Day trek to Savandurga Hill -"Fort of Death"

Savandurga often admired as largest monolithic hill/ monolithic rock in Asia with stiff slope ignites enthusiasm of adventure enthusiast. it has been a year it was inviting me to challenge my fitness and spirit of overcoming fear of climbing stiff rock slopes . so decided to join my friends for clean hills/mountain drive by collecting the litter from the trail on Republic Day.

its situated 60kms to the west of the Bangalore, considered to be one of the largest single rock formation in the whole Asia, a part of beautiful Deccan Plateau, situated at a height of 1226m above sea level.

Its largest monolithic rock in India.it comprises of two hills , Billigudda (white hill) and Karigudda(Black hill)

Billigudda has gentle slope as compare to Karigudda to hike and temple situated at a foothill and pond near by.

Morning is the ideal time for hiking so started around 6am form Whitefield , few kilometers away from the hill , welcomed by foggy and misty morning.

it was fun to drive through hardly visible foggy drive way and our adventure began from there.

first glance at rock gives you goosebumps as it has stiff climb and no support around while climbing. That's best adventure of balancing yourself, overcoming a fear of fall.

This trail has excellent views up and down, but you’ll work for them. It is in 3 distinct stages. The first section is extremely well marked with arrows. after you climb over the first rock wall, the second stage is steeper and not properly marked. This part becomes kind of a “choose your own adventure” since it’s very easy to lose the actual trail. Once on the ridge line, the trail is marked decently with white arrows or electric line from base to Nandi top . Please avoid in rain, otherwise it’s a great trek .There are white arrows painted on the rock to direct you, follow them all the way.

History of Savandurga:

The earliest record of the name of the hill is from 1340 AD by Hoysala Ballala III from Madabalu where it is called Savandi. Another view is that the name is originated from Samantadurga attributed to a Samantharaya, a governor under Ahchutaraya at Magadi, although there is no inscription confirming this. This was the secondary capital of the Magadi rulers such as Kempegowda. From 1638 to 1728, Mysore took over this place and Dalavayi Devaraja occupied this place with the palace at Nelapattana. In 1791 Lord Cornwallis captured it from Tipu Sultan's forces during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. Robert Home in his Select views in Mysore (1794) shows distant views of the hill from Bangalore. He called it Savinadurga or the fort of death. There were no steps to reach the hill top and it was covered by bamboos and other trees forming a barricade.

Megalithic burial urns have been found in the area. Saavana in Sanskrit also means three time rituals.

The main deity of the place is Sri Savandi Veerabhadraswamy Virabhadra. The temple is situated in the foot of the Savandurga hill. The lord Veerabhadraswamy has followers across the south karnataka districts like Bangalore, Ramanagara, Tumkur and Mysore. (from wikipedia)

The Akravathi river passes nearby through the Thippagondanahalli reservoir and towards Manchanabele dam.

On the way to Nandi , there is a small pond and rocky caves through which one can reach to Nandi.

A lone Nandi sits on top over looking hills, forest area, near by villages . He is witness to historical events that have occurred here over centuries. The small mantap where he rests marks the end of the trekking trail at Savandurga,

The hill looks imposing as one drives closer to it and it is easy to understand why it is called the ‘rock of death.’ The Nandi mantap looks like a small square on top and all visible sides of the rock look steep and dangerous; only upon reaching the base does one see the rock’s gentle slopes.

Please keep the trail spic and span, carry your garbage with yourself. while returning from the trek we collected litter from the trail.

Getting there :

Savandurga is about 60 kms from Bangalore towards the town of Magadi. There is no regular restaurants on the way, has small canteens around which serves tender coconut, snacks , water bottles/cold drinks. While hiking here, it is advisable to carry food, sufficient water, follow the marks on the route.