Rock Climbing Series 6: Skandagiri

Overview: Skandagiri is probably the first place which I explored through trekking. Back in June 2008, on a cloudy monsoon morning, I set off to Skandagiri with my college friend. My friend, who enjoys biking, and I enjoy hiking, combined each other's passion and set off to Skandagiri. Skandagiri is situated on a village called Kalavarahalli village near Chikkaballapur which is the base of the hill. Though trekking is done in Skandagiri at midnight or past midnight so that they get a glimpse of the magical sunrise, we decided to go there a bit late to avoid the crowd. We started from Bangalore at around 5:30am and reached Skandagiri at around 7:00am. We parked our bikes at Papagni Mutt which is at the foothills. The hills looked inviting and the weather was cool. So we immediately set off to climb the hill. The path is well laid with directions pointed out on rocks at every step. We could see people climbing down after catching the sunrise. We climbed steadily and the trek is not a very difficult one. The scene around the hill was very enchanting and we could get the fresh smell of grass and herbs on the way. We climbed further and found some open space where we rested for a while. We carried on after that and finally reached the top in around 2.5 hours. Very strong and cool winds were blowing made it hard for us to hear each other but the experience was out of this world. On the top we could see a ruined temple, a Nandi bull and a few structures made of stones probably used during Tipu Sultan's times. We were struggling to hold on to our jackets which were flying with the wind. After enjoying the experience we started climbing down. We had a chance to see various varieties of flowers blooming on the way. We reached the base in around 1 hour and the descent was less tiring. It was a wonderful trekking experience and would like to do it again during sunrise.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skandagiri
How to reach: Car/Bike: Head on NH7 towards Bellary, at Chikkaballapur town turn left towards Kalavarahalli. From the village ask for directions to Papagni Mutt. Park the vehicle at Papagni Mutt and begin climbing.
Food/Accommodation: Food options available at Chikkaballapur town and on NH7.
Map:

View Larger Map

The forgotten story of a migration: Nacharamma of South India

This is a story of Nacharamma (fictionised by me to some extent), which is not documented in any inscriptions or ancient texts, but has been told by the ancestors of the community, and also been researched by some historians like M Keshavaiah, Dr Pranarthiharan and a few others.

Overview: Around the early 17th century, the Pilgrims set to sail across the Atlantic to become the first settlers of America. Much before this, a small but no less interesting migration took place in the Southern India of a community called the 'Sankethis'.
It was the summer of 1420 CE, in a place called Sengottai, in Tamil Nadu, along the foothills of the Western Ghats bordering Kerala. The place was flourishing with knowledge of the Vedas where Agraharams were set up. One of the prominent communities of learned people was the Sankethi Iyer community, also known as Sangeethi, derived from the name of the place- Sengottai or Shankotta. Another theory says that they were The group followed Adi Shankara…

Clock Towers of Bangalore

Overview: In the middle of the 18th century, when home clocks and watches were not so common, there was the practice of having huge clocks on top of iconic buildings or religious places having visibility from all the corners. Clock towers were in fashion all across the globe in the 18th to 20th centuries, and some of them had bells as well, which used to ring at every hour. Bangalore too, has had its share of clock towers, though the city has never been known for its clock towers. The iconic Clock tower once stood at the Russell Market in Shivajinagar, which no longer stands today as it was brought down sometime during the middle of the 20th century.
A few standing clock towers can be seen at the City Market, Baldwin Boys school, Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic, Central College, Police training grounds, St John's Church, Corporation office and the newly constructed towers at South End circle and Omkar Hills. Most of these clocks have been provided by HMT.

Know your neighbourhood-3: Madivala, Agara, Koramangala, Bellandur

Overview: Now famous for high rises, branded showrooms and startups, the villages of Madivala, Agara, Koramangala and Domlur are the villages which have seen an ancient past.

Madivala village was a flourishing agrahara under the Cholas and Hoysalas. There is an ancient Chola era temple, which was later expanded by the Hoysalas behind the road opposite to the Silk Board. This Someshwara temple is of high historical importance, with Tamil inscriptions all along the outer walls of the temple. The most important being the 1247 CE inscription which talks about the grants of some lands near the big tank of Vengalur (2nd inscription of the city name after the one in Begur). This inscription is by an official Pemmataiyar of Veppur (Begur) for the deity Sembeshwaram (Someshwara) at Tamaraikkirai (Tavarekere).

Agara is situated at the junction of the ORR and Sarjapura Road, and is in existance since the Gangas. A 870 CE Ganga inscription mentions about the fixing of sluices to 2 tanks (Agara Lake…

the light baggage

Search This Blog