Krishnagiri Fort

Gowri and I have been friends from French class. During one of the visits to their house, I had promised Gowri’s husband Ramesh of organising a day-trek. That moment finally arrived on the 26th of December 2023. Gowri and I have a lot of interests in common. One of which is the need to record our journeys and experiences. We have mutual admiration for each other’s writing style and thus I thought I shall publish her account of the day here. I will include my inputs where necessary. 

 Krishnagiri Fort Trek (By Gowri Ramesh)

1.Adithya ☀️🌞 gave us a treat with his rising form. It was a spectacular Sunrise that we saw from the car and no camera would do justice to the sight - A giant juicy 🧡🍊 Orange in the sky.

Greedy 🐖🐷 pigs stop at Shree Krishna Inn for Pongal, idly, vada and Cone Ghee Dosai and filter coffee.

2.Parked the car and walked to the Somasa Mahadeva Swamy temple. It was thiruvaddirai and we took the Prasadam of lemon rice and Abhishega Panchamritam both of which were delicious.

3. We walked into the old Shiva temple rock carved into the boulder that still covers it and the Abishegam was going on.The priest was reciting Mandhram Aavadhu Neeru. I told Mahadeva that I would offer my work of climbing up the mountain as an offering to him instead of the usual Naivedyam that I didn't make because we were leaving early.

4.Ajeya 's halwa from his goodie bag was offered to our Gods at home.

5. Started the Trek at the foot of the hill with a Namaskaram to the Ayappan, Hanuman and the Muslim saint buried there.

6.Met 2 girls enroute who had already finished the Trek. They probably caught that spectacular Sunrise at the summit.

7.We took a water break at a small Hanuman Mandir carved into a rock face and sheltered by trees. Ramesh suggested I stay there and rest.

8. I was tired and jumped at the offer. I recited the Hanuman Chalisa and some of the Shiva stuthis I knew by heart, took a nap and then woke up as I heard some kids who were going with their family to the Hazrath Akbar and Hazrath Basha Dargah atop the hill. 

Ajeya’s version: Allowing Gowri to rest at the Hanuman temple, Ramesh and I continued our climb. Within 10 minutes, we reached the fort entrance. I wished that I had encouraged Gowri a little so that she could have enjoyed the views with us. 

We had met a young man earlier who had informed us about a cave at the summit. So, Ramesh and I took a deviation to the right, hoping to find it. We passed by the "Choori mullu" plants where I enjoyed these tasty berries that reminded me of my childhood. Ramesh and I decided to carry some back for Gowri. 

We came across a huge rock with a door with an entrance. It seemed interesting. As we entered, I was impressed by this small shelter built under the huge boulder. There were multiple exit points. We took one and walked towards the Durgah. 

At the summit, we met a young man who does this trek every week as a workout. He directed us to the Durgah.

Hazrath Akbar and Hazrath Basha Dargah are located beside each other. There was no one there. We explored the fort and walked to a watch tower at the far end of the fort. 

Ramesh and I relaxed there for a bit as I captured a time lapse video. We discussed about some of his experiences in the army. I was curious to know more and he narrated a few events from his posting in the Northeast where they had to carry a soldier wounded in the firing by militants. He remembered those long walks in the forests and mountains. Ramesh had served in the Kumaon regiment.

Gowri’s version continues…

Ramesh and Ajeya got back telling me that I could have easily made it. We ate the choori mullu berries that they had brought from the summit. We ate some oranges and the namakpara that Ajeya brought along.

9.We started walking down and started off to Subedar Medu to look at our plot. We saw our plot and I picked up some cuttings ✂️ of the Indian Catmint to propagate. This was one of the greatest learnings on this trek. I thought that this was Indian white sage. Learnt that this is called Peimiratti and is used in much the same way as White sage but the greatest learning was that the leaves could be used as wicks.

10. Reached Col S's office and poor Ajeya was subjected to an hour and more of gloating and chest thumping on topics that added no value to him whatsoever. Col S never even asked Ajeya what he does and I found that disturbing considering the fact that Ajeya is a family favourite and the three of us literally compete (sometimes bordering on indecency) to have some time with him to discuss things.

Ajeya’s Version: I actually found Col S very interesting as a person. Yes, he left no chance to brag about himself and spoke so much about all his personal and professional affairs. In that one hour that I spent there, I knew a lot about his family, learnt about his daughter who is now studying abroad, heard her voice over a call on speaker phone, found out about his total yearly earnings, land dealings and more. That was indeed too much information. 

In between, there were people coming for a signature form him. He also made sure to order hot Bajjis and coffee for us. He, I think would be a useful contact to have. When you cannot have contacts everywhere, you should know a person who does. He is such kind of a person.

11.Started back to Bangalore. Stopped to buy Panam kizhangu. Stopped for a loo break, tasted Jigartanda and free ice cream🍦with it.

12.Stopped for Madurai Bun Parotta and Kalakki at Hosur.

13.Reached home, bid Good bye reluctantly to Ajeya. Looking forward to the next Trek with him.

 

 

A road trip with Gowri is always interesting. I am surprised by the amount of general knowledge she has. She is interested in knowing the history of a place, the vegetation of the region, the cuisine and culture of the people living there. This interest is something I share in common with her, but I am nowhere close to the amount of information she possesses. Therefore, it is a pleasure to travel with her. We share a similar joie de vivre and see things beyond its mere existence. 

My Video On This Trek: