Places to Visit Around Bangalore - Mekedatu Sangama

'Mekedatu' means 'goat's leap' in Kannada. Mekedatu located along Cauvery in Kanakapura Taluk. It is about 100 km from Bangalore via Kanakapura. 

At First We get to see the Sangama, Sangama is the place where Arkavati merges with Cauvery. Then on the Circular boat (teppa in kannada) we can cross the sangama to go to the other side for Mekedatu. It is a pleasurable ride across the river. Then comes in the fun ride, the bus ride on a dancing road to reach highest point of this place then go down the steps to reach the rocky or I should say the rocking Mekedatu. The gushing Cauvery is just worth all the steps climbed down and hardships. The View is a real pleasure. 

The river Cauveryflows through a deep gorge so narrow that one would think that a goat can leap across it . It is not really so narrow and no goat commonly found in that part of India could cross that distance in a single leap. The name comes from an incident which id believe to have been witnesses by herdsmen in that area a long tima ago. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger mad a desparated attempt to save its life by leaping from one side of the gorge and managed to cross over the raging river below, whereas the tiger did not attempt to replicated this feat, and abondoned the chase. The point where the goat leaped has widened since then from erosion caused by the river Cauvery.

There is also some mythological significance to this place (both Sangama and Mekedatu). As per one version, the Goat (meke) that is believed to have leapt across the Cauveryriver was Lord Shiva in disguise. On both rocky precipies of the gorge, on ca find strange holes, whose shapes resembles goats's hooves, though several times larger. It was thought that only divine goats could have marked their 'footprints' in such hard rocks.    

At Mekedaatu, the Cauveryruns through a deep, narrow ravine of hard granite rock. The river, which is more than 150 meters wide at the confluence (at Sangama) flows through the hardly 10-meter-wide gorge at Mekedatu. One can see the ferocious flow of all that water.

Upstream on the Cauveryis the well known Shivanasamudra Falls with its hydro-electric power station. 

Pleasure to eyes and fun too. A very good place to visit.