Sita Falls Hebri – A glimpse at the natural and beautiful tourist spot

By Vivian Fernandes – Bajal, Dubai
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 30 Mar 2012: The Mangalore region is blessed with verdant green fields, waterfalls and virgin beaches fringed by coconut palms. This hilly city with its winding narrow lanes does figure high on most tourist lists.  Set near palm-fringed backwaters formed by the confluence of the Netravathi and Gurupur rivers, Mangalore has a pleasant climate all year round  Its attractions are its relaxed atmosphere, lush greenness and location as a good starting point for the journey up the coast to Karwar.  However, there are a few natural spots which are neglected or hardly known to the public or shall I say no due importance has been given by tourism ministry due to its lack of interest or laziness?  I would like to introduce to you one of those places called Sita Falls situated at a place called Hebri.

 

Jog Falls is very well known to all Mangaloreans and most of us have been there and have enjoyed.  Similarly, there is a wonderful falls called “Sita Falls” on the outskirts of our Mangalore City but hardly known to any.  It is situated on the way from Karkal to Hebriabout 90 k.m. from Mangalore.  It is also known as ‘Zomblu Thirta’ among the local people.  I would like to share my wonderful and memorable experience during my visit to Mangalore. Along with fiends, I visited this beautiful falls on 18 January 2009.   Since we were having vacation during Christmas season, I had been to Mangalore to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

 

When the celebrations got over, I decided to go on a short picnic and as I had already decided to visit this falls I advised my friends about this spot.  Earlier year we had been to Hanuman Gundi another exotic tourist spot and still remember the beauty and the thorough enjoyment we had at this place.  Since my friends wanted to have picnic this year at a different spot as I decided earlier, I suggested them Sita Falls.  Two years ago I had been there for a brief visit and have never forgotten the experience and hence wanted my friends too enjoy this falls.

 

We started our journey at 10.00am on a cool Wednesday.  Since we were all bachelors the enjoyment of picnic was entirely different and most enjoyable.  As we felt hungry, we entered a Konkan restaurant in Moodbidri.  The taste and aroma of wadasambar, gollibaje, wow, the breakfast was so delicious, when I think of that, it still brings water in my mouth.

 

On the way we halted briefly at St. Lawrence Shrine in Attur, Karkal.  Since it was only a week left for the annual feast, lots of preparations were going on for the grand annual pilgrimage  including Novena to St. Lawrence and we too decided to attend early morning Novena before proceeding further and prayed to the saint to protect us and for our safe journey.

 

We continued our journey and reached Hebri at noon time.  Since I had been to Sita Falls earlier, I knew that there is no food available and hence we bought enough food and other essentials at Hebri itself.

 

 

On the way to Agumbe from Hebri, at about 15 to 20 k.m. we saw the sign board called:  “Sita Nadi Jalapatha” in kannada and from here there are another 14 kilometers to the falls.  However, the road is not very good and has no tar and hence our journey slowed down substantially.  In between we had to cross a small pond and as water was less our car could cross it easily. There is a small over bridge to that pool but only bikes could pass through that narrow bridge, but it is very difficult for saloon cars such as Maruti, Omni, Alto etc.  If crossing the pool by cars was not possible, we had to walk almost 7 – 8 kilometers and luckily saved due to less water in the pond.  If you have the bigger cars such as Sumo, Tempo, Traveler, it is a fun to ride through from November to May months.

 

We some-how managed to reach near the Sita Falls at about 12.30 p.m., but there were still 2 k.ms. we had to walk through the thick forest.  This was quite adventurous and we remembered our college days when we had trekking excursions which were fun to go on these types of tours.  But before commencing our walk, we had to leave our car behind and had to safeguard it from puncturing by some trouble making locals.  We gave some tip to few men there whom we could trust and requested them to keep a watch over our car.

 

The 2 kilometer walk though was difficult. However, it proved to be a very adventurous and took about half an hour to finish the trek.  It is advisable for old people not to venture into this journey as it is really a difficult walk through the jungle.  We also met a few monkeys on the way we said hello to them and continued our journey. Finally we reached the desired spot the ‘Sita Falls’ at about 1.00pm.  It was indeed a site watch.

 

We were very excited to see and enjoy this most beautiful scene and were very eager to set our foot into the falls.  The water was quite cold when we set our foot for the first time in the water, but eventually got over of it and enjoyed thoroughly.  The surroundings of the falls are covered by steep rocks mountains and climbing through them was also quite daring and courageous.

 

Nobody was around when we reached there but soon a few other groups emerged and we had afternoon meal with them and of course enjoyed a few drinks too.

 

We set out to return from there at about 5.00p.m. as it would be very dangerous to walk through the jungle when it is dark.  We reached our car at about 5.30 p.m. and had little refreshments on the way and reached home around 9.00 p.m.

 

This was one of the most wonderful and memorable picnics and I feel very happy and proud to share with you all.  Please, if possible try to visit this beautiful God created spot.  Mangalore is called the ‘Rome of the East’ and how many beautiful and exotic places are hidden from public to explore and enjoy?  God only knows…