Male Mahadeshwara Hills (M M Hills)

Date: 1-Oct-16

Thilak’s friends had planned for a bike ride to Male Mahadeshwara Betta on 1st Oct. Since I have also become part of their group now, I was also invited for this trip. Male Mahadeshwara Betta, popularly known as M M Hills is a famous pilgrimage destination in Chamaraja Nagar district of Karnataka which attracts large number of tourists from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. However, what made us interested in this place is the ride on the curvy roads amidst dense forests of MM Hills.

MM Hills

We were 10 of us for this bike ride and as planned, eight of us gathered in Banashankari at 9.30 AM and at 10 AM, we started our trip. As expected, there was moderate traffic on the Bangalore-Kanakapura road and weather was not that friendly. Two more of our friends joined us near Art of Living ashram and we continued on the Kanakapura road. M M Hills is about 215 km from Bangalore, so we had a long way to go. We chose not to take Maddur road to reach Kollegala as we knew that the stretch from Maddur to Malavalli is not that good. Our first break was in Kanakapura, gave rest for our bikes and for ourselves, packed cakes/buns for our lunch in one small bakery and started at around 11.30 AM.

Next stop for us was Kollegala which is around 81 km from Kanakapura. The road to Kollegala is fairly well maintained. If you have plenty of time, you can also visit Shivanasamudra falls on the way. We gathered in Kollegala town at around 1 PM, drank tasty tender coconut water and started towards M M Hills. From Kollegala, B R Hills is just 33 kms away.

M M Hills is about 74 kms from Kollegala and around 20 kms stretch from Kollegala towards M M Hills is full of potholes. Ride was highly tiresome for us and the weather was extremely hot and sunny which made the ride even more worse. However, once the forest range started, luckily the road condition turned good and also due to tree shades, weather also seemed pleasant for the ride. M M Hills forest range is extremely beautiful and is home for wide variety of animals with elephants being the prominent ones. Sadly, we did not come face to face with any of the animals throughout our ride. There are around 27 hair-pin bends and with each bend, the view of the surroundings become more and more beautiful. The dense green forest, the hair-pin bend, and the views of the nearby hillocks created a perfect ambiance for the bike ride.

Curvy road through MM Hills forest range

Thilak and I were expecting the M M Hills temple to be at the top of the hill. But, after few hair-pin bends, we suddenly started descending the hill. The trail surprised us and at the same time made us interested in the road ahead. After few kilometers, we got a glimpse of the beautiful temple tower and the town where the temple is situated. The temple is not located atop the hill, instead it is surrounded by huge hillocks which makes this place a beautiful and a unique one. All of us gathered at a point from where the temple and the town was clearly visible and had the food which we packed in the morning, did photo session for some time and proceeded towards the temple. We were in the temple campus at 3.30 PM. The town is very small comprising the temple, many lodges for the convenience of pilgrims, 2-3 hotels, a market selling pooja materials, and a KSRTC bus stand.

Mahadeshwara Temple

The temple is dedicated to Lord Mahadeshwara, an incarnation of Lord Shiva and is a very popular temple for Shaiva community. The temple was bit crowded, but luckily there was no queue for Darshan at that time of the day and our Darshan happened in just few minutes. The temple is surrounded by huge hills which adds beauty to the temple. After spending some time in the temple campus, we
decided to have some food at a hotel near the bus stand. The food was very bad. Further down the bus stop, there is an Indian Oil petrol bunk, near which you can get an amazing view of the forest range. After clicking few photos near this place, we started our return journey at around 5.45 PM.

As we were coming through the curvy roads, the sky turned red due to sunset, which looked amazing. At the base of the hill, we had tea and started towards Kollegala. Thilak and I had the plans of going to Mysore, so all of us stopped in Kollegala, we bade goodbye to the others and proceeded towards Mysore and our friends took deviation towards Bengaluru.

Notes:
– Since there is chances of elephant encounter in the forest range, avoid visiting this temple in the evening.

• Route Travelled: Onward: BTM Layout > Kanakapura > Malavalli > Kollegala > MM Hills
  Return: MM Hills > Kollegala > T Narsipura > Mysore
• Total Distance (To & Fro): 360 km
• Mileage (Bike): 37 km/l
• Fuel expense: 678 Rs
• Total expense: 1072 Rs 
• Photos: M M Hills Photos

Route Map: