Windy Hills - Himada Gopalswamy betta (March 25th 2006)

As promised earlier, here is an abridged version of that bike ride to Gopalswamy betta...

The literal translation of Himada Gopalswamy betta would be "Misty Gopalswamy Hill". Apparently, it does live up to its name for most part of the year. There is a temple at the top, dedicated to Krishna (I think). It must have been one treacherous trek through forests and hills in the olden days. People were sure, quite dedicated to GOD back then :-)



We (Googendra, KiniMaam, Paddax and I) visited this hill (on two bikes, one RE-Thunderbird and one Honda Unicorn) sometime in march, the peak of the southren summer, yet we were overawed by the beauty of the distant Madumalai range...

First the how to's.

The closest big city is Mysore (89kms). From Mysore, proceed towards Ooty on NH-212. You should pass through Nanjangud and Gundulpet. A few kms ahead of Gundulpet, before Bandipur, you should see a big Karnatka Tourism billboard on the right hand side, in the middle of a villiage. Take this right turn and keep riding/driving. There is a fork some where around 4kms from this right turn, select the road on the left. By this time, the hill should be visible. It is 10kms from the base of the hill, where there is a forest department checkpost and toll gate, to the top. The roads aren't that great, but there was some repairs being carried out. However, the riding experience is excellent. The gradient is almost 45 degrees (or more) in places, so make sure your bike can handle it :-) There are a few hair pin bends, so be a little careful. Shouldn't take more than 2 hours from Mysore.



Now that i am there, what?
If you are adventureous enough, you could camp here, with the permission of the forest officer at Bandipur. There is also a forest dept guest house (in a delapidated condition), with no running water. Once again, its use is entirely dependent on that forest officer in Bandipur. So, if you plan to camp, make sure you take all the water you need, else you'll have to fight the elephants for some muddy water :-))

On a good day, you should be able to spot a herd of wild elephants aroung this hill. We went on an "off"-day. Only one elephant :-( but, we came across a lot of elephant poo, probably from the same grass decimating machine we saw.

One word of caution, don't leave light objects unattended for any period of time. No. It is not the people, nor is it the monkeys. It is the wind!! It is so windy, so windy, it could take a thick jacket away :-)

Am I in TN or Kar???
Good question! Airtel. Yes, even the windy hill is connected :-(. Airtel thinks HGB is in TN, but actually it is in Kar. There is this small little boundary that you can see, demarcating TN and Kar.

Any historical significance?
I am not sure, but, to our non-archeological eyes, it looked like Himada Gopalswamy betta, used to be a fort at some point in time in the ancient past. You can see a mote carved around the hill. Or, perhaps it could have been built, to protect the camping devotees, from the wild animals. I wish I had found out more.

What about food and water?
Food? Water? Watitiz??? Carry your own stuff, but for God's sake don't dirty the place. It was quite clean when we went, I sure hope it remains that way!!

Windy Hills - Himada Gopalswamy betta (March 25th 2006)