Feb 27, 2021

test of stamina and will at Savandurga

The first climb - Anish, Gulli and I - we climbed less than half-way up in about 45 minutes under bright hot Sun. Mostly we took the wrong path even though two local boys were trying to guide us through the ideal route. We were tired, thirsty and getting hungry ...we decided to head back and go home.

Second climb, Gulli and I, must have taken at least 90 minutes with local boy guiding us the way up. At places we would deviate from the path assuming it would be shorter and ended up doing circus.

Third climb onwards we started understanding the path better. Our timing got better with every climb. By the fourth or fifth we would reach Basava Mantapa in 60 minutes. I would start the stop watch in my Timex Zulu Time and note the time every climb. The best we managed was 40 minutes - from the base to the Basava Mantapa - we could not do better than that.

Base to Point 1, gateway in the ruins of the fort wall - 10 minutes.

Point 1 to Point 2, the turret - 20 minutes.

Point 2 to Point 3, the guest house - 30 minutes.

Point 3 to The summit - Basava Mantapa - 40 minutes.

With experience we had learnt few things NOT to do -
  • talk (I would talk as less as possible though Gulli would chatter on non-stop)
  • sit down (if we need rest, we would stop and remain standing but never sit down)
  • drink water (chances of catching sore throat is high)
  • hold things in our hands (always carried a back-pack)
My heart beat rate would shoot up pretty quickly and breathless in minutes but I learnt to push on ...sweat pouring out from my face and scalp. The path between point 1 and point 3 is very steep. By the end of 20 minutes I would be drenched in sweat, my tee-shirt would be completely soaked! My heart pounding and my shoulders ache like crazy ...I would question myself; why did I have to come all the way for this? Why go through this pain?

At times I would pluck a straw of wild grass and chew the tender end - it would give out a mild sweet flavor - I used to feel that boosted my energy.

Once we reached Point 3 it's as good as reaching the top ...from here it's more of walk then climb ...stretch of level walk, a quick descent and a quick ascent, walk over rocks, walk though rocks and then a short steep climb up and there you see the Basava sitting in the Mantapa looking towards the East. I would touch Basava's feet, circle him three times and offer him my Namaskara.

Going back to my thoughts 'why do i take all this trouble and pain'. Well, now I know that every bit of trouble I went though is worth the feeling I experienced here on the top ...the cold wind of fresh air, the sounds of the wind though the rocks and the scenes my eyes saw. My heart beat would be normal and would not even realize it.

Descending was relatively less strenuous but knees would start paining half-way down. Once during a solo climb, I came down in 15 minutes. At some parts I would leap from rock to rock ...my ankle-high Reeboks protected my feet from the shocks and supported my ankles. At the base, from Savandhi Veerabhadreshwara Devastana, we would look up at Nandi Mantapa and say bye and see you again.
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Feb 24, 2021

views of Savandurga

 A collage of pictures of Savandurga seen from different places.


Starting from the top-left corner, we'll go in clock-wise direction-
  • out-skirts of Bangalore
  • near Manchenbele Dam
  • near Tippagondanahalli Dam
  • near Dodda Alada Mara (Big Banyan Tree)
  • on Savandurga
  • on Magadi - Ramanagara Road
  • about a kilometer from the hill
  • right next to the hill
  • close to the summit - the Basava Mantapa

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Feb 20, 2021

in memory of Rajesh Gowda

 Rajesh was a colleague and a friend. He had accompanied me on few trips around Bangalore. He was a super active and jovial person. He had supported his family immensely. Sadly his health issue got serious which eventually took his life. A tragic ending for a person so energetic.

This picture were shot at Savandurga summit. We had stayed at overnight at the temple and started climbing the hill at dawn. 

This too is at Savandurga the previous afternoon. We had explored the fort ruins on the southern side of the monolith. This is a sprawling rock formation with natural ponds with fresh water.

This particular picture was shot at the base of Thenginkalbetta, a granite hill with two peaks. The other two are Girish, another colleague and the taller person was our guide Manjunath from the village. 

These trips were special because of Rajesh's antics, he kept us smiling and laughing all the time.

Om Shanti.
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Feb 13, 2021

life on Savandurga

August 17, 2011

These pictures were shot during a visit with Deepak. As usual we had reached Savandurga early morning. The rains had given a fresh look to the rocks and vegetation. It was a partly cloudy day, weather was cool and the air felt fresh. The climb was slower than usual because of the wet slippery patches, we had to tread through them careful. The sights were amazing.. everything on the hill was beautiful, perfect, no chance of flaws in the creations of Mother Nature. Here are few pictures from Nikon Coolpix 5100.

This fallen leaf was seen near the first gate. The tree has grown on a four-pillared sentry post on the fort wall. Just after the rainy season the leaves are green but during a dry season the young leaves are red. And the end of their lives, the leaves turn pale yellow and fall off.

A shallow valley near the second fort wall and gate. Stored rain water trickles down in a tiny stream which collects into a small pond at the base of the slope which further flows down another slope to the base of the hill. The stream gurgles down gracefully, if one paid close attention, the music of water could be heard. The water is clear and cool, fresh enough for drinking without a worry.  

A large patch of man high grass. Each of the plants are at the peak of their lives, so tall and heavy that a strong wind makes them lean creating domino effect. I had a habit of pulling out a stalk from the base and chew on the lower end. I believed the sweet sap from this grass boosted my energy level. 

Little pearly water droplets hold on to young Peepul leaves. I think this tree is on the brick wall which runs along the edge of the slope going up from the second gate. The roots of this plant cling on the brick wall tightly, they look like serpents.

A lonely snail. Except for a gentle movement of its antenna, it was still. It must've crawled all night moved a few meters. I wonder how its to be that slow. Anyway, its shell is one of the most beautiful things in nature. The involute which spirals out is perfect. Such is the power of chemical and physical programming of Mother Nature.

This cactus is quite common on Savandurga and surrounding rock formations. The cactus is relatively mild in terms of thorns which are short and stubby. They grow tall, sometimes upto 8 to 10 feet high. During one of our night camping here, we had collected some dried out plants as fuel for fire. They burned like paper.. it must be the case with all dead cactus since they are bags of water when alive.

This is the eight pillared mantapa a stone's throw from the guard house. This mantapa sits on a rock besides a small pond of fresh water. The ancient builders made sure rainwater was harvested which would remain fresh and lasted until the next season. On this hill are one big and four or five smaller ponds. During one of our visits we used this water to washup, the water was clean enough.

This picture was shot at the top, the stretch between the guard house and Nandi Mantapa. These grass stalks are almost eight feet. The footpath would have tunnels in between.. every time I went through a tunnel I would expecting a wild beast encounter. Notice the loops in the flowery part of the grass? I guess its done by some insect.

Those graceful curves in soft greens and yellows is a pleasant sight. Isn't it? Wondering is this grass when dry is used to make brooms. At this point sun was trying unsuccessfully to break through clouds and layers of mist.

This plant is all leaves, never seen any flower on it. The leaves are thick, even in hot weather they don't show a hint of dryness.

This is an example of plants' versatile nature. They just nooks and crannies to send in roots and cling on firmly. There's hardly any loose soil on this rocky hill but the small granules in the cracks are enough for some to thrive. The clump of grass must be living there for couple of millennia.

On this humongous monolith called Savandurga are countless number of individual boulders shaped by the forces of wind, water and temperature. Many of them have shed weight with time, small granules get separated due to erosion caused by wind and water. Those granules form the little loose soil which is sucked by plants.

A very artistic window framed by two boulders and the monolith. The artistic feel is enhanced by the presence of crisscrossing blades.

The two mountain hounds kept us company all the way up and down. The little one had also come until a slip scared the life of it. It gave up and turned back as we watched it without a clue on how to motivate it to continue the climb.

This beetle is one of the most beautiful ever seen with my eyes. It's shape and color reminds me of Lamborghini. The insect was still even though I was shooting it closely. Insects are less active in cold weather which would be best time to shoot them. This wonderful creature gets all the attention but do check out the beauty of the rock on which it sits. Zillions and zillions of small granules of white, pink, grey remain bonded together to form this monolith granite.

The next four pictures were shot on the way back. This shorter variety grass has occupied a manmade gutter. See the circular lichen just above the grey patch. Grass prevents expansion of cracks as they plug the gaps and keep them sealed.

The little ponds on the monolith are small ecosystems by themselves. Most times they are dominated by a single type of plant but a variety of insect life thrive in the water. Usually the water surface is still in cold weather since the insects are inactive. The mirror like surface reflects the sky, mist and plants beautifully.  

Lastly, a set of real and virtual arcs on the edge of a pond. In the sky is a hint of mist or low clouds.

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Feb 6, 2021

Savandurga - overnight stay four

April 2002

This was the Saturday Pink Floyd was performed in Bangalore. Kiran, one of Kiran's cousin and a friend of his cousin and I. We reached well before sunset, gathered firewood and settled down in front of the stone shelter close to the summit. As the sky darkened we could see glittering lights all around.. villages and towns were lighting up slowly. We could see three major patches.. Magadi to our left, Bangalore straight ahead and Ramanagara to our right.

Around seven thirty, mist started blowing in and visibility was restricted to about 20-25 meters. We were sitting looking towards Bangalore and Kiran was talking about some ghosts and stuff.... "Sidda, look to your right there's something coming towards us." I could see a figure in the haze. As the figure came closer, I realized it was a human. Kiran was telling see if it's a ghost in the form of a man. I told him that generally ghosts prefered woman's form dressed in white saree. Still Kiran was little scared. I'm not sure about the other two guys. The ghost turned out to be a young man. He was drunk and looking miserable. I asked what he was doing here and if he had company. He replied that his friends had deserted him and he was alone. Then he asked if he could go down to the village. We advised him against descending in the darkness. He asked if he could stay with us. There was plenty of room in the shelter, we asked him to spend the night here. I think we loaned him a mat and gave some drinking water. He occupied one if the corners and fell asleep in minutes.

Pink Floyd show, was being aired live on Vividh Bharati, we heard the show on my pocket radio. We saw a sky-shot... pink and white sparkles followed by blue-green, white-yellow lights. We assumed that the fireworks was part of the rock show but the next day we learned that there was no fireworks there. Watching the twinkling stars on the dark canvas, we had dinner, then pitched a large mosquito net and hit the sack. The night was peaceful.

The 'ghost' woke up early morning and left us at first light. I guess he was very hungry and thirsty.

We went to the Basava Mantapa stayed there for sometime and then descended the hill.

PS: There were three previous and one subsequent overnight stays on Savandurga, each time it was a different group. Here are the links to those posts: Overnight Stay OneOvernight Stay TwoOvernight Stay Three, and Overnight Stay Five.
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