Below are the pictures taken during my recent visit to Ranganathaswamy Temple on the Rangaswamy betta(Hill). The temple was supposedly built during the Ganga Dynasty rule, sometime between 8th century AD to 12th century AD.
The temple is pretty small, and architecturally not really significant. It is located around 70Km from Bangalore on the Bangalore - Gowribidanur road, around 20Km from Doddaballapur. We have to travel a further 6-7Km from the main road. The drive is pretty unpleasant because of the road repair works going on, on the Bangalore Gowribidanur state highway.
After the right turn from the main road, the narrow road is surrounded by lush green fields. The ride gets further bumpy with only traces of tarred roads. As you near the foothill, all you you get is a narrow mud road. Due to the heavy rains overnight, the road was practically washed off and we had to park the vehicle 2Km away from the foothill.
This was my third visit to this place, first one was around 21 years back.
The hill is part of the mountainous range which also includes Nandi betta and Kalavarahalli betta.
There is no clear cut route to the top. Occasionally you will find some directions written on the stones. It will take around 45 mins to reach the top. The lush green fields and the surrounding hills give a wonderful view as you climb up. The view of the Nandi Betta and the Kalavarahalli betta with the hat shaped fog cover over them was a breath taking view.
On the top you will find the Ranganatha Swamy Temple. Recently some some miscreants had dug up the inside of the temple when rumors of some hidden treasure beneath the temple spread. It was latter restored and also a standing version of Ranganatha Swamy idol was installed. The masonry work was extremely bad though. Apart from the temple you will find a well and ruins of some old stone structures. These ruins, which are on the other side of the hill indicate, an old stoned pathway to the temple.
The temple is normally closed during the week days. The temple is maintained by the Muzrai department of Govt of Karnataka. The priest resides in one of the villages at the foothills. People throng the temple on the Saturdays of Sravana massa.
The temple is pretty small, and architecturally not really significant. It is located around 70Km from Bangalore on the Bangalore - Gowribidanur road, around 20Km from Doddaballapur. We have to travel a further 6-7Km from the main road. The drive is pretty unpleasant because of the road repair works going on, on the Bangalore Gowribidanur state highway.
After the right turn from the main road, the narrow road is surrounded by lush green fields. The ride gets further bumpy with only traces of tarred roads. As you near the foothill, all you you get is a narrow mud road. Due to the heavy rains overnight, the road was practically washed off and we had to park the vehicle 2Km away from the foothill.
This was my third visit to this place, first one was around 21 years back.
The hill is part of the mountainous range which also includes Nandi betta and Kalavarahalli betta.
There is no clear cut route to the top. Occasionally you will find some directions written on the stones. It will take around 45 mins to reach the top. The lush green fields and the surrounding hills give a wonderful view as you climb up. The view of the Nandi Betta and the Kalavarahalli betta with the hat shaped fog cover over them was a breath taking view.
On the top you will find the Ranganatha Swamy Temple. Recently some some miscreants had dug up the inside of the temple when rumors of some hidden treasure beneath the temple spread. It was latter restored and also a standing version of Ranganatha Swamy idol was installed. The masonry work was extremely bad though. Apart from the temple you will find a well and ruins of some old stone structures. These ruins, which are on the other side of the hill indicate, an old stoned pathway to the temple.
The temple is normally closed during the week days. The temple is maintained by the Muzrai department of Govt of Karnataka. The priest resides in one of the villages at the foothills. People throng the temple on the Saturdays of Sravana massa.
2 comments:
Dude
Can you please give more details to reach the spot... esp when using Public Transport
Regards
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