A weekend trip to BR Hills (Biligirirangana Betta)

If you had seen my posts in recent years, you would have observed that the driving trips have reduced a lot. For many reasons, I have lost interest in driving on Indian roads and hence the reduction in the number of weekend trips. But during December last year, Chaya and I felt that we had not gone out for some time. A weekend trip to BR hills was planned. It was a short drive and would spare me from the driving fatigue!!

But the trip seemed to be in jeopardy on the day of travel. BWSSB guys had dug up the road for pipe laying and I could not take my car out. After a lot of requests, they agreed to temporarily fill the road to allow my car to move it. It was almost 11 AM when we started from our home.

Travel to BR hills

The travel to BR hills was uneventful. We took Bengaluru->Maddur->Malavalli->Kollegal->BR hills road. Lunch was a restaurant near Maddur. We saw the deviation to Ganganachukki and Barachukki falls, but we decided to give the slip as we had seen those places earlier. The road after Kollegal went though some villages and finally entered the forest area. The last few kilometres to BR hills was a nice drive through forests.

Stay at Mayura Biligiri

While searching for places to stay, I had seen a lot of homestays and private hotels. I felt they were overpriced for the facilities they offered. The KSTDC Mayura looked interesting. It was recently opened and had some good reviews. Though my previous experience with Mayura hotels was not great, I decided to try this out. They had online booking which was quick and simple. (Their online link can be found here)

The hotel was indeed good. The staff was exceptionally courteous, and the rooms were decent for the price we paid. The restaurant could have been better but no complaints in general.

BR hills viewpoint and temple

Biligiri Rangaswamy temple is the key attraction in BR Hills. Situated on the hill, it is an ancient temple that attracts a lot of devotees. The temple was under renovation during our visit. The views from the temple and the road leading to it is beautiful. The dry weather had turned out into cloudy by the time we had reached BR hills. By evening, it started raining lightly. It added to the charm of the place.

We took an umbrella from the hotel and walked on the streets of BR hills leading to the temple. The place was empty. As there was nothing much to do, it was really a great experience to walk in the rains!!

Drive through wildlife sanctuary

After breakfast the next day, we started our return journey. This time we took the route via K Gudi and Chamarajnagar which passes though BRT wildlife sanctuary. The drive was simply amazing. Due to rains, we did not expect to encounter any animals and were happy to spot some bison next to the road.

Jungle Lodges and Resorts has a camp in K Gudi. I think it is the only property of JLR which is inside the forest. We had visited that place long back, and it was an amazing experience. It was also the place where we saw the leopard for the first time. A great place for people who love wildlife.

Few points about BR Hills

• BR hills is about 170km from Bengaluru and would take about 4 hours of drive. It is a good candidate for a weekend trip.
• If you are mainly interested in visiting the temple, I would suggest waiting for the completion of the renovation.
• Since it is a temple town (or village!!), only Vegetarian food is served in BR hills.
• There is nothing much to do in BR hills apart from visiting temple and viewpoints. Wildlife safari can be done from K Gudi camp which is about 45 minutes from BR Hills. Hotels will be able to help you with that.
• Ganganachukki and Barachukki falls is a good deviation while driving to BR Hills.
• You can also visit some old temples near Chamarajnagar.