[DrVjy]

It looked like a typical lazy Sunday morning at first as I got up around 0900 hrs after my kid's birthday bash the previous evening. As I was busy brooding how to spend the day, my wife rushed in with a list of possible places to go, including Devarayanadurga, Hogenekal and the like all from around 80 to 90 km from home. All my protests were in vain as the alternative was a terrible one:- help my kid with his History and Civics! I grabbed my Ipad and did a quick check on the T-BHP forum, found some encouraging reports of road conditions to Devarayanadurga in June 2013, and decided on it right away provided we checked out by 1200 hrs from home, quite late by my standards.

So by 1207 hrs to be precise, the three of us were ready and headed off on our humble and faithful i10 on this route from our home in Rajajinagar, Bangalore. We took the Chord road- Tumkur road route, most logical to us.



All my apprehensions of heavy weekend traffic were slowly put to rest as I found I could keep 80 km/h from the start of the elevated expressway to Nelamangala and Tumkur. I relied on my GPS readings from my last visit to the place. The only pain was the 3 toll points on this short distance of 80 km itself, consuming some 20 min in all. I ended up paying a total of INR 96/- as toll for the up and down journeys together, though that seems worth it as I was at the foot of the Devarayanadurga hills by 1325 hrs itself, that is just over an hour. From my experience I find it is better to drive all the way to Hanumanthpura and exit the 6- lane expressway (AH47) as seen in the map above, rather than take the apparently shorter route via Kyatsandra and possibly get stuck at the railway crossing on this route. Road condition is between excellent to good all the way, although as one might expect, the road is rather narrow in Devarayanadurga forest.

Being a Sunday there was some expected crowd from neighboring places, but I found a comfortable parking slot for my i10.



One needs to carry enough drinking water in the car and beware of monkeys who are in plenty around the temple. Never walk before them munching on anything or you will be sorry for a shocking grab from your hands! The climb up is really enjoyable as always.




One gets a good view from the temple top as well.



The temple is small but well maintained and our darshan was done in some 20 min. Only thing is they seem to lack toilets and this would be a problem if elderly or ladies were travelling. Hope they address this need soon.

We drove down next to Bhoga Narasimha temple at the foot of the hills and post darshan there drove further down another 3 km to Namada Chilume, where Lord Rama is said to have shot an arrow into the rock to bring out water needed for His Nama (Sacred Mark on forehead), hence the name. Namada Chilume is a cool forest as well with a deer park.






After some feeding sessions for the deer (there is a guy who sells the deer's favorite nuts and celery just outside the park), it was time to head back. We were back on the expressway by 1800 hrs and touched home by 2000 hrs, thanks to night driving and a lot of traffic apparently headed back to the city.

Half a day well spent, I would say!

[mpksuhas]

DrVjy, you just reminded that I should also write my travelogue on Devarayanadurga. Had visited the place along with friends some 3 months back. However view was entirely different from those in your pics.
We had planned for reaching there by sunrise and started from Bangalore early, however it was very misty and was unable to see the sun, leave alone enjoy sun rise.
Also, from the pics seems like you were able to climb till top of the hill which has temple. Since we reached early the entry to temple was closed.

[guyfrmblr]

Thanks for the travelogue. I loved the pics which you have captured from top of the hill. My dad had initiated some plans to visit Devarayanadurga last weekend but I was bit hesitant since I was unaware of the road conditions. Now my doubts are cleared. I'll plan next weekend.

You can plan for Siddara Betta next time. I have never been there but heard from my parents that its a very good place and the entire hill is covered with medicinal plants. I guess its located somewhere near Devarayanadurga.

[DrVjy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

DrVjy, you just reminded that I should also write my travelogue on Devarayanadurga. Had visited the place along with friends some 3 months back. However view was entirely different from those in your pics.
We had planned for reaching there by sunrise and started from Bangalore early, however it was very misty and was unable to see the sun, leave alone enjoy sun rise.
Also, from the pics seems like you were able to climb till top of the hill which has temple. Since we reached early the entry to temple was closed.

mpksuhas, Thanks. Do post your travelogue as well. Regarding the timings of Yoga Narasimha temple, see the pic here. That handwritten announcement sheet on the board could have been put up elsewhere!



The gate midway uphill closes at 1730 hrs, so you are better off reaching the place no later than 1400 hrs for a comfortable climb and darshan.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by DrVjy

Regarding the timings of Yoga Narasimha temple, see the pic here.

Thanks. We too had seen the timing written somewhere on reaching. However we were thinking temple opens at 08.00 AM, on seeing it mentioned as 10.00 AM we decided against waiting and left. We were already startving thanks to an early morning start from Bangalore, so we decided to make full use of buffet breakfast at Kamat en-route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Thanks. We too had seen the timing written somewhere on reaching. However we were thinking temple opens at 08.00 AM, on seeing it mentioned as 10.00 AM we decided against waiting and left. We were already startving thanks to an early morning start from Bangalore, so we decided to make full use of buffet breakfast at Kamat en-route.

Getting a good sunrise at DD Hills is quite lucky. In summers its easily possible. But the place won't be green. In the months Sep-Dec its nice. But it can get fogged out often. We had been there in Oct and got a clear look at the sunrise and it was beautiful. Ideal time to reach there is about 5:30. So one should leave BLR by 4 at most such that one can drive down at leisure to this place and set-up his gear to capture the sunrise. As regards to the the temple, they open only by 10 in the morning. But still you can get a very clear view of sunrise from the car park area.

Couple of snaps I had posted in the Image thread. Cross posting here. This was in October.

[DrVjy]

Originally Posted by ampere

Getting a good sunrise at DD Hills is quite lucky. In summers its easily possible. But the place won't be green. In the months Sep-Dec its nice. But it can get fogged out often. We had been there in Oct and got a clear look at the sunrise and it was beautiful. Ideal time to reach there is about 5:30. So one should leave BLR by 4 at most such that one can drive down at leisure to this place and set-up his gear to capture the sunrise. As regards to the the temple, they open only by 10 in the morning. But still you can get a very clear view of sunrise from the car park area.

Couple of snaps I had posted in the Image thread. Cross posting here. This was in October.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...0929_dppa3.jpg

ampere, Your photos are amazing, especially the one in the link above. Great that you managed to be there early enough for it.