Visit One
My first visit to the place was time November 1994 with Anish and Gulli, my neighbors and good friends. We went there out of curiosity to see early morning mist at Thippagondanahalli reservoir, a rain water reservoir about 40 km west of Bangalore. We had a wonderful time- fresh cool air, clouds of mist floating around, birds chirping sweet melodies... nothing like Nature. Gulli and I bounced stones off the water surface till our arms ached. We played around like kids until we were hungry which made us head towards Magadi. We stopped at a junction on the outskirts of Magadi We saw a small shop selling vada and tea. We had something like 60 vadas, the tastiest vadas ever. Tea was okay.
We learned about Savandurga from the shopkeeper and decided to go there. Rode our bikes through the woods stopping on and off when something caught our attention. During one of the stops I noticed a few wood-apple trees with fruits hanging on high branches. We managed to fell some by tossing sticks. At Savandurga village, there are two temples dedicated to Veerbhadreshwara and Laxminarasimha. We parked our bikes close to Laxminarasimha Devastana. One of the local kids insists on visiting the temple. A quick visit to the temple and we are on our way to the hill guided by the same kid. By now, the sun was up, beating down fiercely. 20 minutes later we reached the first wall. Another 20 minutes we reached the second wall. We were exhausted, the kid was fine.
We decided that we had had enough for the day despite the kid's attempts to encourage us. There goes our first attempt but I was determined to come back soon.
Back home my mother told that wood apples are not supposed to be plucked. They were supposed to fall off on their own which is an indication of ripe ones. Oh what a waste!
Gulveer and I, were back at Savandurga few weeks later determined to make it to the top. I do not remember how we met our volunteer guide, a local kid. Our guide knew the easiest path but we hardly obeyed him. We trekked wherever we felt was easy, struggled a bit for not listening to our guide.
We went past the first gateway. From this point onward, the path is very steep. This is where most first time climbers give up.
We reached the second wall - point where we had given up during attempt #1.
Our guide encouraged us constantly and we too were determined. Actually, I was the one who was struggling while Gulli and the guide were climbing effortlessly. I hardly paid attention to the sights around us. We reached the ancient stone structure, a guard house. We took more than one hour to reach this point. My heart was beating fast, sweat pouring down my face.
We shared our our breakfast of biscuits, oranges and water with the guide. We were told that the summit was not far from here, in fact the stone mantapa was in sight. The short break let my heart beat come back to normal.
From here the path gets very interesting. It goes through a wide pit covered with six feet tall grass, then a passage through boulders and a short steep climb to the summit where the Basava Mantapa sits on the tip of the peak.
We had made it! Finally I climbed Asia's largest monolithic rock hill. Thanks to our guide and Gulli.
The view was breath-taking!! These pictures give you a rough idea, that's it. You should see, smell, hear, feel and experience the place for yourself.
BTW, pictures in this post were shot during different visits. As you see, some were shot during dry months and some during rainy season.
Since the sun was up we could feel the rise in temperature. Another hour it would get real hot when the boulders start radiating heat. We started our descent which was effortless for me. Gulli was little scared climbing down. Just before the second gateway, we took a diversion towards the first gateway against our guide's advice. The path was very steep, we were on our feet and bottoms, literally sliding down, it was madness. Our guide was scared but joined our crazy adventure.
The trek was fantastic. A totally new experience for me and Gulli too. I'd fallen in love with Savandurga.
After this visit, I visited Savandurga 20+ times. Many were solo visits, quite a few with Gulli and brought many of my friends and relatives here. In December 1996, Gulli and I spent a night on Savandurga. It was another wonderful experience with Savandurga. Then years later I climbed the other hill known as Biligudda and also explored the fort ruins on the sprawling rock bed around the hills.
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