However, I desperately wanted go to somewhere away from the city during the weekend and I started thinking about Shivagange, a small hillock on Tumkur road. I had trekked to this place many times already and so wanted to do something different. I proposed that we try and do this trek in 5-6 hours including the travel. To beat the heat, we decided to start early.
Saturday morning, I picked up Chetan and Sridhar and we hit NICE road (the segment connecting Magadi road to Tumkur road) by 6:30 AM on my Maruti 800. It was a pleasant drive on NICE and later on Tumkur road.
To reach Shivagange, you have to travel on Tumkur road till Dabaspet. At Dabaspet, you have to go under the flyover and turn left. Shivagange is 6 KM from this point. There are some shops here that serve breakfast. We had idlis here and continued.
We reached the base of the hill at 7:45 and parked our car in the temple parking area.
We started the trek enthusiastically, with Chetan literally sprinting in front. All through the trek, there are crude steps carved out on the rocks. Along the way, there are lots of small shops selling cool drinks and sugarcane juice. We were almost the first ones to get there that day and none of the shops were open.
There are some dilapidated temple structures along the way.
Having started early, we didn't have to fight a harsh sun.
As we get closer to the top, the climb gets steeper. You also have to deal with some friends near the top. I had read in some blogs that the monkeys here have developed the uncanny habit of actually checking your pockets and bags. I hadn't seen that on my earlier visits and thought it was some exaggeration. But, this time I was selected for a thorough check. This guy checked my pockets first and then moved on to my bag. He actually opened it and had a look. Luckily, the only thing that interested him was my water bottle.
We reached the peak by 9AM and spent some time taking photos and resting there.There is a Nandi statue nicely placed on a rock near the peak. You can get a nice panoramic view and feel a pleasant breeze from this point.
There are a few places that are worth a stop along the trek. We hadn't stopped at these places on our way to the top. So, we stopped at a couple of places on our way back.
The first stop was at a place where they have newly constructed a big statue of Shiva and Parvati.
Next we stopped at Olakal Teertha. This place has a temple and there is a small underground spring. It is said that one who is pious and good can touch water here.
We then stopped at a sugar cane juice shop and prepared and had sugarcane juice. We literally prepared it ourselves.
At the base of the hill, there is a Gangadhareshwara temple. A strange phenomenon here is that the Abhisheka in ghee turns into butter.
We were back at the base by 10:30 and headed back to Bangalore. Again, thanks to Tumkur road and NICE road, we reached the city by 12, thus fulfilling our plan of doing the whole trip inside 6 hours.
Places around Shivagange that could be covered on the same day
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