Colors of Winter

Winter is here

It is the tropical winter in South India now. The winter here is not as harsh, but provides a welcome relief from bitter summer days and grey monsoon days. With a bit of luck, you also experience a few haze-free days. I was travelling through a few parts of the mountain country of Karnataka, Malnad, and a few parts of the plain country, Bayaluseeme. In this article, I will walk you through the stories of the travel.

To the Plains

My journey started early in the morning, and the morning mist had not lifted completely yet. Most pollution particles are trapped under the inversion layer around this time of day, causing the mountains to appear dull and hazy.

Hazy mountains and the green valley. Notice a few cumulus clouds developing on the left side, which is quite unusual for the time of day and the time of year.

We soon cross the river Bhadra, still close to its origin and still having a narrow channel.

River Bhadra, with some of the bedrock boulders exposed.

The route takes us through mountains and valleys, still hazy, but all evergreen.

Still a hazy mountain. The peak in the background is Mallarasana Gudda (1303 m).

The haze and morning mist create beautiful layering effects on the mountains.

Layers of the mountain. Trees that appear spiky in the first layer are constituted mostly by the “Silver Tree” (Grevillea robusta) — used as a shade tree in coffee plantations.

Soon, we enter the back of the “Top Mountain”. The usual route does not take us through this mountain, but I stepped on another bus by mistake. That mistake was fruitful, as I could record the timelapse of easterly winds and clouds passing through the Top Mountain.

Back of the Top Mountain. The cumulus clouds we highlighted on the left side of the first photo are on the right side here. The timelapse below is sped up a little in the middle.

After the Top Mountain, we head north to the lower hills of the Western Ghats. The hills here are forest-clad, and the nature of the country starts becoming more open, hosting vast rice fields.

Vast rice fields with small hills. Notice the forest is mixed with evergreen and deciduous trees.

Slowly, the transition makes the hills disappear; now we are in endless rolling plains, dominated by rice fields and lakes.

Rice fields and lakes of the plains

Hills of the Plains

The plains of Karnataka are dotted with several granite hills and a few small ranges that mark the joining of ancient landmasses. Due to the lack of rains, these hills do not support evergreen forests; rather, the hills are either grassland or scrubby. The valleys are often covered with the remaining stands of deciduous forests. The hill formations near Malebennur (lit. the village at the back of the hills) are remarkable in this aspect, with the exposed bedrock greeting us at roadcuts.

Malebennur hills with exposed bedrock. These rocks look like BIF (banded iron formation), although further confirmation is needed.

These hills force the rice fields to be terraced, bringing memories of the Malnad.

Mildly terraced rice fields.

Crops like corn do not require the land to be flat; hence, they are cultivated on moderate slopes, now harvested and dry.

Corn field across the slope of the hill, now harvested and dried.

There was a hint of smoke in the air, and it was due to a small fire inside a dried patch of forest. The cause of most such fires tends to be man-made.

A burning patch of forest floor. Note the new leaf growth and flowering of trees.

With the advent of irrigation projects, people in the plains are exploring water-demanding cash crops, mainly areca nut. We can see areca nut plantations popping up everywhere.

A new areca nut plantation, with older plantations to the left and right. These trees will soon cover the hill view in the back.

Back to the Mountains

As we prepare to depart from the plains, we are greeted by Bhadra’s twin river, which we met earlier in the journey — the Tunga. The rivers Bhadra and Tunga originate in the middle of the shola grassland–forest complex of Kuduremukha National Park. Since the Tunga is now flowing in the plains and far from its origin, we get to see a wide river, with a backdrop of a small hill range. A few kilometers from this place, the Tunga and Bhadra rivers meet to form the river Tungabhadra.

Wide banks of river Tunga in the plains. Notice a range of small hills in the background. The Malebennur hills described earlier are part of such a range.

The transition from the plains to the mountains is smooth, as described earlier. With areca nut plantations blooming everywhere, the transition is even more seamless. The discernible difference lies in the types of forest — from deciduous scrub to evergreen forests.

Same areca nut trees, but the evergreen forest — signalling the entrance to the Malnad.

The rice fields look much different too, now not as big, with the backdrop dominated by the hill ranges.

A beautiful winter sunrise in the rice fields of the Malnad, dominated by a backdrop of hills.

Gaining some more elevation, the once forest floors are now covered with extensive coffee plantations.

Coffee and areca nut on the slopes, rice fields on the valley floors. Notice the more rugged terrain compared to earlier photos. The rugged terrain and elevation give this place excellent coffee-growing conditions.

There are also a handful of large tea plantations, which do not conserve as many trees as coffee plantations do.

Tea plantations with the backdrop of a mountain with forested slopes. Note that the tea plantation has a much smaller fraction of trees than the forest does.

Evening Colors

The presence of moderate haze creates beautiful colors in the evening sky, with shadowed mountains creating sharp contrast with the sky.

Layers of mountains in Kuduremukha National Park, illuminated by a setting sun.

Even the same place can look noticeably different under the influence of evening colors.

Same mountain, different colors.

The trijunction of roads, morning and evening.

I could not resist capturing the evening colors and took a fun picture of the mountain through the back glass of the bus.

The image would have been perfect if not for the reflections. The mountain in the last layer is adjacent to Kuduremukha. The Kuduremukha Peak (1894 m) is also visible behind this mountain, towards the tree on the right side.

If you are near a river with a hilly backdrop, the reflections and the colors take the sunset to the next level.

Sunset at river Tunga.

In the evening, the haze line starts to become clearly visible, masking the western sky.

Haze line obscuring the sky and the mountains. This photo was taken on the day of the winter solstice.

To the “Top Mountain” again

I got a chance to visit the “Top Mountain” again with my friends on a hazy evening. Although most of the view was lost due to the haze, the shadow of the mountain created an interesting effect on the valley floor.

Shadow of the mountain, near and far.

The haze also reveals the layers of mountains cleanly.

Layers of mountains, dipping into the valley floor and covering it. On haze-free days, the visibility is much greater.

The sunset was also dull, with the sun disappearing into the haze layer before the proper sunset.

The hazy sunset.

Once the sun had set, the crescent moon and nearby town lights created a serene environment.

Celestial and anthropogenic lights.

Colors of Life

Although the core Western Ghats consists of evergreen forest, there are a handful of deciduous trees found here and there. Some evergreen trees also bloom in the winter. When they bloom, they put on a beautiful show of colors.

Trees blooming with new growth, putting on a show of vibrant colors.

Also, we get to see and hear the birds, which are hard to spot during the monsoon.

A few birds captured during winter. Birds are much harder to photograph than the still mountains!

A few plants put up flowers during winter, as the dry winter and sunny summer create the perfect conditions for their seeds to ripen and dry, ready to be dispersed and germinate in the next monsoon.

Flowers of Winter.

Some orchids tend to flower during the winter as well, putting up their unique flowers.

Some orchid flowers.

Moving to the next year

Winter is a perfect time to end the year, with the crops coming to harvest and the plants preparing to start a new cycle of growth. The year 2025 has lapsed in the blink of an eye, although it had a lot of packed moments. Let’s move forward to 2026 with optimism and an urge to enjoy and protect nature.

Happy New Year in advance! See you next year.