The ‘bettas’ on the big screen

On an expedition to Ramangara, Kirti Malhotra discovers a set of human-made caves featured in a famous movie.

During one of my treks to Ramadevara betta in Ramanagara, I was informed of the legend connecting this hill to Jatayu, the legendary vulture king. Incidentally, Ramadevara betta was declared the first vulture sanctuary in India, in 2012.

Today, the vulture sanctuary is a large area consisting of many hills that surround the Ramadevara betta. Locals believe that Saptharishi betta is the abode of Jatayu. The ‘saptharishis’ are an interesting set of seven tall stones standing upright in front of the entrance to the Pattabhirama temple on Ramadevara betta.

There was no way to climb up from the temple side. During my next trip, I looked for a way to climb Saptharishi betta from the opposite side. Taking a diversion to the left on the Konkanidoddi-Ramadevara betta road, I climbed the small hill overlooking the northwest side of Saptharishi betta. Suddenly, the hill’s contour looked familiar and I recalled having seen it in an English movie long ago. 

Later, I found that it was David Lean’s 1984 movie, A Passage to India, which was shot in Ramanagara and Savanadurga. The movie is an adaptation of a 1924 novel of the same name, authored by Edward Morgan Forster. Forster had been to India, and had visited the Barabar Caves in Bihar, supposedly the oldest rock-cut caves in India. They date back to the 3rd century BC. They are carved entirely out of the granite hill.

These were probably the caves that inspired Forster to imagine the fictional ‘Marabar’ caves in his novel. When David Lean planned to make the movie, he travelled to these places, and also other places that had monolithic granite rocks. I came to know that for the ‘upper Marabar’ caves, a location near Ramadevara betta was chosen, and three small caves were constructed on one of the hills. 

In one scene, the young lady is escorted by the doctor to the cave’s entrance. I was curious to explore the hill to confirm if Saptharishi betta was the hill depicted as ‘upper Marabar’ in the film and if so, I wished to see the present status of those three human-made caves.

One of the caves featured in 'Passage to India'.

A second trip

During my next visit, I trekked along the left bank of the Arkavathi, visited the Zalzale Shah Dargah and a Hanuman temple. I kept looking at various visible parts of the hill, so as to locate those three human-made caves. Halfway through my task, I met Seenappa, a local who said he was involved in carving the caves! 

I continued my journey, taking a mud path that was almost parallel to the foothill. The path led me to a small flat hill, slightly away from the main hill. When I climbed it, I could observe the full face of the hill. Zooming in using my camera, I could spot the top portion of one of the caves. Now, I had to find a way to reach this place.

Circumventing this flat hill and crossing over thorny plants, I started climbing up. When I had reached halfway, near some bushes, I heard some sounds. I stopped walking ahead and maintained pin-drop silence. I heard the sounds coming closer and closer towards me. And then I saw two small boys who, as I learned later, had been following me since I met Seenappa. Thereafter, they became my guides.

Clearing all types of obstacles — thorny plants, steep and slippery rocky surfaces — and having crawled under some branches, I finally saw the left cave come into view. The front portion of the caves was not clear as it was in the movie. I moved from the left cave to the centre one and the right one. They are shallow caves — all three measured around seven feet by six feet. I could take photos of the individual caves from up close. But it was not possible to step back and capture a wider view, as the prickly vegetation did not allow for that. 

I could imagine the bustle of activity when shooting had taken place on this hill. Reclaimed by nature, everything was quiet and peaceful now. As I looked up, I was happy to see two vultures slowly circling. This hill belonged to them. Thanks to conservation measures, their habitat here is protected.