Trek to Ranganatha Swamy Hill – A Marvelous Expedition

Posted by: Balachandra Shetty on: October 1, 2007

• In: general | leisure | travel | trek
• 7 Comments

Click here for photos from my camera

Click here for photos from Ananda’s camera

Introduction:
If you are a die hard trekker, game for arduous paths and adventure runs through your veins, then Ranganatha Swamy Hill is the place for you. Ranganatha Swamy Hill is also called as Bilikal Hill. This beautiful hill is located at Konavaradoddi village, Maralavadi post, Kanakapura taluk and belongs to Bangalore Rural District.

Ranganatha Swamy Hill doesn’t pose any ancient significance. Villagers say it’s named after a stone that emerged from ground atop of mountain, later named as God Ranganatha Swamy. Ranganatha Swamy Temple is one of the oldest temples found in nearby villages. Ranganatha Swamy temple is looked after by a committee of villagers. The temple is open only on Saturdays and there will be a special ritual offered to god on that day.

Useful Figures(Approximate):
Distance (from Bangalore): about 45kms
Elevation (above ground): 1500fts
Elevation (above sea level): 4200 – 4800fts
Distance from base to hilltop: 3 – 4kms

Expedition:
It was partially cloudy on Saturday the 29th September 2007, 10:30am. The team of 9 namely Ananda H.M.(Organizer), Sutapa Pal, Kotresh, Jagadish, Sameer, Abhishek, Roshan, Venkatesh and myself all geared for adventure. We started with a walk for about 10 minutes towards base camp. This walk exposed us to a scenic beauty of farmland, tall trees, sunflower plantations and hills all around, I then called it as Heaven.

The Trek consisted of 3 checkpoints separated by three boulders, where way to first to second checkpoint is characterised by tough, narrow, steep and muddy path. Second to third is easy, less slant and shadowed. Second to third is again dense with trees, narrow and steep path. We heightened the enjoyment by taking photographs, sharing Sardarji jokes and here Jagadish got a new pet name “Pintu”, that’s because it’s his pet dog’s name.

After 2.5 hours of climbing at about 1:00pm we are at hilltop, visited Ranganatha Swamy Temple followed by lunch and little nap. At 3:00pm we started for sightseeing around the hill. It’s a wowing panoramic view of surrounding hills, lakes, farmland and countryside while facing to a strong current of wind at the rock tip. Maybe these words are not sufficient to describe the beauty, it can only be experienced. I pity those members who purposely missed it to watch cricket or any other reason.

At 4:00pm Ananda & Venkatesh prepared hot lemon-tea. Soon after sipping tea with snacks, at 4:30pm we left hilltop and started towards base. After 1.5 hours of descending with bum-smashing drops, at 6:00pm we are base. Upon reaching base Sutapa unable to believe that she had climbed this magnificent hill with her own strength. And surprisingly Sameer, Roshan, Abhishek & Venkatesh reached base 30 minutes earlier to us.

After reaching base, Ananda distributed sweets among village children and we finally said good-bye with a sheer bliss of achievement.

Some Useful Tips:

1. Have an experienced member in your team, who already visited the place at least twice.
2. Don’t try to climb in hurry, it may lead to slip-down.
3. Have a strong bamboo stick along with you that will serve as an extra limb while climbing up and down.
4. Carry sufficient water.
5. Wear shoe that has a demonstrated ability of holding over rocks & grasses.
6. While climbing down try move in side-wise or zig-zag manner, this will not only give additional grip to your foot but, also reduce body weight over your knees.
7. Carry your own garbage bag to collect waste like excess food, plastic bag etc & dispose it in any garbage dump in city. This will help keep the place clean.
8. And don’t forget camera, to Click!!!

Last Word:
Our hearty thanks to Ananda H.M. for organising such marvelous expedition. And I wish best-of-luck for your next expedition to this place.