Manipal End Point where time comes to a stand-still

Report and Pictures by Victor D’Souza, Doha
Bellevision Media Network

29 June 2010: Manipal end point and the road leading to the end point is a beautiful location for Jogging or to watch sunset over the Arabian Sea or to just sit and enjoy the natural beauty. It is famous for its panoramic views and wonderful lush green landscape overlooking Swarna River winding its way to the sea. It is one of those quiet, scenic places where time comes to a stand-still.

One feels short of words while explaining the naturalistic beauty of this place. Just imagine standing on the top of the plateau on which Manipal is founded. The beautiful river runs below the hilly area. If one is adventurous then trekking down the place is very exciting, encountering all sorts of plants and going through the areas of dense vegetation down the plane.

End point is also famous for the couples, who come to this place at the evening to see the beautiful sunset and pass some precious moments with each other. Lots of families and singles also come here. Health conscious people take no chance to leave off this place during their evening walk. We can either take a stroll or brisk walk, with plenty of fresh air and then rest at a place to relax.

It is usually deserted during the day as people are busy at work or studies and also because it is at the outskirt about 2 kilometer away from the centre of Manipal. This time when I went there with my family on an afternoon, I could see some youngsters, may be students, most of them pairs either sitting or strolling. It is a good place to go even at day time as it is full of trees which provide shades and there are also benches to sit.

 

 

End Point has recently been renovated. When we approached the end point, I was surprised to see that the road leading to the end point has been blocked and that portion of road and the surrounding area has been barricaded and a DC office is being built there. We were about to return back thinking that there is no access to go to the end point. But then we found that there is a mud road going around the barricade which then leads to the end point. Now at the end point area, we cannot drive through inside like before. There is a gate with security and all the vehicles must be parked outside and must go in walking.

On the way to end point now there is a lovely garden and also football and cricket grounds. There is a 1.5 km gravel based jogging track all around it. The ground has a picturesque setting too.  Being at the end point of Manipal, which is on a plateau, the scenery around the ground is absolutely marvelous.  The Western Ghats can be seen at a distance on a clear day and on the other side is the Arabian Sea. On the far side of the river is Kolalgiri a beautiful village full of fields and greenery.

As for the facilities at the cricket ground, there are eight practice pitches including six of matting and two turf wickets.  A motorized roller and the manually operated light rollers were used to make the turf wickets. The covers were adequate to take care of even the bowling run up as per the specifications for big matches. May be some day we can have big matches here.

There are rumors that a bridge to Swrna River will be constructed at the end point in the near future. If this will be built then that will be the shortest route from Manipal to the national highway NH17 and will be also convenient for the people of Kolalgiri and surrounding villages to come to Manipal. Now the people have to cross the river by boat. The location at the end point and the banks of the river has all the potential for a picnic or tourism spot.