Hello there, here I am again to share my one day amazing trek experience with you. It was my friend Sowmya(BFF) who insisted on going for this trek. Since I love travelling I just nodded YES to her. So we planned a Sunday get away.
Brief
Shivagange is about 56 kms from Bangalore & has ancient cave temples that is at a height of 1368 meters giving you a brilliant view of the land below. shivaganga hill comes in Tumkur district. The trek distance is about 3 kms, one side. And an average trekker needs 2-3 hours to reach peak from temple which is at the foot hill.
What we did?
We made a plan on hitting shivagange on sunday early morning( as early as possible). After wriggling through the traffic for close to half hour( yeah, you heard me right. Traffic early morning; well that’s Bangalore right?) we started moving towards tumkur. That morning was terribly cold and we both were freezing. Our condition was pathetic. I still feel pity on Sowmya for she was riding the scooter. We reached dobaspet around 8 and were waiting for shwetha( sowmya’s cousin) who happens to be from that place and surely knows how to trek. In the meanwhile we took coffee to warm up our bodies. The funny thing was we couldn’t hold the coffee cup properly because of the cold and we were shivering so badly and struggled a lot to take even a sip. Then shwetha met us and we went to have breakfast to boost the energy that we need to trek. And finally started our trek at 9:00.
The weather that day was just perfect and the whole trek was like a complete rejuvenation of mind and body. The trail to the peak is well marked with the presence of man-made steps carved into the rocky landscape. But a great part of the success of the trek goes to the railings that these treks have which provided us with some much-needed support while climbing. Especially because the last stretch of the trail becomes quite challenging. We entered the temple premises and took the entrance to the climb. I forgot to tell you, we started bare footed. There were numerous monkeys patrolling the entire trail looking for people carrying any food items. They seem to ignore hard objects like camera … etc, but anything eatable, including offerings for the deity could be in danger!
After climbing around 50 steps we noticed a huge rock structure known as the Gangadhareshwara Temple. What is magical about this place is that the priest applies the ghee (that you brought along) from each devotee’s pot onto the lingam and almost immediately, the ghee begins to melt down the black surface and is converted to butter(I mean WOW!) It is widely believed that from this temple there is a tunnel that connects Shivaganga Hill to the Gavigangadhareshwaraswamy Temple in Bangalore(this place has lot of mysteries man).Inside the temple there is a small cylindrical shape narrow hole carved in stone with water in it called as “Olakallu Theertha“. No one knows from where the water has come, people say that the water never dry up. Also there are tales that say on touching the water inside the hole brings good luck. Sowmya and me were both lucky enough but shwetha had to struggle to reach the water.
The view of the surroundings was only getting better as we climbed and we were already higher than most of the things around us. The path now started getting steeper with every single step, making it a tedious task for us to climb. We thought not to lose our hope, just to make our way to the top. We decided to take a break to quench our thirst and some eatables available there. Sowmya was the slowest so it took us quite a amount of time.Now came the toughest part of the trek, with an almost negligible presence of the steps, where one has to take the help of metal railings to ascend the hill. The climb is almost vertical at times and making it tricky. This was accompanied by the most adventurous part of the trip, where one of our group members was attacked by a monkey. So, the place has a danger quotient of sorts, the entire trail is infested with Monkeys who are just waiting for a chance to pounce on you and the food That you carry. We were lucky enough to defend ourselves from the monkeys.
The next sight that we had to encounter on the way up was a magnificent Black Nandi (bull) carved out of the rock. The hill rock looked scary and is rather difficult to climb, as the platform on the top is quite narrow and it seemed as if it cannot support the crowd that is standing on it. However, the age-old solid rock can be afforded more credit and one can confidently make their way up, where the Nandi was placed. It was time to enjoy the view, click photographs and adore the beautifully carved ‘Nandi’.
After getting down the boulder we headed to the flat area which had another temple. On one side of this flat area was a huge monolithic rock bed, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding. We 3 sat there for a good amount of time and admired the view.At the other end, one would find the cliff, known as Shantala drop or suicide point, from where Hoyasala king Vishnuvardhana’s wife dancing queen Shantala is supposed to have jumped to her death.
After spending some time amidst the clouds it was time for us to descend. The descend was much swifter than I expected. In spite of the near vertical descend along the rock face, we managed to climb down at a reasonable pace. Around 2:30 pm, we returned with fond memories of mystical Shivagange. But our feet gave up as we trekked on bare feet. Now I share some amazing pictures.
View from top
Guardian nandi
Temple at the top
Trouble makers
Nandi
View from the top
Huge!
Steps at the beginning
Once I scaled the peak, I was lost with the beauty of the place. The place is just fantastic, with a breathtaking view of the city below from the high altitude. Once you reach the top, you are sure to be mind-blown by the spectacular view.While on top, one would have their first bird’s eye view from Shivaganga. The village in the distance, the surrounding hills, square fields, the temple pond and birds swooping in and soaring above you are part of the experience.
So I can finally say, Shivagange- you took my breath away!
♥
Divya
mytinyatlas 