A trek through Skandagiri

Weekend getaway

It was one of those weekends where we didn’t want to travel too far yet we wanted to get away from the hustle bustle of city life. The nearest and exciting option on my bucket list was Skandagiri aka Kalwara Durga.

How did we go?
We drove from Bengaluru at 5.30 am and reached ‘Papagni muth’ in Kalwara village at 7.15 am. From there, the forest guard, Mallikarjun, guided us to the starting point of the trek, a small check post where the trek tickets were checked and we were assigned a trek guide, Babu.

What did we do?
The climb started at 7.20 am. The trail is initially rocky, with smooth and rough boulders. They were slippery at times. After walking for about 45 minutes, the surroundings turned lush green and resembled the dense forests in the Western Ghats.

The path led to the main entrance of the fort aka ‘hebbagilu’ in Kannada. The final stretch is grassland covered with grass which can grow upto 7 ft. It was around 9 am when we reached the hilltop and we were engulfed by the mist. The clouds were moving fast. After a while, the bright sun showed up.

There were the Nandi Hills and Channagiri Hills on one side and the Chikkaballpur town on the opposite side. Rest of the area appeared like a green

carpet laid out for miles and there were dark green patches over.

There is a Shiva and Ganapati temple atop and the entire area is lined by the fort wall.

We captured the beautiful scenery on our cameras, enjoyed breakfast, listened to the chirping birds and imagined the untold stories of the ruins that stared at us.

The descent took us about 45 mins and we were back to the base by lunch time.

As responsible citizens we decided to collect the plastic waste and other waste materials lying on the path during our climb down. We managed to collect 5 kg of waste!

If you don’t want to head back to the city immediately, you can visit the other attractions nearby like
Sir M Visvesvaraya Museum, Nandi Hills and
Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple.

One can also buy fresh sweet grapes sold by farmers alongside the Nandi Hills road.

I always believe that ‘It’s not about where you go but all about what you see’.

(The author can be contacted at [e-mail])