Trip to Yana, Karnataka

Location: Yana is a small village in the hill ranges of Sahyadri of western ghats. It is located in the Uttara Kannada district of the Indian state of Karnataka.

Distance: Yana is located around 400 km from Bangalore, 40 km from Sirsi, 25 km from Kumta, 50 km from Gokarna and 102 km from Hubli.

Journey Time: If you are driving from Bangalore directly to Yana then its about 10 hours drive. Bangalore to Sirsi will take around 8 – 9 hours and from Sirsi it is about 1 hours drive.

How to reach there: The best way to reach Yana is taking your own vehicle or hiring a vehicle. There is no public transport which goes directly to Yana. However, if you are looking for some extra adventure of some walking to Yana then you can follow the two routes provided by Dreamroutes. If you are visiting Yana, I suggest you make you base camp Sirsi, Kumta or Gokarna.

Route: 1. Sirsi – Kumta Road (10 KM) – deviation towards Hegadekatte – Devanalli – Yana

2. Sirsi – Kumta road – after Devimane ghat take deviation for Yana – yana

Where to stay: Yana is located inside forest and there is no place to stay here. I suggest you stay at your base camp like Sirsi, Kumta or Gokarna.

For Sirsi you can stay at Hotel Shivani or Hotel Samrat.

Where to eat: There is no hotel or restaurant in Yana. However at the parking place there are tea and snacks shop.

Yana is a small nondescript village located inside forest. So whats the specialty here? Well then you must see it for yourself. I can assure you that you have not see something like this ever. Here two rock formations rise from the bottom of the valley in peculiar and unique symmetry. The two rocks are known as Bhairaveshwara Shikhara (hill) and Mohini Shikhara. It is a geological wonder and definitely there might have been tremendous geological activity which have created them in the past. These two rocks are surrounded by green forest cover. The road leading to Yana is amazing as winding road flanked by green forests of western ghats gives a shooting effect to the mind. Yana become very popular after a Kannada movie was shot here.

Last weekend I visited Yana. We hired an Maruti Omni van from Sirsi. From the parking place in Yana, one has to walk around 500 meters after crossing a gate inside the forest to reach the two rock formations. Right in front of the larger rock formation there is a Bhairavi devi temple. One can take a round of the temple by taking the steps located on the left hand side and then going though the cave. It is a natural cave with mysterious stone formations inside. I checked one of the stone inside and it had traces of marble and granite at the same time. Another stone did not looked like stone at all, however looked like wood. The cave has holes at the top in some places from where Sun light sneaks in. The other end of the cave descends further down. From here you will have to hike little bit to reach the base of the temple. For doing this round and going to the temple one has to take off their shoes. Also, note that there are many beehives on the walls of the rock formations, so you are requested by the forest guards posted there not to make noise and not to use camera flash. If you have any query, you can ask the forest guards.

Tea and snacks shop is available here. I suggest you have tender coconut water here. Try to settle the cost before you buy.

Nearby is Vibhuti falls located around 7 km from Yana. But we could not visit there as our driver told that road is not good and we may have to push the vehicle at places. So we did not go there and proceeded to Unchalli falls.

To view the complete set of pictures of Yana, visit TravelingBeats Photo Gallery.