Shravanabelagola Trip

We made this day trip in the first week of Nov21. It was a bright day, mostly sunny, and we started early just after 6 am from Bommanahalli in Bangalore via Bannerghatta road to NICE road, and came back close to about 6 pm via the same route. The distance is about 160 KM.

After the NICE road exit at Tumkur road, the 10 KM drive on the Tumkur road up to Nelamangala (before turn left on to Hassan Road NH75) is a busy road and quite confusing with the toll road drive way vs the normal service road looking similar. Google Maps also may not be very clear; so be watchful to keep track.

Overall the roads are good on the NH75 about 100 KM; only towards the end where we have to turn left at Mattanavile, before we get on SH47 for the last about 12 KM, in one stretch some flyover / road work causes some challenge.

But that last 12 KM drive via many villages are scenic to see nice terracotta roofed houses, cattle, farming fields, coconut groves, and so on.

Though we had been to Shravanabelagola many years ago, in the year 2008, we went up only the taller hill Vindhyagiri, at that time. This time we also went up the Chandragiri hill.

Our plan also was to have a Jain food this time for lunch, and my wife had chosen Sri Suranga Jain Oswal Marwadi Bhojanalaya, that is located right after we come down from Vindhyagiri, just a few meters from the arch.

We stopped at Kamat Upachar at Kunigal for breakfast at about 8:15 am. And reached the parking near Vindhyagiri at about 10 am, after stopping a couple of times to photograph some scenery and birds we spotted on the way, just before Shravanabelagola town.

After leaving our footwear at the paid storage available there for five rupees each, we reached the top of Vindhyagiri just after 11 am, after spending time at the mantaps, inscription displays, sculptured pillars, and areal views, on the climb up. The hill is about 440 ft. from the ground level.

After spending about 20+ minutes seeing the monumental 58 ft. monolithic Gomateshwara Bahubali statue and other wonderful Jain architecture and sculptures there we started our descent.

There is a scheduled closure of some parts (like Wodegal Basadi that is just one level below the top) from 12 noon to 4 pm; so watch out your timings suitably.

We came down and had our Jain food at about 12:15 pm. It is a small restaurant run by the family, where the mother was cooking, while the father, while helping the cooking, also took care of the serving along with their young daughter. For the limited content of that vegetarian meal, INR 180 per meal was quite expensive; it is just a very simple and tasty food, in a different setting.

We walked through the park next to the temple tank (kalyani / pond) to cross over from the Vindhyagiri side to reach the Chandragiri side.

Again, after leaving our footwear at the paid storage there, we started climbing up the steps at about 12:45 pm and reached the top in about 15 min. This hill is about 200 ft. from the ground level.

Chandragiri has a lot more mantaps and basadis spread out on the top. The 65 ft. tall pillar and other tall statue in the basadi in front are not to be missed.

We started for our way back at about 2 pm, and stopped at Paakashala Restaurant (of Vasudev Adiga) at Yediyur at 3:15 pm for a snack and fresh lime soda (to beat the heat), and reached back just before 6 pm.

See pictures from the trip here below. 

And also see Itinerary, Trip Tips and Review Ratings at the end of it.

Please also see my Caught Special - 137 posting with some special pictures from this trip, here.

Itinerary Summary

Here is a short itinerary of the trip, with a little more information, in case you are looking for.

     - 6Nov21, Sat, started from Bommanahalli at 6:15 am on our drive

     - Stopped at Kamat Upachar at Kunigal for breakfast at about 8:15 am

     - Stopped twice, just before destination, for photographing a pond and some birds

     - Started climbing Vindhyagiri at 10:15 am and came down by 12:15 pm

     - Lunch at Sri Suranga Jain Oswal Marwadi Bhojanalaya at 12:30 pm

     - Started climbing Chandragiri at 12:45 pm and came down by 1:55 pm

     - Started return drive by about 2 pm

     - Stopped at Paakashala Restaurant at Yediyur for snack at about 3:15 pm

     - Reached back by 5:50 pm

Trip Tips

• From NICE Road Exit on Tumkur Road up to Nelamangala left turn, 10 KM is busy and confusing about which is the toll road you have to keep on; Google Maps also may not be easy; so watch out to keep track.
  
• Sunny day on the climbs; an umbrella is very handy. As you are not allowed with footwear, you may want to plan to keep a cotton socks. Not sure how safe that is to avoid skidding. Watch out.
  
• Carry water with you while climbing up. You will certainly need it.
• Some closure hours between noon to evening may be in practice. Please check before you start climbing the hills.
  

Verdict

Our ratings on a scale of 5 (1 is low, 5 is high).

• Tumkur Road sector up to Nelamangala: 2/5
  
• Kamat Upachar, Kunigal: 4/5 
• Scenic SH47 drive from Mattanavile to Shravanabelagola 12 KM: 4/5
  
• Vindhyagiri climb: 4/5
• Architecture atop Vindyagiri: 3.9/5
  
• Sri Suranga Jain Oswal Marwadi Bhojanalaya: 3/5  
• Park crossover pathway: 3/5  
• Chandragiri climb: 4/5
• Architecture atop Chandragiri: 4/5
• Paakashala Restaurant, Yediyur: 3/5

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