is used to pound grains in villages. Jogigundi This is a small water fall which is very near to Agumbe, it takes about 10 to 15 min to reach this place.

Agumbe is near the town of Thirthahalli which lies on the National Highway NH-13. From the state capital of Bangalore, Agumbe can be reached by taking NH-4 till Tumkur, then NH-206 till Shimoga and then NH-13 to Thirthahalli (a total distance of about 380 km.). Udupi on the Konkan Railway is the nearest railhead. The nearest airport is the Mangalore International Airport.
It can also be reached from Bangalore via Hassan ~ Belur ~ Chikkamagalore ~ Shringeri ~ Agumbe. As of today, this is the best road to reach there. The road is very good and a lot of places like Belur, Chikkamagaluru and Shringeri can be seen on the way.
Agumbe is the location of the only permanent rainforest research station in India which was established by the herpetologist, Romulus Whitaker.Whitaker chose Agumbe as the location for this station since this was the area where he spotted the King Cobra in the early 1970s.



Malgudi Days
Malgudi Days is a famous television serial which was directed by Shankar Nag and is based on the novels written by R. K. Narayan. Many episodes of this serial were filmed in Agumbe. In 1985, a new set of episodes of Malgudi Days have also been filmed at Agumbe under the direction of Kavitha Lankesh.

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