Location:
Chamarajanagar district.. 10 kms deviation from the Blore-Ooty state highway..after Gundlupet and before Bandipur.. roughly around 215 kms from Blore.
After almost 3 years I was able to make it to the family trip, which takes place twice an year.. this time ppl had planned to visit Bandipur and BR Hills..
The Bandipur visit was pretty ordinary with sightings of only few elephants, mangoose, eagles n peacocks.. tigers n leopards were nowhere to be seen... apparently there were only 9 sightings of tigers last season.. needless to say, the population of big cats are decreasin' day by day... and needs immediate attention of the concerned authorities and the public as well..
With the Bandipur visit gettin' wrapped pretty quickly (within 4 hrs to be precise).. we had plenty of time to visit another nearby place and we zeroed in on Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta.. one of my favorite places in southern karnataka.. in fact, several years had passed since our last visit to the betta..
Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta's an enchanting place.. a hill in the midst of Bandipur forest.. a good 1500 mts in altitude, extensively wooded, it falls under the core area and the betta is frequented by herds of grazing elephants.. even tigers roam around sometimes.. dense fog's present all through the year which makes the weather very very pleasant in the region... the tranquility of this place, the aroma of the wet mud, the cooling effect it has on the mind and body, is very very pleasing.. one forgets all the tensions of the metro life... inspite of visitin' this place several times, one feels like goin' back again n again.. the place's kinda magnet..
The temple at the hilltop (of Lord Gopalaswamy) was supposedly built by King Chola few centuries ago.. the idol of gopalaswamy in the garbha griha is flanked by rukmini n sathyabhama.. with cows in the background.. the lord himself's playin' the flute under the tree.. the dense fog (hima in kannada) falls on the idol throughout the year...
Legend has it that sage agastya performed penance and requested lord vishnu to reside @ this very place and the place came to be known as hamsatheertha (lake of swans).. according to the priests of the temple, the hills are surrounded by 77 lakes.. and being a holy place, the lakes of which were occupied by swans (swans represent divine knowledge and peace in hinduism) ..crows never ventured to this place... and you cannot spot a single crow @ the hill and its surroundings even now..
we had just half a day to spend at this place and we enjoyed a lot.. the very thought of the place enthuses me... i wanna visit this place again.. perhaps plan a hiking trip or something.. which'll be more fun... i'd definitely recommend a visit to this place, for all the nature lovers out there..
I've shared few snaps of the place.. hope u like 'em..
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