savanadurga

On 11/5/2012 I and my friends visited Savandurga. The hill is very steep so be carefull. It is a hill 33  km west of Bangalore .The hill is famous for a temple and is also awarded to be first among the largest monolith hills in the world. The hill rises to 1226 m above mean sea level and forms a part of the Deccan plateau. It consists of peninsular gneiss, granites, basic dykes and laterites. The Arkavathi river passes nearby through the Thippagondanahalli reservoir and on towards Manchanabele dam.

Savandurga is formed by two hills known locally as Karigudda (black hill) and Biligudda (white hill). The earliest record of the name of the hill is from 1340 AD by Hoysala Ballala III from Madabalu where it is called Savandi . Another view is that the name is originated from Samantadurga attributed to a Samantharaya , a governor under Ahchutaraya at Magadi, although there is no inscription confirming this. This was the secondary capital of the Magadi rulers such as Kempegowda. From 1638 to 1728 , Mysore took over this place and Dalavayi Devaraja occupied this place with the palace at Nelapattana. In 1791 Lord Cornwallis captured it from Tipu Sultan 's forces during the Third Anglo- Mysore War .

Robert Home in his Select views in Mysore (1794) shows distant views of the hill from Bangalore.He called it Savinadurga or the fort of death . There were no steps to reach the hill top and it was covered by bamboos and other trees forming a barricade. Megalithic burial urns have been found in the area.. Saavana in Sanskrit also means three time rituals. There is a Temple of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, where there is an Idol of Lord Narasimha which has formed naturally in the stone and has been worshipped for many generations. The Savandurga hills are frequented by pilgrims who come to visit the Savandi Veerabhadreshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temple sited at the foothills. Picnickers come to spend time among the serene environs of the hill. Rock climbers, cave explorers and adventurers are among others who frequent the locale.

Bus route: Take a bus to Magadi  from Majestic Bus Stand OR Market , Bangalore. Then get down at magadi bus stand and take a another bus to ramnagara and get down at savandurga gate .From their on go to savandurga through bus or auto. Their are direct buses to savandurga from Majestic Bus Stand OR Market but but only 2 or3 buses are their so its better to go through magadi.(auto will charge Rs.10 per head)

We visited this place to trek mountain .We had a hard time climbing the mountain biligudda . Unfortunately a bear started coming our way so we had to abandon the climb. So pls be careful while trekking mountain and don't travel alone always travel in groups


Adventure: There are few organisations like Nature Admire, Care, Angel, Capture who organises camps here. They provide accommodation in tents, food and activities like Trekking, Cave exploration, Hill climbing, Kayaking, Rappelling, Jhummering, Zip line, Bon fire, Vine traversing and fun games.

The hills are home to the endangered Yellow- throated Bulbuls and were once home to Long- billed Vultures and White-backed Vultures . Other wildlife include Sloth bear and leopard .

Surrounding the area is a state forest with scrub and dry deciduous forest covering 27  km². The degraded forest, which is considered as shrub and tree savanna of the Anogeissus– Chloroxylon–Acacia series is highly diverse, recording over 59 tree and
119 shrub species.