DabbaGuli Travel Guide 2023 | Offbeat Travel Destination From Bangalore
Written in 2023. Prices, timings and routes may have changed since; check before you go.
When to go Bengaluru through the year
Easiest: Jul, Nov to Feb. Tap + for the month-by-month weather and where these numbers come from.
- January: Easy. Daytime about 29°, night about 14°. Rain: dry, about 5 mm.
- February: Easy. Daytime about 32°, night about 15°. Rain: dry, about 4 mm.
- March: Mixed. Daytime about 35°, night about 18°. Rain: dry, about 16 mm.
- April: Mixed. Daytime about 36°, night about 21°. Rain: some, about 39 mm.
- May: Mixed. Daytime about 33°, night about 21°. Rain: wet, about 125 mm.
- June: Mixed. Daytime about 29°, night about 20°. Rain: wet, about 104 mm.
- July: Easy. Daytime about 28°, night about 19°. Rain: some, about 100 mm.
- August: Mixed. Daytime about 28°, night about 19°. Rain: wet, about 148 mm.
- September: Mixed. Daytime about 28°, night about 19°. Rain: wet, about 138 mm.
- October: Mixed. Daytime about 28°, night about 18°. Rain: wet, about 143 mm.
- November: Easy. Daytime about 27°, night about 17°. Rain: some, about 80 mm.
- December: Easy. Daytime about 27°, night about 15°. Rain: some, about 36 mm.
Nilabh: Mild all year, but not equally easy. December to February is the driest and coolest, 27 to 32° by day with nights near 15°. March to May is the hot stretch, up to about 36° in April, and the rain returns in May and stays until October. For anything outdoors near the city, I'd plan around the cool, dry months.
Ten-year averages (2015 to 2024) from NASA POWER satellite data. Conditions change; check before you go.
Where do these numbers come from, and how far can you trust them?
The figures come from NASA POWER, a free NASA project that publishes weather estimates for every point on Earth, put together from satellites and weather models. We took every day from 2015 to 2024 for this place, and averaged each month: the usual daytime high, the usual night low, and the rain.
We compared it with official weather-station figures for a few places. Over flat land it matched closely; in the hills and on islands it can be a few degrees out, and then the strip says so.
Easy, Mixed and Hard are our rule of thumb, not a forecast. Hard means days above about 37°, rain of about 250 mm a month or more, or nights close to freezing. Mixed means days above about 32°, rain over about 100 mm a month, or cold nights (below about 8°). Easy is everything else.
An average is not the weather on your dates, and it knows nothing about festivals, crowds, road closures or this year's monsoon. Check a forecast a week before you go.
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.
13comments
6 conversations from readers on the earlier site.
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.
Replying to Nilabh Ranjan
Hi, I am planning to go this weekend along with family. Kindly suggest if it is safe to visit with family.
Replying to Vinodh
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.
Replying to Nilabh Ranjan
Can you share the forest guard gate number to check in advance whether they are allowing now (19 Nov 21) or not?
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.