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Little Himalaya in our own land - Himada Gopalaswamy Betta.

August 15^th being on a Friday gave us a lovely opportunity of three full days to venture out and explore the places around Bangalore.  So we chose Mysore at first, but later on the adventurers in us picked Himada Gopalaswamy Betta for this weekend. 

About 75 kms from Mysore on the Mysore-Ooty road is this not much known, but ideal picnic spot for all. We, a group of four elders and two kids, decided to drive down to this place in our own car. Thus began our adventure.  

We started off early after a nice breakfast of dosas.  We stopped over at Ramadevara Betta.  This is a small hill temple dedicated to Lord Sri Ram.  This temple can be reached through a small diversion from Ramanagara.  Our next stop was Maddur Sri Ugranarasimhaswamy temple.   It was already 1 pm and there were all rats in our stomachs.  So we next stopped at Mandya and had a fulfilling lunch at a restaurant just beside the highway. 

After this, we headed straight to Melkote. An abode to Lord Krishna as Cheluvarayaswamy, is an important pilgrimage place.  This is the place Guru Sri Ramanujacharya established himself.  At this place is also a small hill temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha Swamy.  By the time we had covered both the temples, it was nearing 6 pm. So we headed straight to Mysore.  We reached Mysore by 8:30 pm and retired for the day as our main attraction was yet to begin the next day.

Early next morning, after a good breakfast, we hit the highway towards Ooty with a lot of zeal. Traveling on the highway, just after Gundulpet, we took the diversion towards Bandipur. Further 8 kms, a turn from Hangala village will lead to the hill shrine.  At this turn (from Hangala village) is a beautiful arch type cement structure (picturising Lord Gopalaswamy), as if leading the visitors towards the hill.

We were really enjoying the view on both the sides of the road.  The roads here are a bit narrow but the beautiful sunflower fields on both sides of the road makes us forget the road conditions and admire the beauty of nature.  Fortunately for us the fields were in full bloom and it looked like a huge yellow carpet spread out all around the hill.

A short drive further and we came to the forest department check post at the base of the hill.  This check post is open from 7 am to 5 pm.  Nominal charges are charged for private vehicles.  The climb to the temple is about 10 kms from here. The roads are a bit narrow and steep.  

Let me tell you a little about this place. This  temple dedicated to Lord Krishna (Venugopalaswamy), was built by  the king Chola Ballala of Terakanambi during AD 1315.  At about 1454 meters above sea level, this is one of the highest peaks in the Bandipur National Park region.  This peak is covered with mist for almost all around the year.  Thus the name Himada Gopalaswamy Betta meaning “a hill dedicated to Gopalaswamy which is covered with mist” in Kannada.  The temple is small but a clean one.  It has a beautifully built ‘gopuram’.

As the climb was steep, we progressed slowly but steadily.  All along were the locals climbing the hill. They walked merely and showed no strain whatsoever.   As we went uphill, we could feel the air around us getting cooler.  We quickly geared up with our jackets and caps.  All along our cameras were busy capturing the beauty in pictures… forever. 

And finally we reached the top.  And I donot know why, but all of us were smiling at that moment.  May be it was the magic of the place.  As it was a Saturday, and that too of “Shravana masa” there was heavy rush.  A few police men guided us to the parking lot.  As it had rained heavily, the ground was slippery. 

We got out of our car and felt the cool mist on our face and all the strain just vanished.  It was almost noon but we felt as if it was early hours of morning.  We had to strain our eyes to view the temple as it was misty and the visibility was low.  It was at this point we wondered if we were in Karnataka or in the Himalayas….   The view around, the cool mist, the pure air and all devotes around  made us feel as though we were in the Himalayan range.

We entered the shrine in a queue.  Inside the ‘garbhagudi’, the mist from outside melts and keeps dripping from the inner top of the door.  This water is sprinkled on the devotes as blessings.   It is also given as ‘thirtha’.

The view around the temple is simply lovely.  There are in all about 77 lakes, big and small, around this hill (radius of 6 kms) which add up to the mist.  The soft cool wind greets all atop the hill and this wind can get really strong and nasty  sometimes and blow off your belongings.  So we held on to our belongings tightly.

There is no food available in this area apart from the ‘prasadam’. So it is advisable to carry one’s own food and water.  But after the ‘darshan’ we were given handfuls of ‘pulihogere’ and ‘sweet pongal’ as prasadam, which was quite filling.  The kids were enjoying the place thoroughly.  After we finished eating this mini meal, we sat and enjoyed the views from the hilltop.  By now the mist had cleared and the visibility improved.   All around it was green and we could spot quite a few lakes.   Amazingly there was not a single crow around.  It is said that there are never crows in this area as Lord Ram had driven away the crow king.

About 1 km, from behind the temple, is a holy rock.  It is believed that childless couples, come walking here and pray  for God to bless them with a child. 

There is only one guest house and can be booked at KSTDC.  There is ample parking space and there are also lots of buses plying from Mysore/ Guldulpet/Nanjangud to this place.  

This area being in the Bandipur region, herds of wild elephants and tigers are frequently seen here.   We had a great time trying to spot hills like Hamsadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, etc from the peak.  The flora of the place is unique.  There are many medicinal plants and herbs growing in and around the area.

It was already 2 pm when we got back into our car and headed downwards. The decent was very slow due to the heavy traffic.  But the police people were very helpful in clearing the traffic blocks.  Though this place is rich in fauna, we did not spot any animal all along.  But the locals informed us that these predators come out at night or on a quite day.

We crossed the check post and drove a little further and stopped to look back.  And what do we see ! ! The hill top is once again covered with thick clouds !  We thanked our stars for clearing the mist for that brief period or else we could not have got the wonderful view around the place. In all this is a very beautiful place to visit and is sure to leave you with a great memorable experience.    

After a brief stop enroute for some snacks, we reached back to Mysore around 6 pm.    We retired for the day , still talking about our experience.  The next day we started back to Bangalore and visited the bird sanctuary Ranganathitu and the temple dedicated to Sri Ranganatha Swamy at Srirangapatna (on the banks of Kaveri river) on the way.