This church which was called the Holy Rosary Church was built by French Missionaries around 1860. It was abandoned when the Hemavathi Reservoir was built and now it is in ruins.
Rosary church ruins at Shettihalli
When the water rises in the Hemavathi reservoir every year this church gets submerged. When the water recedes the ruins of the church stands tall surrounded by the Hemavathi river in the back ground and green grassland around it, striking a great contrast and is a wonderful sight to watch.
Shettihalli is a small village situated on the the banks of the Hemavathi reservoir about 25 Kms from Hassan city.
driving direction from Hassan
Shettihalli was in our to do list for a long time. We go through Hassan every time we visit Mangalore but we could not take that diversion to Shettihalli for one reason or the other. So finally we decided that Shettihalli trip has to be done separately some day. And that some day came on 26th Jan 2013. This trip was different from rest of our trips so far in more than one way. To start with, this was a trip to visit just one place, we had never had trip like that before; a 2 days trip, our shortest trip till now and a trip with least planning.
26th Jan 2013 :
We left at around 9:00 AM from Bangalore and reached Hassan at 12:30 PM. We had very less traffic to tackle with as it was holiday and 4 lane road for most part of our journey made driving easy. Stopped for a coffee @ Coffee Day en-route, drive was mostly uneventful. We booked room in Sri Krishna @ Hassan and had our lunch. We left for Shettihalli at 3:00 PM.
By this time it had become very dark . We left from there at 7:00 PM and returned to the room at 7:30 PM . Had a early dinner and retired to bed.
27th Jan 2013 :
26th Jan 2013 :
We left at around 9:00 AM from Bangalore and reached Hassan at 12:30 PM. We had very less traffic to tackle with as it was holiday and 4 lane road for most part of our journey made driving easy. Stopped for a coffee @ Coffee Day en-route, drive was mostly uneventful. We booked room in Sri Krishna @ Hassan and had our lunch. We left for Shettihalli at 3:00 PM.
We saw a tiny temple on the way
We used the google map on mobile for direction which failed half way through because of lack of signal. So stopped and checked for directions with locals and reached Shettihalli at 4:00 PM.
We parked the car with a couple of other cars there and walked towards the church. Road to church from the main road is kacha road with no tarmac. Made up my mind to try some soft offroading here. So went back to the car and started driving through this road towards church.
road towards the church
People who had parked their cars on the road side were coming back and advised us not to go further as the road condition was not good ahead. I decided to drive cautiously and see how bad the road is and return back if i can not go any further. Road was indeed bad but i was able to drive without scraping the bottom of the car.
Shettihalli Rosary Church
Parked the car here and walked around to explore the place a bit. Walked till the church to check the road condition ahead.
Near the main entrance of the church
A water tanker had finished filling water and going in far corner which caught my attention. The location attracted me and wanted to take my car there to click. So i started walking back to where the car was parked.
There were not just the church ruins out there
Drove towards the point where i had seen the water tanker. Parked the car right in front of the broken bridge which is as far as any vehicle can go.
Czech Chick on the banks of Hemavathi reservoir
In front of the broken bridge
We drove back to the church again and parked the car right in front of it. By this time few vehicles had come near the church ( may be inspired by our adventure). Any car with decent ground clearance can be driven carefully here with out any problem.
Hemavathi backwaters had crystal clear water
Chick goes to church
We parked our car aside and started clicking some photos of the church ruins. Crowd was building up around us and so was the number of vehicles. There was a group of local guys who chose to use this area as their bar and started troubling the people around them. When they saw some more tourists coming they left the place as they were easily out numbered.
main road was not far from there ( new bridge across reservoir)
We sat down on the banks of the back waters and enjoyed the cool breeze and the surroundings. Sun was setting, the temperature was dropping and the people were leaving.
Sunset at Shettihalli
A family with kids playing in water
By the time sun was set everyone had left and we were the last 2 people there. And i was busy clicking the pictures with setting sun in the back ground.
what a sunset it was
we waited for the moon to rise
By this time it had become very dark . We left from there at 7:00 PM and returned to the room at 7:30 PM . Had a early dinner and retired to bed.
27th Jan 2013 :
Woke up by 5 AM, asked the watchman to give our car a nice wash as i had intentions of clicking more photos of her and we too got freshened up and left at 5:45 AM. Stopped for a wonderful hot cup of tea in a small chai shop in near by village on the way and reached Shettihalli church at 6:30 AM. Mist was settling in and weather was chill. Checked the MID in car and found that the outside temperature was 10 degree C.
mist settling over the back waters
We waited for the sun to rise as we enjoyed the calm and cold morning near the church. Again we were the only people there at this time of the day.
Sun rise at Shettihalli
Chick was waiting patiently for her turn to be clicked
she was happy to pose when her turn came
parting shot of Rosary Church
for the album
There is no entry fee or any security guard to protect this area. I do hope if you are headed there, you will maintain the sanctity of the place and will not litter the place with broken beer bottles and plastic among many. With little luck we’d find such places, I hope it stays pristine for years to come.
