Madhugiri

Date: 26-Jul-14
We wanted to go to Madhugiri fort for a long time. We had seen the glimpse of Madhugiri when we were returning from Siddarabetta long back. Finally, we decided to visit the place this Saturday. Deepika and Priyanka (my cousins) were ready to join us for this trip. When I checked about this place on Google, I could find amazing images of the hill. So, I was all excited to go there.

On the way to Madhugiri Hill

At 7 AM, we started from our home. The weather was very beautiful. It was all cloudy. We hoped that the weather to remain the same throughout the day. We were talking a lot in the car and thus enjoying our journey. At Dabaspet, we stopped to have breakfast. Instead of going to the much-talked Kamath hotel, we had a nice breakfast at a hotel called Brindavan.

After breakfast, we started to Madhugiri. As we hoped, the weather was still cloudy. It helped us in enjoying the ride. We had been on the same road to Siddarabetta earlier. At that time, the road was not at all good because of the construction work. And now, the construction work was almost ended and the road was in a very good condition. On the way, we could see many hillocks which were gigantic. We stopped in one place where the scene was good and took some photos. Though there was greenery, the place was looking very dry. But the monoliths and the hillocks were making the place look beautiful.

When we were nearing the destination, we could see Madhugiri hill in front of us. The hill was so huge that for a moment, I thought it is impossible for me to climb. Somehow, got convinced that there would be an easy alternate route to climb. We reached the entrance of the hill at around 10.45 AM. When we went inside the gate, we could see an old court. We parked the car near the court and started our trek. There was a small building which was very old and was looking like a jail. The view of Madhugiri hill was amazing from that place. We could clearly see the fort on top of the hill.

We started climbing the hill at around 11 AM. We found that the place was very neatly maintained. There were steps to climb in some places and in the beginning, it was not very steep. We took our own sweet time to climb. We stopped at each and every step and took photos. The city was looking more and more beautiful as we were climbing up. The weather was still cloudy and because of this weather, we did not feel tired while climbing. We had great fun while climbing. The fort, the pillars were almost broken everywhere. We were taking rest as and when required. So, we did not find it difficult to trek.

The interesting thing we found there was, we could not see the end point of the hill. When we were thinking we were almost reaching the top, we could see some more portion of the hill. It was never ending. As we were climbing up, the hill was becoming steeper. Deepika and Thilak were climbing up very easily. But, Priyanka and I were struggling. At one point, when I was climbing, I started to slip from the place. I was very very scared. Thilak held me and because of him, I could balance and manage to climb again. The view from there was breathtaking. All of us sat there for some time and enjoyed the nature.

Once we reached the top, we could see some more portion of the hill which was very steep. There was one group climbing down and there was a girl who was very much scared to climb down. By looking at her situation, I understood that my situation would also be like her while climbing down, if at all I manage to climb. So, I decided not to go up. Thilak and Deepika wanted to go, but Priyanka took my side and decided to stay with me. Only Thilak bravely climbed till the top and returned. We got to know from him that there was some more portion of the hill to cover even after climbing so far. That portion of the hill was very steep and so, Thilak also decided not to climb further. After taking few minutes of rest, we decided to climb down. All of us knew that climbing down would be scarier than climbing up.

At 2 o’clock we started climbing down. But, as opposed to our expectation, we did not find it that difficult to climb down. Though, few places were steep and we found it tough, we somehow managed to climb down. It started to rain when we were half way. But, luckily it was not a heavy rain and after the rain, the weather became awesome and the hillocks around Madhugiri started to look even more beautiful in that weather. At around 3 o’clock, we reached the base of the hill.

All of us were feeling very hungry and thirsty. Though Madhugiri city was big, we did not see any good hotels nearby. We first decided to drink juice or tender coconut water and went to a Hopcoms shop and drank fruit juice. The juice was fresh and good. We checked with the shopkeeper if there is any good hotel nearby. He told a hotel named “Madhura” is good and is nearby. We went to that hotel. The hotel was not that good. We just had roti and coffee and came back.

Our next plan was to visit Ghati Subramanya. We had to cross Gowri Bidanoor to reach Ghati Subramanya. The road to Gowri Bidanoor was very nice. It took us more time than expected to reach Ghati Subramanya. When we reached the temple, it was around 5.30 PM. The place was not that extraordinary. It was a very simple temple. We spent very less time there and at around 6 o’clock, we started our return journey. We came via Yalahanka > KR Puram road and reached BTM Layout at 8.30 PM.

This was an awesome trek. As Thilak says, this trek was an “Ascend to Infinity”. All of us had great time while climbing the hill and the cloudy weather made our trip even more beautiful.

• Route Travelled: Onward: BTM Layout > Yashwanthpura > Dabaspete > Koratagere > Madhugiri
  Return: Madhugiri > Gowri Bidanooru > Ghati Subrahmanya > Yalahanka > K R Puram > Marathhalli > Silk Board > BTM Layout
• Total distance (To & Fro): 270 km
• Mileage (Car): 23 km/l
• Fuel expense: 927 Rs
• Total expense: 1780 Rs
• Photos: Madhugiri Photos

Route Map