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Biking at MM Hills and BR Hills Wildlife Sanctuary - 15 Jan 2003

Distance splits:

Bangalore - Kanakapura -> 55 kms
Kanakapua - Malavalli - Kollegal -> 85 kms
Kollegal - Kamagere - Hanur - Cowdahalli - MM Hills -> 75kms
Kollegal - Yelandur - BR WS Checkpost -> ~25km
BR WS Checkpost - BR Betta/Temple -> ~18kms

Left Bangalore at 4AM. It was very very cold, and the ride had to be very slow. Breakfast at Kollegal. Reached Male Mahadeswaran Hills temple at 10AM. The road from Kollegal to the foothills of MM Hills is very very bad, and one has to ride very slowly. The road is full of potholes. Atop MM Hills, there is a popular temple called Male Mahadeswara Temple. Pilgrims and tourists visit this spot in considerable number, even though the place comes under core Veerappan territory.

A beaten path from here to another temple called 'Nagamalai Temple', could be a good trekking route, the distance being approximaely 10km through jungle. After walking around for sometime, and curious to see wildlife, I decided to visit BR hills wildlife sanctuary near Kollegal. Again, a slow ride to Kollegal. I amused myself by biting into two pieces of sugarcane, in the otherwise boring slow ride to Kollegal. From Kollegal, riding on the NH209, a diversion takes one through numerous small villages and hamlets, with many Z turns and right-angled bends, to the Biligiri Renganaswamy Wildlife Sanctuary Checkpost approximately 25kms away. A forest signpost declares that traffic is not allowed after 6pm and before 6am.

Biligiri Rengana Betta, or the temple situated atop the hills, is roughly 18 kilometers from this checkpost, through dense jungle. The jungle is of dry deciduous type, with patches of evergreen forests. The Wildlife Sanctuary is about 550 square kilometers, and home to a large variety of flora and fauna, the popular animals sighted being Gaur, Chital, Sambar, Langur, Elephants, Leopards and Tigers. The road to the temple is pretty decent, and a slow ascent uphill takes one through very scenic surroundings. Several water holes are present at many places, and in the early morning and late evening, animals could be sighted nearby. As today is Pongal, a fair was going on in the BR Temple, and the place was very touristy. From the tmeple, another road winds downhill to Chamarajanagar.

After seeing the temple, walking around, and then relaxing near a lake some distance away, I start riding downhill by around 5.30pm. The traffic was heavy due to the fair, and hence a bus or a van passed by every few minutes. The checkpost guard attributed the lack of animals on the road to this increased traffic, but I was lucky enough to spot two big wild boars drinking at a waterhole. I approached very silently, and remained behind a tree for a good 5 minutes watching them. Ultimately, one of them looked up, saw me, and darted across the road and into the thickets, the other following. From then on, I didn't sight any other fauna, and stopped at another waterhole to inspect pugmarks. The water was dirty, and the bank was very marshy, and a variety of foot prints could be made out, but since it was getting dark by now, I had to hurry up and proceed with my journey downhill. I reached the checkpost a few minutes past 6, and after bidding goodbye to the guard, I throttled up to reach Bangalore by 10.30pm. I didn't come through Kanakapura, but instead, at Malavalli took the road to Maddur on Bangalore - Mysore highway, and then on to Bangalore via Bidadi and Ramanagaram. The trip totalled to roughly 500 kilometers.

Postscript: I spotted Karnataka STF personnel only at MM Hills. Nowhere throughout this trip was I stopped, or questioned.