We were the only souls this time in the camping area and we chose two tenting spots next to each other. Light was fading and took us an hour to pitch both the tents in place and also lit the camp fire.
Everyone was exhausted to the core and Muni had just spotted a Bison family on the next hill. Guys could hardly eat and we just wanted to get into the tents and call it a day. Scary noises of insects and birds kept few awake in the night.
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| Tent ready !! |
Night spent, we got up early by
5:30. Gushing waters of the stream and rays from the rising sun made the
atmosphere very relaxing. We had good time taking a dip in the ice cold
waters of the stream. It was real fun listening the next day the horrific thoughts the guys had - fear of a lone elephant tramping us down, heavy thunder showers hitting us and what not. Guys even had leeches biting them in their dreams. What made matters worse was the fact that, we were the only ones camping that day in the middle of the forest and were exposed to danger from unexpected quarters without any support.
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| Water gushing down to form the Arbi falls |
Winding up the tent and packing our
bags, filling the water bottles we left for the next destination -
Ballalarayana Durga by 9:30. Guide, the day prior had given us basic
directions to the fort. Following his directions we crossed two
mountains only to find no sight of the fort. For couple of minutes, feeling
of being lost crept into everyone. Some close inspection of the trail and
sense of direction I could figure out that we are on the right path and
followed a trail leading us to other side of the next hill. Hurray, I
could spot the Fort at a distance some 4-5 hills down. Having done the
trek earlier, I could make out the fort from a distance.
Making matters worse now was the fact
that clouds were all over us and visibility dropped to 20 feet. Relying
on the trail we kept progressing on the terrain, day 2 of this trek is kind of manageable as steep ascents are small patches.
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| Clouds playing hide n seek |
 |
| Visibility - where ! |
 |
| Fort at a distance |
 |
| Path goes on and on |
 |
| Bison family |
30 mins down the trail, I
spotted a bison group on the next hill. Sound of my footsteps had
captured their attention and the group was staring at me. Rest of the
group was as at a distance and it was me and Muthu facing the beasts. We
decided to run away from that place before the bisons even decide to charge and
to our astonishment, they ran helter skelter into the forest. Relieved,
we continued our journey only to see another group of animals which looked like
the bison on the hill next to the fort. We had exhausted all water we had, making matters worse was the fact that, next source of water was 4 hours
away.
 |
| Ballalarayana Durga |
We reached the fort by 12:30 and to our
surprise found a samaritan Lokappa who resides in the fort rearing cattle.
Those animal we had seen on the next hill were indeed his cows and he had 100
of them. He provided us with much needed water and shared stories of
leopard taking away his cattle and of the visitors to his place elephants, bears and bisons. We had a pretty nice chat and he was
asking us of our trip and whereabouts. The fort ramifications were running
on the next two hills and it was pretty curious a thing of why such a fort in
the first place was built in the midst of a dense forest.
 |
| Lokappa and his humble house |
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| Fortification running across the hill |
About the fort:
The Ballalarayana Durga fort was constructed by the wife of Veera Ballala-l who was the king of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. The Hoysalas were known to be patrons of art and architecture and built several temples and a few forts during their rule. The Ballalarayana fort was built in the Karnata Dravida style of architecture, the architectural style that was popular in the Hoysala Empire during their rule. Situated atop a hill that is 1509 metres high, the fort overlooks the town of Sunkasaale. The fort has lost its glory and stands as a distant reminder of its beautiful past.
We asked Lokappa for further directions as clouds around the fort were giving us zero visibility of the valley below. With clouds clearing now and then, he pointed us to the mud road in the plains and the Battar mane where we can have some rest and food. As things were not so promising, we requested him to accompany us till a distance down the hill. The fort is the final point atop the hill and next part of the trek involves rapid descent down the hill partly through grass lands and thick foliage. He accompanied us for next one hour till a point where we could help ourselves. We thanked this angel of the day and proceeded down the hill till we reached the jeep track and then the thar road.
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| Border line, summit reached |
By about 15:00 we reached the house of Battar, we were dead hungry by the time. Muni the only Kannda speaker conveyed our condition to the wife of Battar. Battar was away and the old lady proved the next angel of the day. Not only did she allow us take rest in their property, she served us with a preparation by name “Halasina Hannina Kadubu”. Basically a mixture of jack fruit and rice, grind-ed and steam cooked – a South Canara delicacy. Kadubu tasted divine and jack fruit was from the trees in the very same property. The old lady felt very bad that she could not serve us with proper food and asked us to relax for some time. We got the directions for Sunkasale from her and proceeded on to catch an auto.
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| Halasina Hannina Kadubu |
 |
| We were there couple of hour ago.. |
Reaching Sunkasale in another 30mins, we had some quick bite at a small hotel there and caught the bus to Horanadu. Next on the agenda was the visit to the Annaporneswari temple at Horanadu. 30kms journey winding through the thick forest and coffee plantations lead us to Horanadu, situated on the banks of river Bhadra. Temple authorities have built a very good choultry next to the temple where we booked ourselves a room to freshen up. The rooms were so clean and with running water. Karnataka temples stand apart in providing good facilities to the devotees which I often find lacking in TN.
 |
Annapoorneshwari temple at Horanadu.
(Courtesy:Temple Portal) |
Being a working day, temple was sparsely crowded, we had a nice darshan and proceeded to the Annadana hall. More than Annadana, it is considered the prasada of goddess Annapoorana. Finishing the Annadana, we packed our bags for the bus to Bangalore at 21:15.
Bus dropped us of at Bangalore at 5 AM and we proceeded on to Muni’s house. Took some rest and had a great B’fast at Muni’s place and we bid adieu to his family and left for our destinations.
It was only three of us returning to Chennai we took the relaxed Krishnagiri route to back home.
Few Pointers:
- Dharmasthala
is 300kms from Bangalore. KSRTC has services of all classes on this
sector.
- Driving
down would not make sense as trek ends on the other side of the ghats. If
driver is doing the job, he can be asked to be at Sunkasale the next day
evening.
- Dharmasthala
to Bandaje village is about 20kms. B’fast and food parcel can be taken at
Ujjire which is the last place with basic facilities. Jeep guys charge
anywhere between 600 to 700 INR for this leg
- KA
Forest permission is mandatory. Prior phone permission helps.
Charges 75 + 200 INR per head
- Guide
for one day Rs 950 till Arbi falls
- Time
to Trek: 4-6 hrs from Gowdara mane to Bandajje Falls. 2-3 hrs from Bandajje
Falls to Fort. 1-1.5 hr down to Durgadahalli
- Distance:
8-9 kms from Gowdara mane to Bandajje Falls. 4 - 4.5 kms from Bandajje Falls to
Fort. 3 kms down to Durgadahalli. Total ~15-17 kms
- Autos
are available from Durgahalli to Sunkasale, distance of about 10kms. If energy levels permit, can be done on foot.
- Sunkasale
to Horanadu buses every 20 mins, distance of 30kms
- Horanadu
is 319kms from Bangalore. KSRTC has SKS and Rajahamsa services plying on this
route.
- Horanadu
has a huge temple choultry with clean rooms with running water. 120 INR
per day room rent
- Horanadu
is part of Chickmagalur district famous for coffee plantations. Coffee
can be purchased from shops here.
- Contact Details for the trek:
- Forest Officer: 99013 46952
- Guide - Sanjay: 97408 83257
- Kishore Gowda(Landlord Bandaje) : 99019 39829
