Mekedatu is a lovely spot along Kaveri in Bangalore rural district. Sangama is the place where Arkavati merges with Kaveri. From this point, about 3.5 kilometers downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep gorge so narrow that one would think that a goat can leap and cross ”it (‘Mekedatu’ means, ’goat’s leap’ in Kannada). Of course, it is not really so narrow and no goat commonly found in that part of India would do that distance in a single leap. This place is about 90 km from Bangalore via Kanakapura.
There is a lot of mythological significance also to this place (both Sangama and Mekedatu.) As per one version, the goat (meke) that is believéd to have lept across the Kaveri was Lord Shiva in disguise. On both rocky precipices of the gorge, one can find strange gigantic holes, whose shapes resemble goats’ hooves, though several times larger. Only heavenly (or Godly) goats can marktheir’footprints’ in such hard rocks!!
At Mekedatu, the Kaveri runs through a deep, narrow ravine of hard granite rock. The river which is more than 150 meters wide at the confluence (at Sangama) flows through the hardly 10 meters wide gorge at Mekedatu.. one can see the ferocious flow of all that water, displaying Bernoulli’s theorem. It is said that a goat could leap over it, giving the falls the name Goat’s Leap.
Upstream on the Kaveri is the famous Sivasamudram Falls, the second biggest waterfall in India and the sixteenth largest in the world both of which statements are disputed by world waterfalls. Around 5 km before Sangama is a waterfall on the river Arkavathi. You would not find much water most of the year except in the monsoons.