Fort Midigeshi

Date : 9/10/2009
History : The name Midigeshi is made up of 2 words Midi or himmadi-which means ankle in english and keshi means Hair. So there was once a queen who ruled this place who had long hair till her ankles and hence the name Midikeshi or Midigeshi.This place was steaming with political activity in its hey days and also has seen lot of bloodshed.History dates back to 9th century but Midigeshi gained prominence in the 16th century.

Source : My guide to history- Mr M.R Vijayashankar Metikurke

Started the day a little late and i was the culprit this time,i was late by about 25 minutes on this trip.Packed breakfast,fuel stop @shell and headed towards the nice road.I was joined by Pratibha and her friend Kiran on this trek.At about 8:30 am ,we were slighlty ahead of Devarayandurga when we decided to have breakfast,stopped the car and hogged on the
idlies that we had got.It was pleasant morning with lots of birds around the place.

We reached Midigeshi at around 10 am.An old man was curious to know as to why we were there ,he suspected as a part of the central govt employees who have come to assess the place :) .We convinced him that we had come there to see the fort,he insisted that we take a guide to show us the place.

Puttaraju would be our guide for the day,he said that he would join us in 10 minutes since he had to have his food,till then we decided to explore the ancient venkateshware temple at the base of the fort ,a small yet beautiful temple ,we finished clicking pictures by then Puttaraju -our guide was waiting for us show us around.Initial climb is a easy ,though one encounters loose gravel at certain places.

This fort can only be climbed from one side,after the intial easy clime,one encounters a steep cliff,one has to be careful while climbing this part of the fort.After this is there are is a fleet of steps.The steps slide towards one side and are very smooth in some areas ,one has to very careful here.Also one has to be careful not to look down from this place ,one can see the steep ascent made which can be hair-raising to say the least.We enter the the main entrance gate of the fort here.One can see the majestic strong walls of the fort with the the gun-slots and the canon points





















As we moved further ,we could spot the ammunition storage area,we decided to explore it ,a 3 roomed area which was once the house of several types of ammunition.It is slightly tricky to approach this area since this place is lower than the ground level except for the roof ,there was dense undergrowth all around ,so we had to walk over the doom of the roof to enter this place.Finally we headed towards the summit -were one can spot the Minaret which is basically a tomb of erstwhile ruler

One can also checkout the rooms to stay one of which has a bathing area as well.Another important aspect of the rooms is that they have a small opening on the roof which was meant to be a natural ventilation opening ,a latch to this seems to be missing according to me.

Two huge ragi storage areas can also be spotted here.At the other end ,a little downhill is another living area with a water storage area.This water storage area has never dried till date apparently according to Puttaraju.We decided against exploring this place since the route was quite a steep climb down .

We took a deep breath sinked in the moment ,sun was blazing down ,puttaraju suggested that we start back since it is going to get more hot by the time we go down.We slowly started our trek downhill.Downhill was easy ,Puttaraju suggested we remove our footwear since it might be very slippery.We reached the base of the fort by around 1 pm.We drank water from the borewell
nearby and decided to rest as the sun was just blazing down.As soon as we settled down we spotted quite a few birds there -the priced catch was the woodpecker

According to Puttaraju,wildlife spotted by him include Bears,civet cat,fox,leopard-which has also killed livesstock

We also checked out an old jain temple -Bhagawan Suparshwanatha in the kayotsarga posture,renovation is underway at this temple now ,the folks where more than keen to show us the idol which was kept in a adjacent building.By now we were exhausted ,we headed to the nearest shop and gulped down some cold drinks which was when the body came back to normalcy :)

We had some lunch @ madhugiri and headed back .On the way back we decided to check out Goruvanahalli Lakshmi devasthana ,had darshan there.There is a dam called teetha ,relaxed there and headed back to bangalore .All in all a good day spent.

Acknowledgement : This place was first written by Srinidhi Raghavendra in deccan herald.

Aiyur

I was wondering what to do on the weekend when sid told me about aiyur reserveforest.So
i decided to join him and two other folks from his office who were coming for this trip. We were to join ashish-sids friend at electronic city,luckily i got a direct bus to electronic city ,reached there by 9am,had to wait for a while before sid and his friends joined us.

We headed towards hosur,passing through country side enjoying spotting birds,some amazing pleasant weather.We reached a small hamlet where we decided to have lunch.The lunch was simply amazing to say the least.Hot sambhar and rice -it just made my day :)

We headed towards the aiyur forest,spent some time at the water hole,nice cool atmosphere with gentle breeze blowing.shortly thereafter we visited the spider valley home to some unqiue spiders which is why the name.

Spent some time at the valley,then on the way back we visited the watch tower.Headed back by 5pm ,had coffee on the way back,reached back home by 8pm,all in all it was a good relaxing ಡೇ

Fort Pavagada

Fort pavagada is situated right inside -in the heart of the city.There is a small rock cut anjaneya swamy temple also called kote anjaneya swami at the bottom of the fort ,we prayed to lord anjaneya and started our trek by about 10:30 am

We started climbly slowly as the heat was simply too much -this place is mostly plains with a few mountains here and there.We were soon joined by a bunch of kids and we enjoyed a lot by talking to them and climbing up the fort.



This fort is well kept inspite of its non maintenance .We hardly found anybody in the fort on that day.A local guy called sadanand soon began showing us around the fort.

Once we reached the top of the fort,one can see a massive well which is supposed to be very deep.one can see the place of the simhasana with 2 elephants at the entrance in the open air.There are numerous watch towers at the top one can explore.We checked out the underground entrance which is supposed to run to a place somewhere in the city,one can explore this underground route if one comes prepared.

We then headed to a place which is supposed to be the coolest place on the fort,this place is apparently the place where the fort stored its milk products in two huge mud mounds.this place is surprisingly cooler even to this day.

By now we could see rains approaching and decided to check out the bheemna donne.We checked out this natural water storage place -the water here is supposed to be very sweet-also called bheemana donne.By now it started pouring heavily and we took shelter at one of the shelters at the corner of the fort .

My friend prashanth had got something to eat and we all shared the eatables. We then checked out the shelter areas for the soldiers.The kid was about to throw the wrapper of the chips ,when i told him not to do so and to dispose all rubbish at dustbins only,impressing upon them to conserve nature and how it could degrade nature.Meekly he told that nobody ever told this to me.I dont hold the kid responsible -but it is high time the schools inculcate such small things which can go a long way in preserving nature.
Being the month of ramzan some kids headed straight to the small mosque in the fort.The pouring rain brought the temperature down much to my delight.This is one of my best experiences of a fort till date.

By now the kids and the guy who showed us around wanted to take our leave and we thanked them for showing us around and giving us some very good company.The rain showed no signs of reducing.thankfully after about 15 minutes rain stopped and we decided to head to the topmost part of the fort.Just as we were moving ahead ,the natural swimming pool caught out attention-the really was impressed by the way they made best use of the natural areas around the fort.

We then headed to the topmost tier of the fort-the view from this place will just sweep you of your feet.We then started our descent from the fort.The sun came came out blazing and i had a tough time in the heat.We soon headed for bangalore in my maruti 800.

One can also visit the shani temple which again is very near to the fort.Also just on the outskirts of the city is kanive lakshmi narasimhaswamy devasthana ,although it was locked we prayed from outside and headed back to bangalore.

Pavagada is 180 kms from bangalore and i am glad i made it in 3 hours on the way back :)

ps: the approach to the fort in the beginning is slightly dirty ,so please watch out

Kalahatty jungle camp

Location : 20 kms from mudhumalai checkpost
The location is excellent,when we had been there,there was nobody else at the place.It is a huge place with excellent backdrops of the forest.The incharge Srinivas is very courteous.

A trek to the nearby phantom peak was excellent.Just relaxing in the lap of nature is one of the best things you can do here.

Food served is also excellent ,both vegetarian and non-vegetarian ,an ideal weekend ಗೆತವಿ

Channarayandurga

Not knowing what to expect ,i started out from Bangalore in my Airavata-maruti 800.

I headed straight to the brahmins cafe bar where i got some idlis parcelled for the day and headed towards tumkur and bump i was caught in one of the worst traffic jams-it was Aug 15 and i could school children in their parents vehicles in a hurry to get to the school

Soon i hit a place where i had to drive my 800 through an uneven mud surface which was kind of tricky since it would hit the oil sump,just took a chance i gave it a try and lo with a small hit i was through ,there was a short cut which was waiting for me which took me through small villages and leading right infront of the Nice Tumkur road exit.

So i was back on track and headed straight to devarayana durga,being the last shravana shanivara the place was abuzz with people,by the time i had the darshan and checked out the vistas from the top of the temple ,it was around 11 am and headed straight to the other temple at the foothills and there was a kilometer long queue seeing which i decided to give a break.On the way back took a quick break and munced some idlies near a a lake and headed towards channarayanadurga

In about an hour i was at the base of the fort.I asked a elderly man if somebody could show me around the fort and lo mohd hussain -my guide no 1 for the day arrived.We soon headed for the fort which is just behind the small village,in no time mohd hussain climbed up and went ahead by quite a distance.

I was taking a break every now and then -since it was quite sunny by now.i could see thick smoke coming out on the top tier of the fort ,was wondering who would be there .Anyways i entered the fort and soon i entered the first level which has a huge kalyani.I was greeted by my men friday chitappa and chitappa ,who decided to show me around the place for the day.


I was really impressed by the natural landscaping done on this front,there are umpteen water storage areas and the huge main kalyani has never gone dry till date.Other key areas of the fort include the grain storage areas which are like huge 100 x 100 feet chambers with a single window -shows that food storage was also well planned for.

The view from different levels of the fort is indeed a sight to remember.All in all a good exploration ,i thanked the father and son duo who knew much more than mohd hussain

ps: the traffic jam i got know in the next days papers was due to the protest of the death of the school girl who was crossing the highway by a lorry,my condolences to the young girl and i hope there are some underpasses built and people use them once they are built.

A tribute to a good friend

We first met Boraiah as a rookie straight out of the IFS exam on his first assignment.He was a mild mannered gentleman who was indeed very friendly.

It was a fun trek to Nagamalai on which he accompanied us as a guide and never during this trek did he cease an oppurtunity to interact with the locals to check on the movements of elephants and other wildlife in the area.Speaking chaste kannada we were certainly impressed by his knowledge of the local wildlife as well the different flora in the jungles.The trek went to smoothly at the end of which we found a good friend for life.

It is said that all good things start with a small dream and as a small boy in his school,he was enamoured by the forests.It was one such dream on a visit to BR hills as a school kid that he had dreamt of being a forest officer.Today we can proudly say that he has achieved some remarkable things which could not be achieved by previous officers

It was dream come true for him as was posted to BR hills on his first assignment.Since then he has solved numerous problems of wildlife and the local tribals .These are not just mere words ,they are true in every sense.The high point in his career has to be the fact that in his jusridiction last year not a single elephant death was reported whereas elephant deaths are mounting in the entire state.

We as a part of our trek team of Subbu,Raghu,Chandru,Hemanth,Pavan,Santosh and Arjun wish Boraiah a great and successful life ahead on the occasion of his marriage.May Boraiah achieve many more laurels in future as well.

Belligundi Falls

Well i wasnt so well and that was when i was still undecided whether to make it or not for the Belligundi trek

After a lot of thinking i finally decided to go ahead with the trek.

Location : Belligundi falls
Route : Deep inside the forest -Sharavathy valley
Rating : Tough




Team members : Shivakumar,Rajesh,Sachin,Prasanna,Jovin,Karyn,Parag,Arjun,Mohan and Shashidhara

We all reached Kargal by the sleeper bus at around 8 am.We were joined by Karyn.So in total we were 10 people ,had breakfast at the resturant and started our journey to Kaarni which is about 45 kms from Kargal.From here we enter the forest ,some real dense forest.

This area is somewhat peculiar ,has some strange razor sharp climbers that one has to be careful with ,else it will just make a cut on your skin ,i experienced it :( .

We then trek along the river bed for quite sometime ,we are enveloped on both sides by very dense forest.Each of us are in our own world ,by now our friend Rajesh shows that he is real guy who has a flair for water :).We stop over for little over an hour for lunch at one such beautiful place in the middle of nowhere .Some nice hot and inviting sambar rice.To our surprise our cooks have estimated the correct amount of food for the entire group ,since only very little was left over after all of us had sufficient helps.
Then we trek along the stream bed.Sometimes it becomes really tricky to cross over the stream bed since it tends to be slippery one has to be careful.Around 3:30 pm we reach the water fall,the entire team go down to enjoy except me,Mohan and sachin since we were all dead tired by now and we still had not reached our destination.

After the boys had a splash at the waterfalls we decided to head to padubeedu ,again this starts with a slight ascent,I was damn tired by now ,we reached the sunset point near padubeedu and relaxed with a cup of tea.i was damn tired and decided to sleep now .The entire team where enjoying a great round of antakshari .I woke up around 9pm and joined them.Soon it was time for dinner and we retired for the day.

The night was colder than i expected and managed to get sleep in batches .Narayana though he was kinder to us ,intially he told that he would wake us up at 5 am ,woke us up at 6am .We got up and finished our ablutions and we had breakfast -upittu ,we started at 7:30 am to our destination -Belligundi falls.




In an hour or so we reached the day 1 waterfalls ,from where we need to trek further into the jungle.We started our long and ardous trek.This trek was interspersed by walking on the boulders as well as walking in the jungle.Some of it was ascent and some of it was plain trek.And then we all reached the starting point of the descent.This is the most treacherous part of the trek.We need to trek about 1.5-2kms down hill with a rate of angle of almost 80 degrees.Most of the forest is covered with falling leaves below which might be one or two loose stones.so one had to be careful.

I still remember the faces of my fellow trekkers when we started the descent ,how would be trek back such a steep ascent on our way back.Behind me was sachin and both of us exchanged glances on more than a few occassions when we saw that huge stones rolled down the hill when narayana was climbing down ahead of us.

Finally at around 10 am we reached the bottom of the falls of Belligundi.Hold on,if you think the trek is over there is more ,lots more.We had to climb up hill through the rocks.Water flows down from the waterfalls.It is quite tricky to climb up this rocky streambed.I took my own time and one of the last to reach the falls.Since it is summer water was less ,but it was ideal to have a bath.I couldnt resist myself and soon i joined the gang below the falls.The experience of standing under the falls is just awesome ,really enjoyed it to the hilt.We were there near the falls for about half an hour before we decided to head back.We decided to have lunch at an upstream on the way .So we all headed to a small stream ahead.We soon had our lunch.I must mention the dog here which followed us right through our trek.We made sure that the dog had lunch as well,since it was going to be a tough uphill trek on the way back.

The uphill was really steep.Huffing and puffing ,i was one of the last person to climb up :).At about 3pm we had a break to rest for a while.Narayana was kind enough to take us in a shorter route on the way back.We reached our destination at about 4pm after taking sufficient breaks enroute to padubeedu.Finally on the back ,when we were just about 3kms away he dropped the bombshell when i asked him the distance,he revealed that todays trek was only 24kms :).But i enjoyed the trek to the hilt for the following reasons :

1)Dense forest cover(we hardly encountered any sunshine on the way)
2)Wonderful co-operative team
3)Excellent time management by our guide Narayana
4)Above all the awesome Belligundi falls made it all worthwhile :)