0 Thenginkalbetta

Thenginkai - coconut
kal- stone or rock
betta - hill or mountain

One of the most serene places I had ever been to.


Twin peaks of Thenginkalbetta. Our guide leading us.

Thenginkalbetta is peaceful and hardly touched by man in the recent times. The hill has two peaks; one small and one large. Bottom half of the hill is green with lot of plant life. We had walk over rocks, through creepers and thorny bushes. It was one hell of an adventure. Without our guide, we would not have found the way to the top. By the time we reached the half way up, my exposed skin was covered with cuts.

The top half is rocky and barren but has it's own beauty... decorated by randon rock formations.

peak one - the larger of the two

peak two - the smaller of the two

Thenginkalbetta has played a role in history. It's natural caves were used as hideouts by Plaegars (local chieftans) buring wars. Our guide (i regret i cannot remember his name) showed us one of the caves high up in the rocks. Tall ladders were used to climb and pulled up into the cave. It seems the cave can accomaodate upto 60 people and has a source of water.


The hideout caves


Risky climb over unstable steps


Fresh water spring


Even now people use these caves to hide from the law... that's what I heard.

Our guide also showed us numerous other smaller caves and a place where weapons were hidden.

Rajesh inspecting the place where weapons were hidden


Small shelter with engravings depicting soldiers and cavalry


The pictures see below are atop the smaller peak. The rock surface is not very smooth... it gave us good grip and we felt confident even on steep faces.



The place is amidst hills and may not long back the place would've been covered by thick forest.



Every step we see something unique- a T-shaped gap.



Rain water stil fresh... a wash refreshed us. Our guide on my right and Girish on the left. From this spot, we caught a glimpse of three bears trying to get under cover... they are way down the hill.



We are standing in the valley of the two peaks



This creeper born in the tiny gap! Look how it's stuch close to the rock.



More water... this time we see a fresh water pond. This looked like a man made one. Long time back built by soldiers to store water. If you look carefully, you can see a stone pitching over the surface of the water.



A trisected rock still standing as one. I wonder how it was formed.



As we climbed further upto towards the bigger peak, we entered a small wood. A carpet of green grass and fruit bearing trees. I felt I was looking a paradise. My pictures hardly say anything. One should be in the place and feel it.



The shape of the rock is the effect of soldiers sharpening their swords. They would lie below the rock and rub the edge against the rock's surface.








We had a wonderful time on the top. We climbed down the other face of the larger peak. It was prety steep but the surface gave us great grip.



Even nature draws and paints... see this painting created by flow of water. Such contrasting colors!



Once back down, our guide took us down to his home. This simple mud house has sheltred four generations of our guide's family. We had coffee with jaggery as sweetener it.



I think his name was Manjunath...

If you want to go to Thenginkalbetta...
Bangalore - Ramanagara - Kanakapura Road - turn right to SRS betta - ask some one
.........

Detail: Thenginkalbetta

0 Encounter Cobra

Gulli and I, on the way back to Bangalore from Nandi Hills, saw a temple sitting on a small rocky hill to our left. We turned off the road and took the dirt-track, rode about a kilometer and parked the bike at the base of the hill just in front of the steps leading up to the temple.

We started going up the steps talking noisily looking at the surroundings. May be 50 or 60 steps up, just 3 - 4 steps ahead of us, I saw a Cobra slithering up the steps!! When I told Gulli about the Cobra his first reaction was to go towards it. “Hey Sidda what a lovely creature! This is the first time I'm seeing a real snake.” For a moment it looked as though he was going to catch it, I caught the back of his shirt and stopped him from getting closer to the snake. Suddenly I noticed a dog next to us. It went past us sniffing at the Cobra. We realized the steps were flanked by low walls on both sides, which means no chance of snake escaping until it reached the summit. I took the left one and Gulli on the right wall. We watched the snake crawl up all the way... it slowed as it went up every step... the stone-steps surface was too smooth for it to grip. When it took the last of the step I took a picture. Till the moment I had completely forgotten my Yashica.


It must be 6' long.


Once the snake was on flat surface it picked up speed and it took off the moment it reached mud... disappeared into the bushes. Snake gone. We got off the wall.

The temple door was closed and locked, did namaskara to the Gods inside. We realized the dog had disappeared!! We went around the temple looking for it but It was no where to be seen. It had vanished!!!

.........

Detail: Encounter Cobra

0 Koongalbetta

Koongal Betta is quite easy to reach from Bangalore. Just take Mysore road, at Ramanagara cross the level crossing next to the railway station, and keep driving till you see this hill to your left.


From a distance, the rock looks like a calf's head.


Half way up the hill, this rock which looks like a old man's face sticks out of the ground. It looks more like a dead man's face.

That's the path leading up the hill.

Looking back down towards the face.

The white patch is a small Bsavanna created by local people.

The pointed rock sticking out from the surface reminds me of Obelix's menhir.




Lot of artists and Shiva Bhakthas.


I feel this place might look beautiful in rainy season but might be dangerous too.

..........

Detail: Koongalbetta

0 Ramdevarabetta

Ramdevarabetta is nice place for a weekend day trip. the hill is just before Ramanagara. Youngsters also come here for camping.





Those are the steps leading up the rock, it's pretty steep. We were tempted to climb up but then climbing down could be dicey. We decided not to risk safety.

That's Suresh S Patil, my mom's elder brother.

This stone looked like a peeled out onion to me.

That's Mama in the cave entrance. We sat for a while in teh shade. I found few tiny bones, could be of some birds. There are plenty of preying birds around these rocky hills; kites, hawks, vultures.




That's a layer of rock which might have loosened off the surface and slid down.

.........

Detail: Ramdevarabetta

0 Mekedatu

River Cauvery before the Sangama, calm and smooth.


I shot these pictures during a visit with Satish, Shefali and Shobha. The 4km bus ride from Sangama to Mekedatu was a bumpy one. On the way back, I had walked almost half the distance when the bus caught up with me.



This is the narrowest part of the river, the speed of water is supposed to be around 80kms per hour. Probably this is where the goat jumped across the river.


This was a dry part of the year and hence less water. It's great to see when the river is full.


...the river appears to be calm again.


.........

Detail: Mekedatu