Visiting all the Nava Durgas (9 Hill Forts around Bangalore) was pending for a long time. As I had already visited 7 of them, the time has come to trek my penultimate fort of the Nava Durgas.
My daughter & I left home at 5 AM to drive on the traffic-less Outer Ring Road to pick-up my friend on the way. We picked him up around 6AM and headed towards Tumkur Road. We took the deviation at Nelamangala towards Hassan and drove for another 25 Kms to stop for breakfast.
The sky seemed very clear at that time & we were hoping that it should not change until we finish our trek. As we began to start after breakfast we could see some super bikes zooming past us with that awesome sound. Taking a right deviation from Hassan Road, we drove for another 5 Kms to enter the arch near Kudur. The final 600 mts had a narrow road that went through the village.
We reached the base of the hill to see 3 bikes parked. It seemed like an old person was guarding the foothill. There were clearly laid steps in front of us & to our left there was a trail passing through the trees. When asked about both the paths, the person told that you can go either way: the trail will be a longer one and the steps will lead you to the temple. He also informed us that the pujari of the temple was yet to come.
As we decided to take the long way, the person told us something about that way in Kannada that we didn’t understand. On asking again, he clearly told us that there were 2 leopards in that area. We recollected our experience during our Bheema-Bakasura Betta trek about some leopard being there. You can read that experience here. “Bheema-Bakasura Betta Trek”.
I consoled my daughter that the leapords, if at all there, will not come out during that time of the day and they will be relaxing at the heart of the jungle. We started our walk along the perimeter of the hill amidst the trees.
The trail was taking us behind the hill and at the same time, it was disappearing under the bushes. We could see lush green grass that was grown to our height due to the recent rains, through which we walked. The sun was shining bright but the surroundings made us cooler.
Still we were walking around the bushes searching for the trail. The tall grass was replaced by the thorny bushes that was scratching all over, hurting the exposed skin. At one place the bushes on either side were so grown/thick that we had to sit/crawl down inside the tunnel of thorny plants. In between we got some rocky place to relax & enjoy the view. A few minutes of walk through the lush green bushes took to the rocky part of the hill. As we were almost in the rear part of the hill, we could not see the peak.
We have reached the first level of stone-wall of the fort. We could see traces of the rails being there earlier to climb. The climb till the next level was not so steep and seemed possible even without support/rails. Slowly we climbed up the rock to reach the next level of stone-wall. There was multiple level of stone-walls as we were climbing to the top. In between we had nice locations to sit, relax & for some photo shoot. The slope/rock was steep but we didn’t require any support to climb. The rock seemed to be slippery with a slight drizzle. Luckily the sky was clear and we could see the surrounding towns & hills.
When we reached the final stone-wall of the fort, we saw some huge rocks standing boldly at the top. A small climb took us to the peak with some cool breeze welcoming us to have a panoramic view of the surroundings. We could also see the arch that we came through at the village.
We sat at the shade of the rock, had some snacks and relaxed for a long time. Of course we didn’t litter there and carried our garbage back with us. We were able to see a few hills and mountain ranges from the top. Later we realised through Google maps that we were seeing Huthri Betta from one side & Shiva Gange on other side of the hill.
After capturing the beauty in all forms through our mobile, we decide to get down around 10:15 AM. We managed to follow the same path even though we had some confusion in the middle. There might be other paths to reach the temple or the base, but we didn’t explore that. As we saw some dark clouds approaching us, we wanted to cross at least the rocky part before any downpour.
With a few photography breaks in between, we reached the base around 11:30 AM. The person at the base congratulated us for not seeing any leopards. At the base, we saw a few more vehicles parked, but all of them had come to visit the temple. Only the 3 of us had trekked that day. It was all ours, like a private trek, much similar to that when we trekked the Narasimha Swamy Betta near Kanakapura. You can read that experience here. “Narasimha Swamy Betta Trek”.
Before leaving, we didn’t want to miss the temple and decided to climb to the temple. There were clear steps laid from the foot hill. As we walked up, the step width was getting smaller. This time we were walking towards the front side of the hill. The greenery of the place will make you forget the tiredness of the earlier trek to the peak. As we were nearing the temple, the steps were slowly disappearing under the lush green grass.
In just 10 mins, we reached the Bettada Bhairaveshwara Swami Gudi that was housed under a huge rock. It was right under the top of the hill where we relaxed earlier in the day. After darshan, prasadam was distributed that almost filled our stomach. That was a relief to our hungry tummy that had an early breakfast. Later we climbed down the lush green path bare foot from the temple and reached the base in no time.
With a break in between, we drove back and reached home safely by 14:30 Hrs.
Overall, the trek can be classified between easy and moderate. Searching the path is the challenge. Weather plays an important role as 75% of the trek will be on the rocks. The early you climb; the more time you can spend at the top & descend before the sun gets hot. The climb to the temple is also worth and not at all tiring. Group Trek for the Leopard scare, Shoes for the rocks, body hugging clothes for the thorny bushes and a litre of water is advisable. Our hands were still burning due to the scratches of the thorny bushes even after we reached home.
Watch the video here: "Trek Video in YouTube"
Distance: 80 Kms from Bangalore
Location: “Bhairavadurga Betta”
