Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta
April 19, 2008
Yes... We do have two bore wells, one doesn't work, another partially works (crap). We are lucky enough as we took two water bottles, especially Sumi bought cold water (she always prefer cold water). At this time temple was still closed, enquired localities about the same. They said it would be open by 9:30 AM. One of the security guard assisted us to visit the places near by. He also told us that sometimes we get to see elephants roaming around these places. This provoked us to trek a few miles around the temple. But we found nothing except few insects and Felis catus ;) 
Later we had darshan around 11:00 AM... We received Kumkum prasadam from the priest. He explained us why this place is called as "Himavad". Its because at any time of the day or any season, sanctum of temple would be covered with fog. We had the opportunity to experience it by touching the walls of the sanctum. It was still wet and we could see the water droplets.
Some important points that we covered from this place
Atlast a photo taken by myself with My Soul Mate.
Sumana had called day before yesterday, we discussed about a single day trip. Recently, one of her friends had visited Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta and he had good responses about the place. I reached Mysore on Saturday evening @ 9:30 PM. As usual no buses :( to Vijaynagar. Walked all the way to home, it was around 10:40 PM. I had a light dinner which included Ragi rotti (one of my favourites). I had set the alarm to 4:00 AM and started browsing the net for the route map and transferred the instructions to my K810i (my new gadget :). I had gone to bed @ 11:50 PM.
"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." -- Brian Tracy
Till now I have faced many exams, interviews etc... but I had never woke up @ 4 AM :)
But whenever there is a need to do some thing new, also includes excitement, there you go.. no need of Alarms, reminders etc... I woke up on Saturday Morning @ 3:50 AM. Did my routines tasks. Later, I left home at 4:40 for Sumana's pickup. We reached our home at 5:10 AM. Packed the stuffs to carry to the place. I breaked the fast with three Ade Dose (Kara dose a.k.a red dose).
My MARUTI was feeling good without any major diseases. Ignited the engine with the first try...... (Hoorrraaayyy). We started the drive at 5: 40 AM, A few seconds before, I heard so many precautionay sentences from amma (jagte rahooo, just kidding :).
Fuel was not sufficient (its accustomed) so we stopped at the ICICI ATM located in Vijaynagar, got some cash to feed the MARUTI. I always love to Drive in Ring roads as there would be less traffic. The ring road towards Ooty had so much of human traffic (Morning walk, chatting, gossiping etc..). I was driving MARUTI at the speed of 60 KMPH (like a KSRTC bus :(...). We finally found Indian Oil petrol bunk after passing Mysore limits on Nanjangud road. My MARUTI wants healthy food as I always opt Extra Premium for him (Extra pain for my pocket).
"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." -- Brian Tracy
Till now I have faced many exams, interviews etc... but I had never woke up @ 4 AM :)
But whenever there is a need to do some thing new, also includes excitement, there you go.. no need of Alarms, reminders etc... I woke up on Saturday Morning @ 3:50 AM. Did my routines tasks. Later, I left home at 4:40 for Sumana's pickup. We reached our home at 5:10 AM. Packed the stuffs to carry to the place. I breaked the fast with three Ade Dose (Kara dose a.k.a red dose).
My MARUTI was feeling good without any major diseases. Ignited the engine with the first try...... (Hoorrraaayyy). We started the drive at 5: 40 AM, A few seconds before, I heard so many precautionay sentences from amma (jagte rahooo, just kidding :).
Fuel was not sufficient (its accustomed) so we stopped at the ICICI ATM located in Vijaynagar, got some cash to feed the MARUTI. I always love to Drive in Ring roads as there would be less traffic. The ring road towards Ooty had so much of human traffic (Morning walk, chatting, gossiping etc..). I was driving MARUTI at the speed of 60 KMPH (like a KSRTC bus :(...). We finally found Indian Oil petrol bunk after passing Mysore limits on Nanjangud road. My MARUTI wants healthy food as I always opt Extra Premium for him (Extra pain for my pocket).
The road was pretty good and we started burning the fossil fuel little more and reach the destiny ASAP. The scenic beauty was awesome. We passed by "Mallige" garden, Ah, the fragnance was superb. Sumi loves photography and she started testing my new gadget K810i. So for a good start, she took few snaps of Day Starter... This image was taken while going towards Nanjangud.
We reached Nanjangud at 7:10 AM. Later we passed a place called Begur. Gundlupete was 15 KM far from this place. The road was pretty good till Begur. But after that we had a horrible experience with the road. We were bouncing all the way till we reached Gundlupete. But I was able to drive my MARUTI at the average speed of 70 KMPH. After reaching Gudlupete we took a right turn, this road would take us to the hill. Meanwhile Dosas are converted into ATP's (I had enough energy to move on, but Sumi had Patient's food (Bread ;).
We saw an arch which was the entrance "Tollgate" for the Temple/Hill. It was around 7:40 AM. We thought that the road would be same as what we experienced a while ago. But it was OK. An image which describes both the road and the "Himavad" Gopalswamy Betta is as under. It was 7:44 AM, but still you can see the Hima (fog) covered the hill. 10 KM's to reach the hill.
We saw an arch which was the entrance "Tollgate" for the Temple/Hill. It was around 7:40 AM. We thought that the road would be same as what we experienced a while ago. But it was OK. An image which describes both the road and the "Himavad" Gopalswamy Betta is as under. It was 7:44 AM, but still you can see the Hima (fog) covered the hill. 10 KM's to reach the hill.
It was an wonderful experience to view the Mother Nature's Pride. Everything was covered with Green, which gives a serene look to the hills. BTW here, there are 8 hills. There are two Steep curves, need to be cautious. Road is pretty small, no two car's can go at the same time. Another image shows the actual road which takes us to the hill. It would be 6 KM from here.
Entrance fees would be Rs 50 for Cars, Rs 100 for Maxi CAB / Buses. It was steep up at few points, MARUTI started crying @ third gear, changed it to second gear. It was second experience to drive on a hill. First one was our Chamundi Hill and the next is this. I got compliments as a Best Driver from Sumi. But I was able to drive subconsciously and found it was easy to drive even at the place like this. MARUTI was tired, hence the speed was 20-30 KMPH. Few more images.. Me, my soul mate & MARUTI were climbing the hill :)
Within few minutes we reached half way. In the above image we can see the temple view. If you observe these images, fog was less as the time goes on. We were able to hear sounds of many creatures talking, welcoming us. People say that we have Leopards, Bears, Tigers (Bandipur forest a few KM away), Peacocks, Snakes and lots of herbivores live here. I wish should have a dwelling place here :)
Here we were.... Reached hill top @ 8:12 AM (cooool... it was my gadget helped me to recall the time.). Found that there is a need for basic facilities which was lacking. So It was my turn to take few snaps from my gadget.
Here we were.... Reached hill top @ 8:12 AM (cooool... it was my gadget helped me to recall the time.). Found that there is a need for basic facilities which was lacking. So It was my turn to take few snaps from my gadget.
Yes... We do have two bore wells, one doesn't work, another partially works (crap). We are lucky enough as we took two water bottles, especially Sumi bought cold water (she always prefer cold water). At this time temple was still closed, enquired localities about the same. They said it would be open by 9:30 AM. One of the security guard assisted us to visit the places near by. He also told us that sometimes we get to see elephants roaming around these places. This provoked us to trek a few miles around the temple. But we found nothing except few insects and Felis catus ;) 
Later we had darshan around 11:00 AM... We received Kumkum prasadam from the priest. He explained us why this place is called as "Himavad". Its because at any time of the day or any season, sanctum of temple would be covered with fog. We had the opportunity to experience it by touching the walls of the sanctum. It was still wet and we could see the water droplets.Some important points that we covered from this place
- Road is almost OK minus few kilo meters after Gundlupet.
- Please reach the place on or before 8:00 AM if its a one day plan.
- The entire journey took less than 7 hours, we left home @ 6:00 AM, returned @ 12:30 PM
- We have 77 small ponds in this area and each has a historical presence.
- No basic facilities available at the hill top. If you are a foodie, you would be disappointed (like me :()
- The main attraction is the fog which covers this place 24/7/28/29/30/31/365/366.
- We enjoyed a lot by trekking around the place. You will find plenty of unknown plants, herbs etc...
- Bandipur is very close it. We missed to visit the place due to our day plan.
- Best time to visit in rainy season between June till August.
- Please please make sure that ride is at the best condition, because we didn't find any mechanic/puncher shop after Gundlupet.
Atlast a photo taken by myself with My Soul Mate.
THANK YOU!
