Nithin Kamath’s Weblog

Travel Date:	05-October-2008
Location:	Shivagange, Near Dabbaspete, Tumkur
Mobile:	No coverage (Tested on Airtel and Vodaphone). You can get coverage as you climb at certain places.
Transportation:	Take any private bus going to Dabbaspet, take an auto from Dabbaspet
Food:	Better to carry if planning to stay for long.

Shivagange or Shivaganga is hillok where trekking and religion comes together to offer you instant weekend getaway. Located just 60 Kms from Bangalore and being well connected by road makes it an ideal tourist attraction. It is said that the hills looks like a ‘Shiva Linga’ when seen from one of the sides. Also it is said that the spring water found here is from the sacred water of ‘Ganga’.

From the religious point of view there are several temples and holy locations like ‘Patalagange’, Olakala teertha, Nandi and Veerabhadreshwara temple in Shivagange. Shivagange is also known as Kaashi of the South. One of the marvelous points to note here is that in Shivagange if you do an Ghee abhisheka in the temple it turns into Butter.

From the trekking point of view, though it not as demanding as Savanadurga it is still tough and is a good 2+ kms from the bottom to the top of the hill. Most of the way till the middle or the starting point of the main climb is easy, after which the climb becomes a bit tough with the steps carved out of the hill being narrow at places.

I am my friend Harish started off from Banashankari Bus stop and made our way to KR Market in a BMTC bus. We were told we would get direct bus to Shivagange from the Kalasipalya, when we reached there around 8:30 we were told the bus had already left and we had to take a bus which would take us till Dabbaspete. From Dabbaspete we were told there are enough number of buses which would take us to Shivagange.Before boarding a bus we had tender coconut (Rs. 12/person) and hesitantantly took our seat in the private bus (charge till Dabbaspet Rs.30/person) (this was the first time we went in a private bus in Bangalore). From minute one the speakers and the woofers in the bus made our ears plead for mercy.

We left Kalasipalya at around 8:45am moving slowly and in about 20 mins into the journey and still in Bangalore the driver decides to have food that to for a whole 20 mins!! As we began moving again we were in a bigger shock, he put on a film, and guess which??? AK-47, such a nice film to put which speakers on high volume level. Continuing we reached Yeswantpur around 9:45am, and left it at 10:20am!!! Wow this was turning out to be quite a nice experience something we had not yet experience in our own KSRTC buses.

There was nothing much to say regarding the remaining journey, just heard lots of shouting and bullet shooting in the film. We arrived at Dabbaspete at around 11:40am. It took us almost 180 minutes to travel 60Kms!! We got down from the bus and were immediately surrounded by Autorickshaw people who offered to take us till the Temple for just Rs.20 /person.We just ignored them ate (Rs.5/person) something from the bakery and at the same moment enquired about the transportation. Based on this info we found that the distance from here was around 8 Kms and that auto generally take only around max Rs.10 and the number of buses were very less.

As we were deciding about the transportation, a Tata Sumo variant arrived shouting they were going to Shivagange when enquired they told the charge would be Rs. 5/person, we immediately jumped on. It turned out to a press vehicle which was returning from Bangalore after delivering the paper. At around 12:20pm we finally reached the footsteps of Shivagange.

A bit late than we expected but as people say it is never too late for anything. We quickly started climbing the steps and immediately reached the footsteps of two temples one of them is ‘Gangadhareshwara’ and the other one I cannot recall at the moment.

The Gangadhareshwara temple is known for what people call a miracle where in if we do a Ghee abhisheka it turns into Butter!! One more interesting point about this is that there was a board and an entrance which mentioned ‘Kempegowda’s Treasury’. Kempegowda is known as the architect who helped the region florish with his planning. This place is thought to be the place where all the treasury was kept.

There is also a tunnel which is believed to be connect Shivagange to the ‘Gavigangadhareshwaraswamy Temple’ in Bangalore. Imagine going down the tunnel in Bangalore and appearing in Shivagange, but alas there is no much scope for investigation as at both the places it is kept closed as it is very risky to undertake this journey through the tunnel as the air/oxygen would be very low also since it has not been used for a long long time it may not actually be very easy to go also.

We quickly visited both the temples and continued further, we would see wonderful carvings on the walls and we could also see remains of the fort walls. We first passed the giant entrance above which a bull (nandi) statue was placed, then after much climbing/walking on the steps we reached another temple which is known as ‘Olakala teertha’ at around 1:30pm. Before moving in we had Sauttekayi (don’t known what it is called in English)(@Rs.7/person).

‘Olakala Teertha’ has its own significance, there is a small hole inside here and when someone puts their hand inside and if that person finds water then he/she has done good deeds and is a good person and vice versa. Knowning this and then giving this a try is always a mental game. I put it my hand, could not find water, then when I looked inside did I realise the trick, it was a bit deep so one had to put the hand inside fully. Since I had not removed my hand and it was still inside I bent and as my hand went more deep finally got water. What is the learing you say? If at first you dont succeed try again Since this temple is carved inside the hill, it gets pretty hot inside, infact we came out sweating.

Now came the interesting part as we continued we finally came to the starting point of the main hill, it was already 2:20 pm by now. Here is a small place where you can rest and buy some snacks. Before proceeding we had a decision to make, it was getting cloudy and the climb was steep and the rock steps were not the best option when climbing down if it rains. We decided to proceed.

Now we came to the most adventurous part of the trip. We were cut off by our now old friends whom we meet in all our trips, who??? Introducing for the first time in this writeup…the Monkeys…whereever you go outside Bangalore you will find them!! The different thing about the other Monkeys we encountered before and these were that these were WILD monkeys.

Just as we started our climb, Harish was attached by a monkey. Now this was all our mistake itself, we had made two big blunders (1) Even after knowning that the place is monkey infected we took along a bag in which we were carrying water and biscuits (Rs.15). (2) the main mistake being we had kept an empty buiscuit cover in the side pouch (we are environment friendly and do not throw plastic covers here and there, we just bring them back and then dispose).

The monkey on seeing the buiscuit packet wanted to remove it, Harish stayed calm, the monkey was hanging on the bag. It took out the cover, noticed it was empty. We would have expected it to jump off now, no this monkey meant business it tried to open the bag zip. To defend ourself we had two sticks which would not have even scared a housefly, it was more like a straw. Soon we were joined by another family and seeing that it was getting out numbered it finally jumped away.

The rest of the journey to the top was like a James Bond movie, we had to be on the look out for the monkeys, as they would be anywhere left/right/above!!. We stuck with the family we had met and reached the top of the hill at 2:50pm.

At the top on one side is a giant Nandi statue, though there are steps and barricades, it was very frightining as there were far too many people here than I though it would hold. Regardless we took a quick round and proceeded to the other side. Must mention one thing there, the views from the top of the hill is just fantastic and mindblowing. The clouds were a welcome addition to the scene and we felt like on top of the world.

There were two more temples on the top of the hill, we went about took quite a few snaps before heading down. We did not like the idea of being outnumbered by the monkey as most of the other people had already started moving down and only a handful of us were left at the top.

The descent was more fast and we reached the bottom of the hill at 4:30pm, we had stopped in between for rest and to have some soft drinks (Rs.12/person), before moving away we noticed another place which is to the immediate right just before the entrace of the first two temples. This place is called ‘Patalaganga’, it is said the water which flows is connected to Antargange which is quite far from here. We had to descend one by one inside the cave to reach the water as the place narrows down as we go down.

Finally, we came to the streets and it was already 4:45pm, we had not had our lunch till now and we were very hungry. We had some food at a small hotel (spent Rs 8/person which included tea also!!) and took an auto for Rs. 10/person and reach Dabbaspete around 5:20pm.

Finding a bus from Dabbaspete to Bangalore was quite a difficult task as most of the buses were full and we did not want to have another wonderful expericence in the private bus. Finally around 6:15pm we got a KSTRC bus (charge from Dabbaspete Rs.34/person) and though thee were no seats we had no other option, after all the climbing we were really tired, but we managed. We got seats when we reached Satellite town bus stand. The best part of the whole bus journey was that the return journey took us only 80 minutes!! compare than with over 170 minutes it took for us in the morning in a private bus!!!

In a whole it was the best trip we had till now, it had everything one would expect - some good experiences, some bad, some exciting. All in all a memorable expirience. The total charges for the whole trip came out to be Rs. 277 for two of us, so individually Rs.138!!

Tips and Suggestions:
1. Do not carry any bags, monkey are wild and will snatch at anything they can put their hands on. Ladies need to be careful about their handbags and should avoid taking it along as far as possible. If you would like to take a bag see that you have a should bag, do not carry items in plastic, not even bottles, Unless you are like us and would like a bit of adventure

2. There are two small hotels in Shivagange, so carry your own food and eat it before/after you reach the bottom, do not carry it to the top.

3. If you do not have a private vehicle, bargain with the autowallahs, wait till the auto is full and they will take you on minimum rate of Rs.10.

The idiom “Customer is the King” is a very common one, but is the customer really the King? Most of the time it turns out otherwise. The customer has to run around begging for proper service and this is for private companies, if you fall into the hands of any public company God alone can save you!!

I had such an experience recently with BSNL when I subscribed to their CDMA based internet connection which they call the ‘NIC Card’. On Aug 2nd I went into their Customer Service Center in NR Colony, filled in the application, submitted the required documents and paid in the security deposit and got the device (Huawei EC325). I was told the number would be activated by Aug 4th (Monday). Monday came and went so did Tuesday, nothing happened, I was still unable to connect and no official communication from they about any blockers.

So on Wednesday (Aug 6th) I went to their office at 10am (which is their opening time for such queries), 5 mins….10 mins…20 mins…30 mins…still the concerned person had not yet come to the office. Finally one of the other official told me to give my contact details and told me they would get back to me.

Finally at around 12pm I got a call from the CSC office telling me that there was a problem with the exchange and they would have to reconfigure the device so I was asked to get the device to their office at 10am on Thurday. So next day I reach their office at 10am sharp…and the same story continues…the person who had called me was not going to be coming to office that day and the next in charge who would look into this arrived only at around 10:35. The official told me that there was a mistake in the number alloted, instead of the number number ending with 89 they had feeded it as 59. Oh! Come on…so the official had a long talk with the various dept’s and finally confirmed that the device would be reconfigure to have the number ending with 59.

Once reconfigured, there was no network available hence was told it would work, as it was already 11:30am and I had to get to my office, I accepted their word for it and went. Tried it later that night; it was still not connecting. So went to their CSC office once again at 10am…and as usual waited for the customary 30 minutes, after which the main official came, checked and tried various things and finally told me that there might be some malfunction in the device and it was best for me to cancel the connection and get a new one.

I squarely refused to do so, since there was a three month commitment period and if I ask for disconnection it would mean that it was my fault and I would have to end up paying the three months rental. So I gave them two options, either repair the existing device or if they feel it is not possible to do so they could give me a new device which they could without my involvement that is internally closing and opening a new connection. They went for the first option and told me that they would send the device to the Whitefield office to check and asked me to come on Tuesday (12th Aug).

On Tuesday….I wait for the mandatory half an hour and then they tell me that they are yet to send it to Whitefield. I ask them when I should come back for which I was told that they would call back when it is done. Days pass by and no progress, since I was free on Aug 16th (Saturday) I went into their office and enquired again, and they tell me it has still not been sent to Whitefield. W

Now this was getting a bit too much even for my level of patience, so I told them to check the device again and I sat along with them to see. They again started calling up different department, on one such call they mentioned the ESN number to the other dept, this is when I realised that they had the ESN entered wrongly into their system as well, and not just the phone number. Instead of the ESN number ending with 50D, they had entered it was 500. I told them this, they were really happy at my discovery and the other dept quickly changed the ESN number in their records to the correct one. Tried connecting again….still not happening.

Was this device faulty or something…well I was not the one to give up after all this…so asked them to reconfigure the device again, this is when I noticed that when reconfiguring the device earlier they had changed it from ending with ‘89′ to ‘99′, instead of ‘59′. This was the epitome of mistakes. They finally changed it under my hawk eyes and when they tried to reconnect…viola the connection happened. Half a month of patience, numerous rounds to their office and hours of waiting had finally ended. They thanked me for helping out and as I left I had just one sentence for them “Thank me now, but when the bill for the month comes I will be back again, since I have not had service for half the month (2nd Aug to 16th Aug) and you will have to deduct that.”

Travel Date:	19-July-2008
Location:	Omkar Hills, Near Rajarajeshwari Nagar
Mobile:	Full network coverage available (Tested on Airtel, except at the top of the hill).
Transportation:	Take any BMTC #225 or #222 bus from KR Market (Tipu’s fort)
Food:	Better to carry if planning to stay for long.\

Omkar Hills also known as Omkara betta is situated about 4 to 5 Kms off the Mysore Road and is one of the lesser known places for weekend hangout. Situated at an altitude of 2,800 ft it is one of the highest points in the city of Bangalore and offers an magnificent view of southern Bangalore. Another attraction of this place is the very huge clock built by HMT, more about this later.

Coming back to the complete details, I started off to Omkara hills by getting on a route 225 BMTC bus from KR Market (Next to Tipu’s fort) at 12:10 pm, I am compelled to believe all the #225 and #222 route buses go till very close to the Omkara hills, but it is always best to confirm with the conductor/driver before getting in. As most of the people may not be aware of the place, the next best identification of this place is Rajarajeshwari Nagar and JSS college.

The bus continued on the Mysore road (halting for a brief while at satellite bus stand) till the huge arch leading to Rajarajeshwari Nagar and then turned left to reach Rajarajeshwari Nagar and continued on, I am not sure which place the bus was going, but I got down at the JSS college stop and after a short walk reached the JSS college at around 12:55 pm.

I could see the hill top from the road itself, the untarred road just before the entrance of the JSS college seemed to lead to the hill top. This is where my stupid brain took over, instead of asking for the proper path to the top of the hills, I thought since this is not a very popular place the roads might not be tarred and continued. This is when I heard the big gong going off to indicate that it was 1pm. I continued walking for a good 6-10 mins in the slum like place then finally managed to get to the top of the hills from the backside jumping the fence!! This is when I saw a tarred road coming to this place. (Note to self : Don’t under take any unwanted trekking expeditions, Also a traffic cop was booking a case against a vehicle opposite to JSS College, should have asked him.) So the hill top should be a good 500-700 meters from JSS College.

Once on top hill there are a couple of things that caught my eye, the first is the very huge clock whose dial has a diameter of 24 ft. This clock was made by HMT and is assumed to be the second biggest clock (I would not bet on that…) and is told to be bigger than the Big Ben….yes the world famous clock situated in UK.

The other aspect of the clock which makes it unique is: (quoted from http://omkarhills.org/) :

At the commencement of every hour, the clock chimes the sound of couch (Shankanada) followed by “Om” five times. The Shankanada is meant to awaken the consciousness of everyone to the great truth which is revealed by five Omkara to follow. Om which is a combination of three syllables A, U and M – represents the three states of life (the waking, the dreaming and the deep sleep state), creation, existence and dissolution, etc. It is the hub of the wheel which represents all the gamut’s of our life.

Second thing that caught my eye was the beautiful view of Bangalore, though the new temple coming up in the premises blocks us getting the complete view, it is still a very good experience, the cold breeze blowing about….no one around to bother you…..this is a true untapped bliss.

May be the time I reached was the reason not many people being around, but there was sure a huge platoon of the special task force (police) ready for action. But sure had a great time spending a good hour and a half here.

Another attraction is the area surrounded by the banyan tree which is named the ‘Sarvadharma Samanvaya Peetha’ which means seat of equality for all religions. The tree is surrounded by eight mini shrines of different religions.

The hill is known for the beautiful view it offers of the sunset, but alas I could not wait for another 4-5 odd hours waiting for the sun to set. So I set off to another location near by called ‘Shidhar Gudda’, I took a bus from near the JSS college and got down two stops later, walked for a good quarter kilometer only to see the place closed. It had visiting hours 8am-1pm and 5pm-8pm. So seeing no point in waiting around there I headed back to the bus stop. On reaching the bus stop I asked a person about the bus frequency, on knowing that I wanted to go to Kengeri bus stop he told it is better to walk as it is just half a kilometer away,

So I quickly walked to the bus stop and got into #227 bus back to the city. This is when I realised, If one starts early around 9am, one can go to not only the above two places but also to other two places I had already been namely ‘Dodda Alada Mara’ (read about it at http://nithinkamath.info/archives/2008/03/dodda-aalada-mara-big-banyan-tree-trip/ and ‘Muktinaga temple’ by boarding the #227 bus from Kengeri. And if one has a vehicle one can go till the Menchibele dam also.

All in all had a great mini trip and enjoyed every moment of it.