Trip to Channarayanadurga and Devarayanadurga
We left home at 6.25 am, a few mins later than planned but still more or less on time. The weather was wonderful, and everyone was looking forward to the trek. We were headed to Channarayanadurga, which is near Dobbaspete and is one of the nine durgas in that part of the world.
The drive was uneventful, and by about 8.15 we had reached in the general vicinity of our destination. We then stopped to have some breakfast so that we could start climbing immediately after reaching our place. The road all the way to the village of Channarayanadurga is quite nice, and we parked a little way from the village. Someone mentioned that there is a small path a little away from the village that is an easier way to climb the imposing hill.
Channarayanadurga is around 3700 feet in elevation, with a fort at the top. The first part of the climb is considered the difficult bit, and once at the fort the rest of the climbs & treks are on flat terrain. We found the path leading up to the base of the hill, and started our climb. It wasn't an easy affair, which we found out soon enough, as there are no markings or directions, let alone a clear path or things to hold on to. The climb was just on the stone.
After we had done perhaps about 100 metres in elevation, Shoba and Johnny became very uncomfortable at the idea of climbing further, and after some deliberation, we decided it was best left to another day. We were about half-way from the base to the fort, but the second half was sheer rock so it would not have been an easy affair for Shoba and Johnny. We then came down the same way, and very soon found the small path that brought us back to the main road.
The little we had climbed still gave us some fantastic views of the surrounding country, and one can only imagine that the view from the top would have been even more exhilarating.
Since we were now down, and it was only around 10 with no sign of the sun, we decided to head for Devarayanadurga which was about 30 kms from this place, on the route back to Bangalore. The good thing about Devarayanadurga is that there is no climb - the car could go all the way to the top. We set the navigator to this place, and by 10.45 we had parked at the hilltop, from where a set of steps led to the temple at top. The road had been a very winding one, and from the parking we could see expansive views of the valley below.
We then walked up to the temple steps and climbed the 100-odd steps to the Narasimha temple at the top. There is a very old temple at the top, with idols of Ganapati, Narasimha, and Lakshmi. This is an active temple, and there was a good crowd of folks coming in a steady stream. A small pond at the very top had greenish water but a few brave folks could be seen venturing in to take a dip.
After finishing our round of the temple, we then headed back down, stopping only to take a few photos from some vantage points, all the while wary of the monkeys which had no fear and were trying to snatch ladies' purses & anything that was not nailed down.
We stopped at a quiet place on the winding drive back down to grab a quick lunch.
Our next halt was at a lake called Nayakanakere which is near the base of the Devarayanadurga drive. Shoba remained in the car, but we three spent some time at the lake, trying to see who could manage the most with the skipping stones.
By about 12.30, we were back on our way to Bangalore. The toll booths were the only points of delay, but we still got back home by about 2 pm.
Shoba feels we could have climbed all the way to the top of the fort, but that's now for another day.
