Raichur district is famous for all the wrong reasons - its dry weather and the highest temperature it records in summer. The general idea about the place is that nothing green can be found there and that it is a region that is backward in every sense of the word.

The district, in fact, has many attractions like Kolanki, Mudgal Fort, Navrang Darwaaza, Rock elephant at Teen Khandil, twin rock elephants at Maliabad, Hutti Gold Mines, and the like. The district is also called the land of 'Do Aab' because of the two rivers - Krishna and Tungabhadra - by its side.

The nature lovers of the district are keen on finding something new, something that hasn’t been reported from the district for long. Something that the Forest Department too has not reported so far.

One such group of nature lovers is the North Karnataka Birder's Network (NKBN), formed in the year 2001, comprising like-minded people interested in plant life. This group takes out regular expeditions and involves students too in its activities.

Even though the district has a fullfledged Forest Department, documents regarding the flora and fauna of the district are unavailable.

According to Prof Vedavyas of LVD College, the remote areas of the city and district have a variety of flora and fauna that has not been documented.

The only two records of the flora of Raichur are found in the two volumes of Flora of Karnataka, published in 1988-96 by an IISc scientist and in the Flora of Eastern Karnataka, published in the year 1984 by the Botanical Survey of India Director Prof M P Singh. However, the information available is scanty as the remote areas of the district are not covered.

According to Prof Vedavyas, a minor research product by the name Floral Diversity of Kolanki and Maliabad Hills stimulated the interest of nature lovers and now they want to explore the plant life of the district in detail.

“We want to generate awareness among the youth about plants, animals and birds. Even school children are encouraged to join us and the motto of our nature club is to create awareness among public at large,” he added.

As a result of detailed studies, some important species of plant that are rare and endangered like Drosera-Indica, Drosera-Burmani, Utriculeria Stellaris, Utriculeria Bifida, Utriculeria Scandens, Utriculeria Poly Galvides, Zydeus, Wolffia Globasa and Isoetes Coromandelina were recorded.

Also, non-flowering plants like Ophioglossum Vulgatum, Bamboo, Shatavari, Luffa Amara (Khi Hirekai), Gymenena Sylvestre (Madhu Nashini) and Momordica Cymbalaria (Kharchikai) are seen in various parts of the district.

Devara Gudda
About 4 km away from Deodurga taluk is Lingadahalli Paramananda Devara Gudda, a 2-and-a-half acre hill, fully covered with trees. Nobody dares to even touch the trees on this hill with an axe as, according to popular belief, cutting trees on this hill incurs the wrath of Gods. The fear of the unknown is so ingrained in people’s minds that they even hesitate to graze their cattle on the hill.

The Gudda, named after one ancient saint Paramananda, has over 60 varieties of trees, nearly 176 varieties of Aegle Marmelos (Bilwapatre in Kannada), and large patches of Tulsi and Aloe Vera.

Thriphala and Terminalia Chebula (popularly known as Alalekai) are grown in abundance in the forests of Kolanki. In fact, Alalekai is a medicinal plant for asthamatic disorders.

Benkal Doddi forest too has many beautiful flowering and ornamental plants like  Suvarnaka Pushpa that generally flower in the months of May and February.

Old tree
A 450-year-old, huge, barrel-shaped stem tree called Baobab Tree (Adansonia Digitata), the only one of its kind in South India, is found in Deodurga of Raichur. This tree is 45 feet in width and 40 feet in height. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, this tree is one of the oldest trees on earth and a variety that is common in South Africa. However, this old tree is not given its due credit and is left neglected.

The district is also home to many migratory birds and in the months of November and December over 200 birds visit the place, say the sources.

The search for the rich flora and fauna of Raichur is still on.