Kailasagiri Trek

Place : Kailasagiri hills

Distance from Bangalore : Around 80 km
Trip type : Day trip/Half day trip
Day of travel : 24th June.
trekking length/Duration : 2-3 km/ 1-1.5 hour

The year 2020 has been difficult for everyone due to Corona virus and lockdown situation. Many people suffered during the pandemic and IT engineers are also the one among the lots. When we first were asked to Work from Home, it looked like a silver lining, but very soon we realized that it's much more painful than working from office. Back to back meetings, work without break, taking care of household (no house helps), kid while still attending the meetings for both of us has been fully stressful.

Being a travelholic person, spending 4 months locked in the house was like an punishment. So finally I found a workaround for myself to get some peace of mind.

Day treks... There are plenty of day treks available around Bangalore. We planned it like a picnic - we packed the food and tea - so that we did not have to interact or come in contact with anyone- self-drive, trek, eat, drink in isolation and come back. So, we could still have a nice trekking day while ensuring social distancing.

Today's trek - Kailasagiri Hills

KailasaGiri Hills is around 80 km from Bangalore in Kaiwara district on Chintamani road. Kailasagiri cave temples of Lord Shiva and Ambaji Durga cave temple on a rock hill top are located about 7 km from Kaiwara, which are being restored. The magnitude of the cave and efforts made to construct the temple are impressive.

We could take car to the base of the temple. They have enough parking place but beware of monkeys and don't get any edible out of car. 

You need to walk on stoned path for around 500 meters to reach the cave, though it is not a long path but it is steep one so you might need proper footwear even if you are not planning long trek. 

Path for cave temples

The caves : the blue gates are entrance for temples

Temple entrance : closed due to lockdown.

Cave view

inside the cave temple

Inside the cave temple

If you want a little better trek, there is another Ambaji durga, lord shiva and Hanuman temple, on Ambaji Durga road (muddy road) around 4 km from this point. On the base of the hill there is one Hanuman temple. Shiva temple is situated on top of the hill. 

To reach Shiva temple you have to trek. It's small but steep trek of around 2-3 km total(to and return) and we were totally satisfied. To add to our happiness, it was overcast while we trekked up and down (slightly drizzling for few minutes too).

The road condition for Ambajidurga Siva temple

There are lot and lot of chameleons and lizards. The trek path is mostly stone steps (its a Ambaji Durg - fort). Once you reach the top, it's a breathtaking view all around. Shiva temple was closed, so we offered our prayers from outside, spent an hour sitting there, enjoying the view. It was an hour of total bliss, no human soul except us there. Felt so satisfying.

We ate our lunch once we trekked down.

The road is pretty awesome (except the 4 kn stretch to reach the Ambaji Durg), we covered 75kms in around 1.5 hours.

We finally found a day of people, a mean to bust the stress and felt really happy once we got back. Planning more of such one-day treks - maintaining social distancing - devoid of human interactive - while the pandemic continues.

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There is one point which we missed in Ambaji Durg - fort trek is "Fresh water pond", the route starts from the back if the Shiva temple. We did see the sign board, but we did not go there. Later we found that there is fresh water pond, and people believe that it can cure many diseases.  You have to trek down from the sign board. Since there is no exit from that point to you have climb up again and get back via initial trail .

We will keep sharing our experiences. Tune in for the same.