Skandagiri - Trekking above Clouds

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Skandagiri:

An over night camping at this hill top was always talked amongst us. This place in particular is the highest, most risky and tiring among all the hill tops around bangalore. But once on top, its like Walking on Clouds....its everywhere. With every passing block of cloud .It leaves tiny water drops on your body..on your hairs...palms..shoes..trousers...everywhere!!! It's mesmerising....You cannot see anything around..still its panormic. You try to figure things around..peeping through dense fog, mist..kind of appearance..which actually .... are clouds.....

Best way to enjoy.....Sit on top of the broken fort...Close your eyes...go back in time....


History of Skandhigiri:

This place was once a dynasty, one where no once else could come.....its mountain,dense forest and deadly animals...makes it impossible to conquer. It is for that reason, the great Tipu Sultan also tried to conquer this but failed. But like History, its not muscle power, its power of mind too....

Legend has it that when he tried and failed so many times, he then used mind, cunning as Fox. He bribed two milk women of that village, who showed his soldiers the way to the fort, who otherwise always got lost in the jungle. They threw rice on the way, so that soldiers could follow.

Rest is popular history. It was conquered by Tipu First and then By British British troops on 19 October 1791, until when the peace treaty was signed between the kings of Mysore and British (1973). It was surrendered by British troops and remained in British hands until the third Anglo-Mysore war.

About Skandagiri:

Also Known as Kalwar betta, 60 Kms from Bangalore, this is one the hill forts amongst the Nandi Hill ranges. The dilapidated walls of fort can be found today on steep Kalavara Betta (Skandagiri), near the village of Kalavara History says this was a small but strong hill fort.
This is a tedious trek as the hill is precipitous and high. The trek starts from the Papagni Temple at the foothills of Kalwara village. The fortress of Kalwarbeta is in full sight throughout the walk uphill. This steep and fantastic trek through a maze of dense shrub is highly intriguing. Kalwarbeta is a teaser. Just as you reach the fort wall contended that you have topped the hill, you see another ring of fort. No sooner you reach there; you will find another majestic fort wall waiting to be conquered. There are six such series of stonewalls protecting an abandoned temple on the hilltop.

Trekking Begins:

We were in 7 motorbikes, started our expedition at around 11 pm. Weather was nice and roads were empty, what else could stop us. Still it took us Two hours to reach to chikkballapur. Well my bike broke in the middle of nowhere at midnight. otherwise it would hardly take 45 minute to 1 hour. But difficulties followed as all the way. First we were lost in the village at skandhagiri. But we somehow found it. the best way to find the route at midnight is to go to the Chikkbalapur Police Station, the only place with humans still awake. So, we circled around the village around an hour and finally found the way. So, we reached...ooh yes....there is an ashram, a holy place for meditation. So, here at the bottom of the hill, we were stopped by cops. Another trouble---- So now here they are telling us that we are not allowed to climb before 5 am.(there were some issues with couples indulging at night). So, even though we tried to assure that its all boy group, thay were not convinced. (May be they are scared of article 377, Gay Rights), well we along with other groups, waited...till this cops fled...at 4 am....So, here we are, we have one and half hour to climb up i.e before sunrise. Sunrise is the most beautiful thing to see here (if you are not with your girl). So, we just ran, fast as we can, that made us in smaller groups, lightest at first, cool dudes in middle, heavy and overweight following the end. We carried along with us, food, water, warm clothes and Torch. Yes, even its full moon light, its difficlt to find way, cause there are shrubs and trees blocking any form of light. So, I started with the first group, trek half way with the middle group, but somehow reached the top with the first group. We three, when reached on top, wanted to shout on top of our lungs. We leaving behind our friends, other groups, were supposed to be the first to conquer the hill top. To our Surprise, there were already 25-30 people, sleeping inside their tents, wrapped up inside blankets, shawls and jumpsuits. We were half covered, hot and tired after rapid one hour trek, were looking like featherless chicken. We reached on top around Fifteen past Five. We were welcomed by heavy moist wind, fog and clouds. All we could see is white fog around us, people standing in groups, some getting up, waiting for sunrise. Well there were tea, bread, omlette sellers not making their usual seller's souund but approaching groups. It was a beautiful sight, you could see small tents, fort wall, a small temple and a small building. So, we were ready with our cameras to take the best possible pictures of sunrise, ocassionally taking our pics. Soon other friends joined us. It was a tiring night and most of us sat in one place, hogging snacks, drinking tea (only).

The beauty of that place can't be told, it would be same like what you see from the window of your plane. Sea of clouds, land, jungles and toy sized human structures. Only diffrence is that here you can feel the breeze, medium and fast.

Group photo time. So, we were leaving now. We left that place at 11, still couldn't believe how time passed by (Relativity Theory, is it true?). Well it did take a long time for us to get down. As, we stopped in many places, occassionally enjoying the sight and the flora. Now we could actually see, how far we have come.

This hill, when seen from down, is not so large. But here is the surprise, what you see is just the half of it. Its actually like a Pyramid on top of huge Cuboid block. So, what you can't see is the pyramid, which is covered with clouds and hardly visible, even at halfway.

There are los of surprises around that place. Some Stones Caved in a particular shape, like caves. It all looks like things from13th to 16th century old, ruined buildings etc.

Here towards the end of this journey, we stopped on a small highway restaurant (Shanti Sagar Kind), Ate some yummy Dosas, Vadas, Idly and sipped Coffee. Here, one can actually find some tasty local dry fruit candies.

We on the way back I looked back at it, was still visible from highway, but one could hardly imagine....it was this place that saw the rise and fall of three dynasties, couldn't save its history but still holding its importance...difficult to conquer.

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