Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Nijagal Betta


Grasshopper on Nijagal Betta

Chameleon Smiling
Introduction:
After a lot of hasty decision it was decided we head off to Nijagal Betta after hari-sadu shared a blog about nijagal betta, even though it lagged detailed directional information we decided to find out on the way. Just 5 showed up on Saturday morning. Preetham(the man who lives horrific dreams :P), Vinay(‘Kulla’ – the short one), Ravi (‘mari’- small boy), Jatin(my nephew) & Rohit(myself).

Hard Dive!
Breakfast:
We had a quick breakfast at a local restaurant on Tumkur road within city limits, we left the place soon after having parceled 3 idlis each for lunch. Our next stop was Dobespet for directions at the local post office.

Shivagange view
Nijagal Betta:
Nijagal Betta is not popular; it’s got a Dargha on top with a temple in ruins at the base and a twin-kalyani. Nice place for photographing birds, monkeys, insects and reptiles. The climb to the top was not tiring at all. The peak had flat land and seems like a natural stone maze. We saw 3 stone enclosures what looked like a pre-historic temple shelter & temple ruins. On the way up we stopped by the Dharga, the place did not look inviting and we left soon. On the way back we also got into a cave. Its cold and dark inside with limited access. We also found a lot of beehives clinging dangerously to the rock surfaces over the cave entrance.

Stone Enclosure on the Peak
The view of the NH7 from the peak is excellent; a railway track runs parallel to the road. We saw a couple of passenger trains and goods trains pass by. After a bit of photography we left the place by 17:00 hours.

Reliance Petrol Pump & Resturant
We stopped by A1 Plaza Resturant (Affiliated to Reliance) adjacent to Nijagal Betta.

How to get there?
The place is 65 km from Bangalore city. To get there, take the NICE Road [Nandi Infrastructure Corridor] Once on Tumkur Road soon after Dobespet look for Reliance Petrol pump on the Right hand side of the Road. The hillock on the Left side facing it is Nijagal Betta. To get to the peak we took our bikes under the railway pass and parked bikes adjacent to the path leading to the peak.

Tripple Engine powered Goods Train [@300mm Zoom]
MORE PHOTOS: http://picasaweb.google.com/rohitc/NijagalBetta