To celebrate the Eon (Hyundai) arrival, my sister had planned to go to Siddarabetta, which is a perfect blend of drive, trek and adventure. Since the car was very young with 30+ km of experience in its kitty, we can not demand more than 200 km per day.
We started our journey at 8-00 am from Basavanagudi, Bangalore; finished our breakfast on the way at Kamat Upachar, a costly restaurant at Dabaspet on the Tumkur highway. Packed some food for lunch too. Reached Siddarabetta base around 11-15 am with a very skilled driver in front of the wheel, my sister. It was an awesome drive (endurance test for the car) testing all the pot holes for their depth through out the journey.
Siddarabetta is a rocky mountain located around 95 km from Bangalore in the Tumkur district of Karnataka. Its a 1200+ meter altitude peak, hosting a ruined fort at its top. There are caves & temple in the midway to the peak which is the major attraction.
We started our trek in the steps facilitated from the base of the mountain at 12-00 pm. Slowly we guys started climbing, enjoying the view at each stage. Since it was a cloudy day, the weather was cool which helped us to climb very slowly. We reached the Siddeshwara temple in an hour or so.
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| Way towards betta |
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| Exploring the older trail |
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| It was a steep climb |
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| Resting points |
There is a small water stream or flow which is coming out from the temple at the entrance to welcome the tired souls who have climbed so far. It was very refreshing, soon it splashed our legs. We went inside the temple to realise the source of water which splashed our legs was in front of the statue of Lord Siddeshwara. It is believed that it has medicinal essence which can cure many diseases. After pouring 3 buckets of holy water onto our heads, we were ready for the cave exploration accompanied by our guide, Nagaraj.
The next 45 minutes was amazing experience exploring the caves. The entry to the caves is through a very narrow dark passage, through which the water was also coming out. After traversing for a few meters, we entered the maze and the path was wide enough for us to walk freely. There are 100's of caves in all direction, may be some of them whirling around. We went ahead and found a place where the saints used to stay for their tapasya. There is a small lake too, which will be filled with water through out the year. There is a small hut built now, in the memory of a saint and his successor will visit this hut every year. We went ahead to explore the toughest part of the trail. There was a narrow path with a big step down on the rocks. It required some skills to pass through. We two (Me & My brother in law, Murali) crossed it, but my sister found it a bit difficult which forced her to rethink the decision made to enter this cave. With the help of the guide, she could solve the mystery trail. At some places, the light will enter from the open top, formed due to wide big rocks placed unevenly. Encountered the big wild grape tree on the way, aged couple of years, which had its base in the cave and went outside through the narrow opening of the rocks inducing a feeling of, the tree in the harry potter movies. Went ahead and reached a small opening through which we had to crawl. I found it a bit difficult to crawl for the entire 6 feet. :) These 45 minutes were felt like a few minutes. There are multiple exits but were out from the caves just beside the entrance of temple.
The most amazing experience i had! It was worth the visit & effort!
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| Can imagine how we crawled here .. |
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| Wild grapes! |
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| hmm.. |
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| Exit place |
My sister & Murali was not in a mood to go further up the hill. Some how i was able to drag them with me. Initial 15 minutes was mainly on the rocky terrain with a clear view of the region for a very far distance. Then the trail lead us in to shrubby area with grass of height 6 feet every where. After 10 minutes of climb in this trail, my sister was also started feeling like stopping. I silently continued and another 5 minutes of climb ended us into huge & wide monolith rock, which is the peak. There is a ruined fort at the center, with shrubs ruling over it. We walked across the peak to get the view of the other side of the mountain. All of us were happy to trek this far, else we would have missed the majestic view from the top of the peak.
We had our lunch and took rest enjoying the scenic all around. Tons of thanks to clouds which helped us from tanning under the sun.
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| Monolith rock of the peak |
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| View during lunch! |
How to Reach :
- From Bangalore head on Tumkur highway, Go under the flyover of Dabaspet, Take right, Enter the road towards Madhugiri, Reach Koratagere, Take the Road towards Madhugiri
- From Koratagare, at a distance of 5 km, Reach a village Thumbadi, Take left and travel for 9 km to reach Siddarabetta
how did you get hold of a guide?
ReplyDeleteThere are some people who will be waiting at the entrance of the cave temple.. They will approach to you.. Make your you bargain with the price..
ReplyDelete