Devarayanadurga - A ride to end the year 2019

Embarking on a journey with your best friend is an unpredictable voyage that every person should experience at least once in his or her life. Exploring a different place, conquering fears together and discovering new perspectives ultimately progresses our relationships to levels never imagined possible. On the last day of the year, i was on one such journey with my friend - Vibrant to one of the beautiful hills - Devarayanadurga.

Devarayanadurga

Devarayanadurga is a temple town and hill station located in Tumkur, 70kms from Bangalore.We had been to a lake down the hill,  fallen to the beauty of the lake, felt to stay there. But Vibrant told, lets move on and adventures are waiting on the other side. Bending on every corner, the road takes you up the pleasant forests surrounded by the hills. The road up to the hills gives scenic views of nature and ever the wonderful climate and charming beauty. The undulating roads was one heck of ride that can never be forgotten.

Devaryanadurga Lake

On top of the hill, there is a small town with temple Sri Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple. The temple was built on the Dravidian architecture by the Wodeyars who conquered Devarayandurga. The temple entrance is beautiful with flowers crowned. The main Lord is Vishnu and Lakshmi.

Sri Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple

Spending a few moments inside the temple, later we went to the view point backside of the temple. The view point, is so daunting, when you see down, you can feel blood vessels pumping. The view point has no protection or rails, but many people visit here to take breath taking pics. We had a few girls from North India, screaming at this place due to the fear of heights.

The road from temple led us to the top of the hill which was 1200mtrs high in altitude. We parked the bike and had Churmuri (Bhel Puri) flavored with hot chili sauce. Yummy and a little snack filling our stomachs, we started trekking to the top of the hill which 450mtrs high. We decided to stretch our legs, and a short but steep walk later, arrived at the standout feature of the hills, a temple dedicated to Yoganarasimha Swamy—a part-man, part-lion avatar of Lord Vishnu. The temple is believed to have existed from the time of the Cholas. It has beautiful pillars and carvings and a large circumambulatory passage surrounding the inner sanctum.

Pond on top of the hill

Having fun for sometime, we embarked on our next destination to  Namada Chilume. One can spot many deer grazing around the corner. It has a spring on the base of the hill, which was shot by Lord Rama on his voyage to Lanka, when he found no water anywhere. The ride through the forest, was a pleasing experience with nature at its beauty. The every corner you bend on your bike, gives a marvelous feeling of flying a bike instead of riding it. Vibrant was enjoying every bit of ride on the pillion seat. We just wanted to keep riding, and we took a long route for this.  Riding continuously, we stopped at Halli Mane Mess for a wonderful lunch. People visiting here should try Raagi Mudde with Mutton Gravy. Best combo for any Kannadiga to enjoy the taste of mutton and spices in it. After a superb lunch, dropped my friend at her home and was cherishing the moments of the day.

"The greatest part of a road trip isn't the destination,

but all the wild stuff that happens along the way"