I first heard about this place from a tweet by Dhiraj. The photo of the hill looked attractive, and I had added it to my backlog. Last week, Subbu and I completed our hike to Bananthimari betta, and we had enough time. We decided to take a short detour and climb this hill!!
Climbing up
The hill made its appearance as we neared the village. It did not look big, and we were a bit disappointed. We passed through the narrow lanes of the village and entered a mud track ending at the lake. We were surprised at the steepness of the hill. Some sections were 65 – 70 degrees steep!! The trek did not look simple!! But we were relieved to see the railings.
Being a person scared of heights, it was a difficult task for me to climb the hill. Though I was holding the railings, I felt dizzy when I looked down. It was not good. I followed the time tested mechanism of just focussing on my foot and hand without looking up or down. It worked well, and I crossed the steep section. The upper part of the hill was easier to climb as the slope lessened. I rested for a while, savouring the view of the surroundings.
At the hill
It took us about 20 minutes to reach the temple. It was a short but steep hike. The Bhairaveshwara temple was nested in a natural cave. I had heard that the temple opened on Sunday. There were no devotees during our visit. Behind the temple was a small resting area for having food and camping.
While the view from the side of the hill we climbed was bland with villages and quarries, the other side was a complete contrast. An unbroken range of hills dotted the landscape with greenery. It was surprising to see such a place just an hour drive from the bustling city of Bengaluru.
The weather was playing hide and seek with rains and sunshine alternating every few minutes. We lazed down, gazing at the surroundings. The only sound we heard was the chirping of birds and the wind. The lone fig tree at the resting area was a surprise in that rocky terrain.
How to reach this place?
From Bidadi, take the road towards Kanakapura. Take the right turn at a place “Dombaradoddy” and follow the directions to Annahalli lake. The hill is next to the lake. Google Maps will correctly lead to this place.
Sadanand S hegde
The place is ideal for trackking
aravindgj
Thank you.
rahul
great blog
Niranjan R
That looks interesting. Thanks for sharing this, Aravind.
aravindgj
Thank you.
Sunil
Hello Aravind, we are planning a family trek to bhairaveshwara temple, annahalli, coming weekend, would appreciate if you could let us know about
a. commuting by SUV is possible through village roads?
b. Starting point of the trek
c. Where to park our vehicle?
regards,
Sunil
aravindgj
You can take SUV till the lake and park it.
Sandeep Jain
Being a person scared of heights…
This line made me laugh
aravindgj
🙂
punith
thank you for sharing these places also most visible location thank you