Tourist places › Waterfall
Jog Falls
India's second-highest plunge waterfall, on the Sharavati River
Jog Falls is where the Sharavati River drops about 253 metres into a rocky gorge in one of the Western Ghats' most dramatic gestures, splitting into four distinct falls as it goes: the Raja plunges straight down in a single column, the Roarer crashes into a cup partway down, the Rocket shoots out in jets, and the Rani drifts down the rock face as a sheet of foam.
How much water actually reaches the falls depends less on rainfall than on the Linganamakki Dam a few kilometres upstream, which regulates the Sharavati for hydropower. The falls are at their fullest from July to September; outside monsoon they thin considerably. A stepped path leads from the main viewpoint down toward the base of the gorge.
Highlights
- A 253 m drop split into four named cascades — Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket
- Formed by the Sharavati River, with flow controlled by the Linganamakki Dam upstream
- Viewpoint and stairs down the gorge, built by the Karnataka Tourism Department
Getting there
Buses on the Thirthahalli to Sagara route get you to Sagara — Jog Falls is a further ~30 km by local transport or taxi from there.