DabbaGuli Travel Guide– So, you want to go on a day trip from Bangalore? you are bored from the famous Nandi hills or the Cubbon park, then probably this strict no-frills, no special and strictly village ride to Dabbaguli can come to rescue.
The advantage, river Kaveri flowing through the dense forest and in remote areas, the catch, it’s not for everyone’s taste. Why? let’s read on
WHY DABBAGULI?
Before we go further, let’s make it very clear that I am talking about Dabbaguli, which is actually on the Tamil Nadu side, but because of geography location, you will keep seeing or crossing the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border while you approach the remote location from Bangalore.
There is one Dabbagulli village which is on the Karnataka side and near to Manchanbele dam.
Also, to give you a clear picture, the drive itself can be challenging as 5-6 Km is pure mud road and then again the last 6 Km is mud road before you actually reach the destination. The entry gate (which is that 6Km before the destination) opens up by 8 AM and closes by 5 PM (official time).
So, on a very high-level Dabbaguli is for those who want to enjoy a 3-hour drive/ride from Bangalore, witness pure village life, and a bit adventurous as you pass through the forest area and in no network zone.
DABBAGULI FROM BANGALORE
Most of you who are reading this blog on Dabbaguli, might be residing in Bengaluru, and therefore yes you are at the right place for the information.
This remote place has gathered momentum only 1 or 2 years back and so the locals started seeing a rush of vehicles heading to the Cauvei basin every weekend. It is approx 100-115 Km from Bangalore and it will take approx 3 hours to reach by normal speed.
Now, why 3 or 3.5 hours, simply because it lies in the deep forest area and hence at some places you won’t have any tarred road or the roads are very narrow for two vehicles. Therefore, the best tip I will give you is to start as early as possible from Bangalore to Dabbaguli.
We started at 6 AM sharp from the Nice road.
WHAT TO EXPECT WHILE YOU HEAD TO DABBAGULI?
I assume you will take the Kanakpura road from Bangalore and therefore the road drive is good till Kanakpura town, though the road work is in progress,
I will suggest you take your breakfast on this road itself, as further ahead, you won’t find anything good to eat or drink. From Kanakpura town, you take to a 2 countryside road, which is in good condition and will take you till the forest area starts
From here is what you will witness mud road and dense forest, there will be bumps and tricky roads, even for avid bikers it is suggested to take care on this road. You will keep crossing Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border so you will also witness signboard in Kannada and Tamil, this is unique.
I will suggest, just enjoy the pure countryside sighting and experience the unique drive.
DABBAGULLI TIMINGS?
As expected this remote area falls under forest division and hence there is a barricade set in before 6 Km of Dabbaguli and manned by the forest guides.
The time for visitors is restricted from 8 AM to 5 PM, however, please keep in mind that sometimes you won’t find anyone to open the gate (as it happened with us), we called one of them by taking the phone number from the signboard.
Please also ready to get your vehicles and bags checked for any liquor etc, also I highly recommend you to please do not litter and carry your plastics waste with you to be dumped in your respective home. This place belongs to nature and we are visitors.
ROUTE MAP TO DABBAGULI
There are two routes from Bangalore, one is through the Anekkal side and you will travel most of the route in Tamil Nadu, and the second one through Kanakpura Road (which I preferred). Refer below Gmap to get the route, also do not hesitate to comment or ask for any help or information about Dabbagulli.
Also, there is a famous Lord Shiva temple which goes by the name ” Dabbaguli Basaveshwara Swamy Temple ” so you can ask about the temple route from local folks and you will reach exactly at the same spot.
You can also mix the Dabbaguli trip with the famous Barachukki Falls if you can only start very early from Bangalore.
The flow in the Kaveri river depends on the season and how much water is released from the Mysuru KRS dam and hence do not get disheartened if you see less water during the dry season.
MY DABBAGULI VIDEO
I used this opportunity to try my hand in making a small video on Dabbaguli and my experience.
You can watch it for sure and let me know in the comment if it is helpful for you, I hope my guide on DabbaGuli through Travelescape will help you.
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Wow! What an amazing read! Already added this beautiful place to my Travel Bucket List. I am definitely gonna explore DabbaGuli this year. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photographs. Looking forward to reading more of these awesome travel blogs :)
Had been so many times (near to 20 times) and love this place , Next week 27,28 there is festival over there,where we can stay over night and food will be prepared by devasthanam and there will be crowd near to 2k (last time eperienced)
Ya it was jathre
Yeah its a good place and I like to inform you another information that is the temple which newly constructed is by virupaksha Swamy who is a structural engineer and the history behind this is really awesome. And be care full with the elephants
Very nice trip of yourd
Will this weekend be a good time to visit this place? (July 31st)
Hello Parvathi, yes why not, but with caution as rains are there and the last stretch of a few km is not black road, also the entry gate is operated by forest guard, so it depend on their mood to open or not :) please join our whatsapp group to know all detail.
Hi, I am planning to go this weekend along with family. Kindly suggest if it is safe to visit with family.
Hello Vinodh, yes it is safe, ensure you reach and come back before sunset, also the last stretch is bit offroad, so you need to take care of it, avoid going in water of Kaveri.
Can you share the forest guard gate number to check in advance whether they are allowing now (19 Nov 21) or not?
Hi Can you share the WhatsApp group invite thanks in advance sir 👍
Hello Ershad, here is the link to join
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HkFyQYM6XLSAAOMLSIZHEh
We set of 6 ppl planning to visit Dabaguli Tom i.e, on 31-Oct-21. We need to confirm whether we can go to place ?
Whether the place is open on Sunday ? Bcz some of the places around bangalore outskirts are closed on Sundays due to strict measures to close the places which has tourism and more people vl visit ? please let us know if v can contact anyone near by ?
Hello Harish, I dont think there will be any problem, except the weather and at the entry gate of the protected forest area, the entry depends on the mood of the local policeman, the number is on the entry gate and if it’s closed, please call them and tell them to open after 8 AM. Let me know how it goes.
How bad is the last stretch for a fully loaded Honda City? same model as yours.
Hello Gyan,
it’s completely raining in TN and KA and hence, I feel it’s not a good idea to go esp on the sedan, the last stretch is bad but a typical sedan can go in the otherwise dry season.
Been to this place very recently. It’s a beautiful river but at this place people also offer prayers to their late beloved people hence u can see hair n stuff over there. They should restrict one side for doing these rituals and other side for picnic. Also people have made place dirty by putting bottles, cloths etc.. If these things are taken care it can become one of the Favorite silent place to enjoy 😊