Karanji - Lake, Birds and Butterflies

Mysore again !! Mysore has been my second home now. The reason being the peaceful atmosphere the city guarantees me. A great sight-seeing place, well maintained and traffic free zone. What more to ask for a relaxed weekend. Whenever I am in Mysore, that one place I would never miss to pay a visit - Karanji lake. Two years ago, my friend Abhi showed us this beautiful nature park. Since then, I have been visiting it, every single time I go to Mysore.

Early mornings and evenings are always the best time to visit Karanji lake. The lake is located just behind the Mysore zoo, and maintained by the zoo authorities. We reached the Karanji at 9:30 am. A beautiful entrance welcomed us. Tall palm trees and the greenery excited us to rush in.

The entrance

As we entered, it appeared as if these tall palm trees paved the way to the paradise. Adjacent to these trees, well maintained shrubs, bamboo shoots, and colorful flowers added beauty to the scene.

The palm trees - a road to heaven

The colorful flowers here and there tempted us to click as many pictures as we could. The place can be a great spot for the pre-wedding photo shoot as it gives many elements to creative photography.

Inflorescence flowers at its best

Bloomed to spread smile

Hydrophytes

There was very less crowd in the park. Hardly noticed five couples with children. The gardeners were busy watering the plants. As we walked, to the left we found children's play area. Many kids were enjoying here as it was a weekend. The area was well maintained.

Children's play area

Besides this, the chirping lovebirds caught our attention. There were 100 of love birds here housed in the cage, different species and variety of colors. We were so happy to see those many birds under a single roof.

Love birds

There were parakeets, parrots and golden peasants. We were so excited to watch these birds. We spent time here playing and exchanging words with them.

Golden peasants

 

We were already happy with these birds. But we had something more to excite us. Karanji lake has the country's biggest Aviary. Once we entered the aviary via chained gates, we were awestruck to witness the beautiful peacocks right next to us. This was the most thrilling experience to us as we had never seen peacocks walking freely in handshaking distance. The peacocks were so adorable !!.

Peacock love

The colorful feathers !! <3

The aviary had varieties of birds like peacock, peahen, pheasants, black swans, jungle fowls, pigeons and many more. This was a unique experience for us to witness these varieties of birds living in the common aviary.

Peahen

The aviary also houses a small pond in which we noticed calmly cruising black swans. Visiting the aviary was totally worth it. This was the best part of Karanji lake.

Black swans

The Karanji lake itself is a picture of calmness and tranquility. The lake has an island-like structure in the middle with few trees held together. The self-paddle boats as well as group boats are available here. We hired a self-paddle boat and started cruising the lake. The moment was refreshing and relaxed.

Karanji lake

We noticed a group of ducks and ducklings cruising with us. We were told not to cross the flag boundary of the lake as it would be unsafe. Around twenty minutes, we had this boating fun with reluctantly continuous peddling.

Duck family cruising with us

After exiting from the boat, we started walking towards the Bird watch tower. This is situated at 10m from the ground and provides an excellent panoramic view of the lake. Also, during monsoon lot of migratory birds can be watched from here. Hence, many bird watchers pay a visit here to capture them with their DSLRs and Binoculars.

 

View from Bird watch tower

 

A nursery has been set up next to the lake to raise and propagate inside the premises for planting in the gardens. I would strongly thank the maintenance department here, who has taken great interest to present this nature park to public.

 

Nursery

 

Besides all these beautiful factors, there is a butterfly park at the very end of this park. As, we were running out of time, we could not go beyond. However, I could capture lots of butterflies near the lake area. They are one of rhe beautiful creations of nature. It was not easy to capture these butterflies. They fly, they vanish :D. However, I managed to click few and the most loved ones are here..



Karanji lake is my favorite place in Mysore. Whenever I visit, It gives me the relaxation and freshness. If you have any plans visiting Mysore, then pay a visit here and I am sure, you will return back happily.

Visiting tips:

• Karanji lake is located right behind the zoo. So you better visit here and then the zoo.


• The place is accessible by all means of transport. I roamed whole Mysore with Uber/Ola. With Rs.30 to 40, one can reach from one place to another. Consider train to reach Mysore from Bengaluru, just Rs. 75 per head.


• The lake is open to public on all days except Tuesdays from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.


• The entry ticket of Rs. 25 for adults and Rs. 15 for kids is charged at the entrance (including foreigners).


• Photography charges are Rs.20 for still camera and Rs.150 for video camera.


• The lake has a huge parking space with parking charges as Rs.10 for 2 wheelers and Rs.30 for 4 wheelers.


• The entry tickets are valid only for 4 hours as mentioned at the entrance. Extra ticket to be purchased upon exceeding 4 hours.


• Noticed few families having packed food here. So, a small picnic can be organised here. But keep the premises clean and use dustbins as required.


• Smoking and drinking inside the nature park are punishable.