India, with its rich cultural heritage, languages,
scenic beauty, and ancient tale of incredible drama, together make it the
Incredible India. Here, human pasts still live. We are rushing headlong into
the future, knowing what it means to belong to an ancient civilization. The
Tourism industry is one of the main guiding factors that provides a
platform to showcase our potential. It is growing rapidly with a contribution
of GDP of 7.3% per year.
The Webster Dictionary defines benchmarking as “a
standard by which something can be measured or judged”. Benchmarking is also defined
by Camp simply as “the search for industry best practice that leads to superior
performance”.
One of its most valuable resources is its mountains.
Ranges like, the Himalayas, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Aravalli ranges play
a very important role in attracting the tourists from all-over the world.
The Western Ghats start near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra,
and run approximately 1,600 km through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu ending
at Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the
eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity in the world, they
are abundant with life. Over 7,402 species of flowering plants,1814 species of
non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian
species, 6000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species call these
sprawling hills their home. And it is likely that many more undiscovered
species live here. It is extremely disheartening to know that at least 325 of
these are globally threatened species.
Karnataka, which claims to be one state many worlds,
covers a major part of Western-Ghats. Hill stations here
are still unexplored and more pristine than better known ones in South India.
Agumbe, is
one such hill station atop a high plateau in the Someshwara Ghats.
Approximately 357 km west-northwest of Bangalore, nestled in the West coast
region of South India amidst the valleys and waterfalls of Shimoga District, it
is also called the Cherrapunji of south India due to the rainfall it receives. Added
to the lush green view all around the attractions for the visitors it offers
vast opportunities to the trekkers with its many trails, dense forests,
picturesque waterfalls, misty peaks, sloping grasslands, and valleys submerged
in clouds.
The most popular trekking trail starts from Agumbe
and ends in Sringeri taking one through the imposing peak of Narasimha
Parvatha. A unique aspect of this two-day trek is that the entry and exit
points are different. Trekkers arrive at Agumbe to take the guided trek
to the peak. After permission and registration at the local police
station, the trek commences in the South-Southeast direction. A number of
mesmerizing falls located near Hebri on Udupi-Agumbe Road make this trail more
exciting and memorable. Koodlu Theertha is the first fall of the River Sita and
is also known as Sita Falls. Jogi gundi falls flow with force from a cave and
continues to flow as a stream through the hill. The whole place is covered with
huge rocks which have been cut through to allow water to rush out. The water from
these falls breathes life into the jungle all through the year irrespective of
the season. A wide variety of flora with exotic colors and shapes, unusual
insects, strange-looking frogs and reptiles, curious lizards, beautiful birds,
exotic spiders, unique mushrooms and fungi can be seen throughout the trail. Agumbe’s
proximity to the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kudremukh National Park
make it a paradise for wildlife enthusiasts, bird watchers and photographers.
Endemic birds like the Malabar Trogon, the Yellow-browed Bulbul, Great Hornbill and Sri Lankan Frogmouths are also
found here among many others.
From the earliest times, the mountains have been
considered the abode of Gods and revered and worshipped. There are a number of
references to the Sahyadris in the ancient epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata as
well as in some of the Puranas. In Ramayana they are described as majestic, Great
Mountain with its many brightly coloured peaks, its brightly flowering woods,
and forest tracts of sandalwood. There are hundreds of shrines and temples
built atop the hills and innumerable caves and monuments dedicated to the
divine all over the Western Ghats. Skanda Purana has a whole section called
Sahyadri Kanda that provides description of over a hundred Tirthas (holy places
in the vicinity of rivers) and eighty Kshetras (places of pilgrimage) in the
Sahyadri range. Some of these temples like the Sri.Venugopala Temple,
Sri.Sharadambe Temple, Sringeri Math, Sringeri, Horanadu, Sringeri can be found
near Agumbe.
Sunset View Point rests on one of the highest peaks
of the Western Ghats on the Udupi-Agumbe Road. It is ten minutes’ walk from
Agumbe. On a fine evening, no photograph can do justice to the glorious sunset
that can be seen from here over the Arabian Sea.
With so much to offer Agumbe has all the potential
to be a global destination and famous trekking trail. Unfortunately, there are
a number of factors that get in the way of realizing this dream. Lack of basic
infrastructure, accommodation facilities and hospitals limit the Lack
of proper Roads, Poor connectivity especially from Bangalore and lack of Local transport
facilities make accessibility to Agumbe difficult.
If the government, with the help of the local
community and tourists takes measures to overcome all the above problems then
AGUMBE can be set as a bench mark in Indian Tourism. Tourism destination
benchmarking and the assessment of tourism management performances are a
crucial and challenging task in the direction of evaluating tourism
sustainability and reshaping tourism activities. But, it is a practice that has
become more and more indispensable in today’s scenario where Sustenance of
Environment plays a major role in Agumbe’s tourism development.
