Revanasiddeshwara Betta

What makes a trip enjoyable - Good location, happy vibes or good company? I think we had all this during our day trip to Revanasiddeshwara betta last Saturday.

Revanasiddeshwara Betta

Commuting to office on a cab can be boring if you do not have  good cab mates. Fortunately, our cab has had the best team members who are interesting, cooperative and understanding. So to celebrate this one year of bonding that we all share, we decided to go for a trek. 8 out of 13 people agreed to join.

The village surrounding Revanasiddeshwara betta is one of our cab mate, Chetan's native. It was extremely nice of him to invite us over to his place. The weather was perfect; sun hid behind the mist throughout the day. We left Bangalore at 8:20 AM in two cars. We headed towards the Mysore Road and reached the base of the hill at around 9:45 AM. One has to take a left turn soon after Ramanagara town to reach Revanasiddeshwara betta.

The drive had been perfect and we were all excited to begin the climb. There is an assigned trail but we occasionally took some detours. The view from the top, overlooking the mango grooves and fields below, was spectacular. 

View from the Summit

You would reach the summit first and then walk down on the other side to reach a shrine built inside a cave. One of my friends KK, chanted the Rudra mantra, which created a pious atmosphere.

"Togetherness"

There are totally 3 temples on the Revanasiddeshwara betta – At summit is Revannasiddeshwara temple, midway is Bheemeshwari (Named after Bheema) temple and Renukamba temple is situated at the base. The temple at the base has a  beautiful garden.

At the base, there is also a mutt, which offers lunch to the devotees. Having arrived on a special day with some special offering by a devotee, we were served Payasam and obattu.

After lunch, we drove to our friend Chetan's farm. It’s a nice patch of green land midst Kappi betta. The location is covered with trees and rocks in all four sides and is situated near an artificial lake created by villagers. Water from this lake is used for irrigation and fishing. We requested the fishermen to take us on a coracle ride on the lake.

Secret Place, with a cave behind

Bulbul

After relaxing for a while in what I would like to call a secret place we took off to Chetan’s uncle’s farmhouse. It was drizzling on the way; hence it created a picturesque view. We walked around the farm and the mango grooves; plucked and ate some delicious mangoes at their house and then decided to return back to the city.

Mango Groove

Delicious Raspuri Mangoes

It was a beautiful and relaxing trip, thanks to the perfect weather. Virginia woolf writes - “I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, & thus we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”

In our cab journeys later, the moments expanded and became complete with emotions.