Savandurga is a hill located about 60km from Bangalore. One can reach Savandurga via either of the two routes:
Bangalore -> Magadi -> Savandurga (via Magadi Road)
Bangalore -> Big banyan tree -> Manchanbele reservoir -> Savandurga (via Mysore Road)
The hill and surrounding areas are under the Savandurga state forest area. We took the route via Manchanbele reservoir to reach Savandurga. Since the main goal was not to trek, but to find good spots for photographs, instead of going to the usual starting point of climbing Savandurga, we took a different approach to get to a good vantage point. From here, the huge facade of the Savandurga hill was visible. There was no one else but us on this route, and this is always a good thing when you want to peacefully set up your camera and make photographs. We went there nearing sunset time and I got these images:
Savandurga hill facade
You may notice a tiny wisp of smoke in the middle of the above image. When we were there, we could even hear some people in a distance. The voices seemed to be coming from the same area as the smoke seen here. We would meet these people later in the day, when we were descending. Turns out, these people were harvesting honey from the honeycombs. They’d use fire and smoke to lull the honey-bees and get the honeycombs. They showed us their harvest for the day, on our way back.
Sunset at Savandurga
Going a bit further, we got this view of a small little valley with the huge hill to the right and an old dilapidated temple in the trough of the valley. The temple structure is not very evident from the above image, and there as no way to get closer to the temple.
An old temple structure at Savandurga
Switching to a tele lens, the old temple structure is seen here, with some interesting patterns leading up to it – small streams of water from the hill, making little pathways for themselves, amidst strewn rocks, plants and grass.
Clouds swishing overhead at Savandurga
After sunset, while heading back, noticed these interesting cloud patterns – used a long exposure to get the swishing feel to the clouds moving overhead. After this, it started to get dark fast and we had to track our way back to our vehicles.
So, that was a short little visit to Savandurga and nearby area. I’m sure there is much to be explored in there, apart from the usual trekking route.
Lovely images and a nice narration of the short trip we had!
Hi, I am planning to visit savandurga hills with my cousins in mid-march and i wanted to ask what path exactly did you take in the hills instead of the usual one? Thank you so much for this information and the photos are absolutely amazing.
Hello. The path we took was not the usual one. There is a small path which starts off right beside the road, about 500 mts before the Savandurga parking spot. However, I must warn you that the path is not easy and the villagers around do not recommend it. Please be advised as such.