Less Travelled Spot Near Mysore

pmvelu

Friends,

For those of you who plan to visit mysore / Bangalore , the following place might worth be a visit and it involves de-tour from Bangalore-Mysore Highway (SH-17)Near Srirangapatna

Place Name: Tonnur Lake (English) / Tonnur Kere(Tank is Kere in Kannada) / Keerathodannur(Local Name)

What is there ?:
A Big lake
A Small stream where kids can play
Not at all a Tourist kind of place and hence it will be calm
Scenic Place with Scenic Drive Through the sugarcane Belt of Pandavapura.
2 Very Very old temples at the base of this lake (Managed by Karnataka Archeological Survey)

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2 Very old temples in the base and this lake and that's it. Nothing to see apart from that
No Hotel and One Small shop is there near to this lake which sells Tea/ Soft Drinks /Snacks

How much time I Need to cover this:-

4 Hours @ the banks of the lake / To take bath(If at all if you are interested) / Try out the Thoni Ride) and to visit the temple

How Could I make it a Day trip from Bangalore / Mysore :-a) You could club this place with Melkote (Around 20 kms from this place) (or)
b)You could club this place with Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary(Around 20 kms from this place via shrirangapatna)

Is it Really Worth a Visit ?:-

Not Sure but Till now I visited this place 4 times and believe it or not all times It's just my family + hardly 5 to 6 local villagers BUT this place will appeal to those who just wanted to relax in a calm / Scenic /Secluded place

Driving Directions From Bangalore :-

1)Bangalore-Mandya. Drive Straight and just 2 kms before Srirangapatna, We need to take the Right and Clear Signboard will be there and that right will lead to Bellary / Shravanabelagola / Halebeedu/Belur/Melukote /Pandavapura
2) Pandavapura Road will be good and we need to drive straight and we will reach Pandavapura Railway Station
3)Just exactly in front of the Railway Station, there will be 2 roads and we need to take the right (left will lead to Shravanabelagola/ Halebeedu/Belur)
4) That's the SH-19 and after 4 kms , we will reach Pandavapura Bus station, Drive past and take a right and then followed by a left (Indication is there will be a big lake at this left)
5) Drive straight and after 3 to 4 kms , you can see a White Sign board which says [If you have any doubt ask any villager how to reach Keerathoddanur Village and that's the key word]

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Venugopalaswamy temple
And few other temples
6) We need to take this left and drive straight and from here on road is Good but will be narrow
7) None will be there virtually and all through we can see many a vegetable fields and just we need to drive straight
8)After 8 kms we will see a Dusty small village and that's Keerathodanur
9) Drive Straight and we will see Defunct Temples @ left side (Governed by Karnataka Archeological Survey ) and another Temple @ right side (Governed by KAS) .
10) Drive Straight and we will see a small scenic lake at the left hand side and we need to drive straight and we will see a small hillock towards our left side
11) Continue driving and we need to climb up the hillock (This 1 km stretch is pathetic with Just Pebbles & Pebbles and also steep)
12) After 300 metres we will see a Small stream/ But water gushing out with full force and people taking bath there
13) Drive Straight and at first sight it will be like a miracle as we will find a BIGG Clean Fresh Scenic lake on top of a Hillock .


Driving Directions from Mysore :-:-

1) Take Bangalore road (SH-17) and just after Srirangapatna , we will see a BIG signboard saying

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Pandavapura 8 kms.

Take this left & Follow the same steps specified above from step(2) onwards.

batistuta

pmvelu, Thanks for the informative post. I am beginning to suspect that you have explored all the places around Mysore.

Manzey

Thanks pmvelu....I will try to visit this place when I go to Mysore next time. Cheers...!

pmvelu

Honestly Speaking , To an extent Yes Batistuta.My Santro Reading is near to 10000 km in past 7 months but considering My daily commute to office is just 5 kms (To & Fro) , All other Kms are in Traveling to touristy / Non-Touristy places only...

And Glad to know this Place interested you Manzey !..

*jyoti*

Thanks for such detailed info--and the directions. Sounds like a nice retreat to get away from the city.