Visit to Kurga - Beautiful Hill Station Located in State of Karnataka in India

India is a country full of many sightseeing places like hill stations, sea beaches, historical cities, holy temples and the most modern and large cities. I had an opportunity to visit one such beautiful hill station of Kurga during my last visit to India during March 2010. I was so happy to visit this lovely hill station that I could not stop myself from writing about my said experience of visiting it in this article. This would certainly motivate many of my AC friends and readers to visit it.

Kurga is situated in the State of Karnataka in India, around 150 miles away from Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka State. One can travel to Kurga by hired car or the State Transport buses from most of the cities of Karnataka. We had traveled by hired car from Bangalore up to Kurga and had kept same car with us during our entire stay at this lovely hill station of Kurga.

Kurga is situated at the height of around 5,000 feet from mean sea level and have beautiful cool weather almost throughout the year. The weather here is the best during winter months from November to March. Kurga is the main city of Medikerry district of Karnataka State. Kurga was considered a small independant Kingdom in India till the year 1950. It got merged in Karnataka State thereafter.

There are many sightseeing places here. The most vital of them all is the Medikerry fort. This ancient, historical fort was built in the year 1855. There is an old, historical Hindu temple in this fort. This temple is of Lord Shiva and was constructed even before the fort was made. The famous church of St. Paul is also located within this fort. There is a museum having old and ancient weapons used by local Kings during various wars since 17th century. One more ancient temple of Lord Omkareshwar also attracts many visitors due to its isolated location amongst the thick forest. This temple was built in the year 1820 in the mixed architectural design of Kerala and Muslim cultures.

The famous boat race festival is held here at this temple every year. Many foreigners come here to see this fantastic boat race event. The King's seat is the next vital spot that must be visited in Kurga. The King of Kurga used to sit on this seat while handling administrative matters of the State. The view of a beautiful sunset from this point is really worth seeing. The tea and coffee plantations on the slopes of Kurga look fantastic, particularly during evening hours. The holy River Kaveri is sitauted near this hill station. The River Kaveri is one of the seven largest Rivers of India. The River Kaveri meets the Rivers Kannika, and Sujyoti near the Mountain of Kurga. This triveni sangam is considered very holy and important in entire India.

There are many hotels available here at Kurga for the visitors. Hotel Raghavendra, Hotel Kurga International, Hotel Kaveri, and Hotel Rajdarshan are some of them. We had stayed at Hotel Kurga International. This beautiful hotel offers three star facilities at the rates of around Rs.3000 ($65) per day for a nicely decorated double room, excluding all meals. The total stay of around two to three days may be sufficent here to cover most of the site seeing places. The authentic South Indian food is served at most of the restaurants at Kurga. This traditional South Indian food items are very delicious and must be tried. However, it may be noted that these items are very spicy and may not be suitable for all.

We really enjoyed our short two-day visit at this beautiful hill station of Kurga and that is why I suggest all my AC friends and readers to visit Kurga, at least once, during their next visit to South India.