3rd February 2009, 22:24
| #1 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA !
Posts: 368
Thanked: 120 Times
| 'Xing'ing around ! - Shivaganga, a sunday in the sun... First the basics: [1] This is a good one-day weekend trip from Bangalore. Total distance from Airport road to Shivaganga and back was 142kms on the odo. [2] Only equipment needed will be a pair of sneakers for a comfortable walk [people even climb up barefoot or in normal footwear], caps, sun-glasses and a liter of water per person. [3] It is a 2 hour climb all the way to the top and a 1.5 hour climb down. [4] There are small shops selling water, cucumbers etc. all the way till the top. [5] Though there are steps or notches cut into the rocks up to the top, it is a strenerous climb, not advisable for the elderly. [6] Kids with an adventurous streak will enjoy this unique experience, since there are railings to grab along the difficult parts of the path, it is relatively safe too. [7] Do not carry any eatables, soft-drinks, water bottles, coconuts, bananas etc. in transparent plastic covers. There are lots of pesky monkeys on this hill and they'll invariably jump on you if they see anything edible. Carry all your stuff in a back-pack.(A schoolbag will do just fine) [8] Start early from Bangalore around 6am, you'll beat the traffic and the climb up will be easier too. [9] Unless you are planning to be back in Bangalore by lunch time, it is preferable to pack a light lunch for a 'picnic'. [We did not notice any significant hotels in the place.] Note: If you do get jumped on by a monkey or if they approach you, do not panic or try to run. They'll not hurt you. They are just trying to see if you are carrying anything edible. They have developed this nasty habit of checking people out...(sometimes even seeing if you have anything in your pockets). Route taken:  Pics + Travelogue to follow... |
|  (1)
Thanks
|
| |
|
4th February 2009, 00:27
| #2 | ||
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA !
Posts: 368
Thanked: 120 Times
| Shivaganga - A Sunday in the Sun... A friend of mine recently asked me... Quote:
[1] Most of the well known and scenic places in India, be it a hill-top or a river bank, there is usually an ancient temple built there. [2] The reverse of the above statement holds good too; just visit any place which has an ancient temple and you'll see some scenic or unique places around it. So either way, it is temples and temples all the way! :-) Coming back to the travelogue, we had returned the previous night after our Melkote - Srirangapatna trip and slept late into Sunday morning. Woke up at 9.00am, lazed around with tea & the newspapers till around 10.00am, had a late breakfast and considered the 'to do' list for the rest of the day. Having finished most of our veggie & grocery shopping chores during the previous week, we had time on hand to catch up on a movie or something. The conversation went towards: the heat outside > summer is almost here > After Feb, not many treks till monsoon > maybe we should try to cram in a couple of treks before March > Are there any 'quick-trek' places around Bangalore > I remember reading about this place called Shivaganga somewhere on Tumkur road... I knew that Shivaganga is near Dobbspet on Tumkur road and had read about a phenomenon that is supposed to happen at the Shiva temple there - ghee turns into butter when anointed on the idol and there is a teertha (natural spring) famous for something. Just on a whim we tanked up and headed off towards Tumkur road. If nothing, it would atleast be a leisurely drive! Traffic was 'acceptable' all the way to the outskirts of Blore and we crossed the Tumkur road toll plaza by around 12.30pm. We came across a couple of the yellow Karnataka Tourism boards showing that Shivaganga was indeed close by. I was also wondering about the other places on the board and wanted to look them up later. Got info on Devarayanadurga : Quote:
 When you reach Dobbspet, don't take the road-over bridge (flyover), but take lower road and turn left at junction. Shivaganga is just 6kms from there. Soon you will start seeing the Shivaganga hill. [The Dobbspet ROB is the first one on NH4 after Nelamangala] Absolutely no problem with the roads, smooth tarmac all the way up to Shivaganga. This hill apparently has four faces; it looks like Nandi from the east, Ganesh from the west, Linga from the south and like a cobra with an open hood from the north. We were not aware of this and did not observe anything. [We were told about this only later...]  Shivaganga has a sobriquet 'Dakshina Kashi'. There are a few temples on and around this hill, the main deities are 'Gangadhareshwara' and 'Honnamba'. Drove into the village and found a parking place...  To trek up the hill, we had to pass by the main temple. Our plan was to reach the top first and then visit the main temple on the way down...  A view of the Shivaganga village...  There are steps or notches cut into the rock...  See the peak behind the hillock? That is the destination...  Go on a weekend or on a public holiday and you'll find school kids, families, pilgrims etc. all walking up the hill...  It gets quite sunny, especially so during summer. So start your climb up as early in the morning as possible...  There are 'Traffic jams' on the hill too. If you are a fast climber, you'll have to 'overtake' the groups who are walking up at a leisurely pace...  First stop is at a place called 'Olakallu Teertha' i.e. 'water in a stone'. A natural spring in the hills...  This is a cave temple with narrow entrances...  There is a small hole carved into the rock floor behind the garba-griha, through which you can reach out and touch water from an underground spring. You'll have to lie down and really stretch your arm out to touch the water. The local belief is that only 'good people' can touch the water , so you'll see everyone struggling to make the cut ;-)    Complete the pradakshina and come out to continue your upward climb...  Another view of the surroundings...  A Nandi carved on top of a rock, with a precariously balanced mantapa!  The climb gets a little tougher from here onwards...  As mentioned earlier, you'll see families, groups of kids etc. all walking up the path...  Some parts of the climb are really steep. But thanks to the railings on both the sides, you can navigate up the rocks...   See the projecting rock ledge on the top, that is the peak...  There are some small temples and mantapas scattered all over the hill...  It is a little scarier than it looks. The other side of the rock on which the Nandi is carved is a sheer drop! So you'll notice everyone grabbing onto the railings for dear life :-)   The temple at the top...   Contd... | ||
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 00:43
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA !
Posts: 368
Thanked: 120 Times
| Shivaganga - Contd... This place is called 'Shantala drop'. Apparently Queen Shantala, wife of the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana (Also known as Bittideva) jumped to death from here. It is an almost 500ft drop from this point to the rocks below...  A rock ledge on which there are a couple of pillars with oil lamps on top. When lit, they should be visible for miles around...  On the edge of this ledge, there are two bells chained just beyond our reach. Not sure what it their significance since they can be reached only by crawling right to the edge of the cliff and reaching down to the chains. You can see the bells which on your way up...  Monkeys! They grabbed a water bottle from someone and while fighting for it, they dropped it over the ledge. The bottle fell more than 500ft onto the rocks below, and these three guys were watching the bottle go down...  The rocky ledge, as seen on the way down. You can see the two bells dangling at the edge of the rock...  Started our walk down at around 4.30pm...  This is another natural spring called 'Antharagange'. Someone mentioned that you can actually walk into the cave and the water is waist-high. Did not try it though...  One more lonely Nandi on the way down...  Most of the shops on the path will close at around 5.00pm, people will be descending from the top till around 6.30pm...  An evening at the top...   Another Nandi parked on an arch on the path...  After quite a few stops along the way to take pics etc. It was almost 6.30pm by the time we reached the main temple at the bottom of the hill. It must have been quite a prominent temple in its heyday. Several structures now seem to be in a neglected state...    The main temple is again a cave temple, said to have been patronized in recent times by 'KempeGowda', the founder of Bangalore. This is the Gangadhareeshwara temple where the ghee turning into butter phenomenon occurs.  Infact, somebody has put up a video on youtube that apparently shows this phenomenon. Watch from the 4th minute onwards in the video... There is a small opening to a tunnel from inside the temple. The sign in Kannada says "Kempegowdara kalada Bengaloorige suranga marga". i.e. a tunnel from the times of Kempegowda, which leads towards Bangalore...  Tried to take a peek inside the tunnel, it has been walled up after a few feet.  Finished darshan, went back to the car and started back towards Bangalore. We were ravenously hungry after all the walking up and down the hill. Reached home, freshened up and hit Barbeque nation for some yummy unlimited prawns on the grill... What a way to wind up the day! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Where to next ? |
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 08:23
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 09:55
| #5 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 11:31
| #6 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Madras / Bangalore
Posts: 148
Thanked: 19 Times
| |
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 21:25
| #7 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA !
Posts: 368
Thanked: 120 Times
| Thanks ! Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
| |||
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 23:45
| #8 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 750
Thanked: 91 Times
| |
|
|
|
4th February 2009, 23:50
| #9 |
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 750
Thanked: 91 Times
| A picture of devarayandurga, from the top of the hill, the temple and winding road below.  @Mods: Could not upload a picture with 'edit' option, hence the new post. |
|
|
|
5th February 2009, 02:33
| #10 |
| BHPian  | |
|
|
|
5th February 2009, 08:16
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
|
|
| |
|
5th February 2009, 13:20
| #12 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Hotstuff, you are posting some real cool stuff. Great job and very informative. Keep it up. Quote:
| |
|
|
|
5th February 2009, 14:26
| #13 |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: bangalore
Posts: 181
Thanked: 6 Times
| |
|
|
|
6th February 2009, 15:31
| #14 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
|
|
|
6th February 2009, 18:52
| #15 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA !
Posts: 368
Thanked: 120 Times
| Thanks! Quote:
 | |
|
|
 |
Most Viewed