Madhugiri Hill conquered by 6 BTC Kings

Madhugiri trek has been my dream one day treks. I visited the place with 6 enthusiastic trekkers from BTC (Bangalore Trekking Club) on 31st March 2013.

About Madhugiri:-
Madhugiri is a Taluk headquarters in Tumkur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. The town derives its name from a hillock, Madhu-giri (honey-hill) which is to the north of the place.

At 3,930 ft (1,200 m) elevation, Madhugiri is a single hill. It is the second largest monolith in Asia. Nestled on its steep slopes is a fort, once credited to Hyder Ali. Antaralada Bagilu, Diddibagilu, and Mysore Gate are the three gateways of the fort. A series of doorways leads to the hill. The ruined temple of Gopalakrishna is located at the top.


The highlight is the rock dome, atop which stands a fort, once attributed to Hyder Ali. There are a series of doorways leading to the top and the climb is steep and exposed in some places. On the top is the ruined Gopalakrishna temple.
For more info on Madhugiri. Please visit the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhugiri

I would like to share my experience of one day trek to this Hill on hot sunny day below:

It has been 1 and half months since I haven’t done any trek due to my fitness issues. Now after recovering from small face surgery, I am raring to go on one day treks. Thanks to Chaitanya for organising a trek to Madhugiri fort. It was in my must visit list from past 2 years but waiting for right opportunity to go with right people, finally the day comes it is 31st March 2013.

Weather is very HOT and it is not easy to trek in summer. Chaitanya only able to get 6 registrations after publishing Event registration details in BTC website. Now plan is changed and journey to trek place has been changed from TT or Bus to A bike ride to Madhugiri.

As per plan, I am going to be pillion for Channabasappa Nad. It is an early morning wake up for me on Sunday. I called Channabasappa Nad at 4:30 AM so he could pickup me and we could join other 4 guys in assembling point (B-Trac Signal Under Bridge, Outer Ring Rd, Phase 1, Yeshwanthpura) at 5:00 AM. Channabasappa Nad picked me at 4:50 AM and we started towards assembling point. By the time we reached assembling point, other 4 guys already there and waiting for us.

We all started from assembling point at sharp 5:00 AM with 3 Bikes. We moved towards Bangalore - Pune Highway(NH4) on Tumkur Road. Reached dobaspet around 6:00 AM, till dobaspet we have covered 50 kms from Bangalore. Took right turn under the flyover and moved towards Madhugiri. This is going to be second half of the journey with another hell of Ride of about 52 kms.
It has been amazing experience for me since it is only my second visit to Tumkur, earlier I had been to Siddara Betta in January 2013. This place is surrounded by plenty of Monoliths and favourite trekking place for trekking enthusiasts. While having bike ride, we could see Hill series in either side of road including Shiva ganage, Nijagal Betta, Devarayana Durga, Channarayan Durga  and Siddara Betta.

Chaitanya planned for breakfast at Koratagere which is still 18 kms from Madhugiri. While moving towards korategere, we stopped at one small lake and witnessed beautiful view of sun rise.

Reached Korateger around 6:45 AM and had our breakfast at small hotel (Menu for breakfast is Tomato rice, Idly and Onion Pakoda). Started towards Madhugiri around 7:30 AM and reached the base of Madhugiri Hill at 8:00 AM.

Trekking experience:-
Started ascending around 8:15 AM from the base of Madhugiri Hill. We could see steps were being built to make the ascending to fort easy. 

The ascent was very easy at the base for at least 200 meters. In some places there were small steps carved out on the rock. These steps made it easier to climb the steep slope. A little further up the steepness increased drastically.

The dangerous part of the trek came when we had to make 50 degree turn towards the east with a steep slope of 70 degree. As per Blogs which i have gone through in Internet about Madhugiri fort trek, few years ago this was a very dangerous spot and there have been a few fatal accidents. Now this part has been installed with railing to help make climb easier. We found quite easy with the railing support, while climbing I thought how they built a fort on top of the Hill with this kind of slopes. Really Amazing work!!! Hats off to Engineers of that ERA...:)

After 75 minutes, we reached the halfway point with plenty of breaks in between. It was really tiresome while climbing since weather is very hot and all of us swatting.... :(. We could see spectacular view of the hills surroundings. What to say? Absolutely Awesome!!!. Two eyes are not enough to catch the beauty.... :).

At this point of ascent, there were no support railings and no steps carved out. Walking on steep rocks without support is not that difficult. A good pair of shoes will definitely help in this situation. I was wondering and discussing with other members about how much difficult it would be to trek in monsoon on this steep rock.

Reached top around 10:45 AM. It took us around 2 and half hours to reach the top. Madhugiri Trek is bit difficult compared to Savana Durga (Note: Both Hills are Asia’s Largest Monolith Hills. Madhugiri is second largest monolith while Savana Durga is first). The moment we reached the top all of us got feeling that we have achieved something Big in our life. While climbing we took plenty of group photos.

Relaxed for 30 minutes, had oranges and drunk water to get energy back. Started to explore the top. From the top, we will get to see wonderful view of the town Madhugiri and hills close by.

On the top there was a small fort,  nothing spectacular it was ruined completely. We took plenty of group photos on top and explored the place for 75 minutes.

Started descend around 12:00 PM. The descent i found it relatively easy compared to ascending and it had to be done at a very slow pace.

Reached the base around 1:10 PM, washed our face and took some rest. I could see satisfaction in face of all that we successfully completed trek to Madhugiri fort on Hot summer day and enjoyed a lot... :).

Started back to Bangalore around 1:30 PM. Had Lime soda and Coconut water while returning. Reached  Bangalore around 4:15 PM and departed to our places.

Team Size: 6 BTC members

Team Members:-
1) Chaitanya Adusumilli(Organizer)
2) Santosh Kumar Gupta
3) Harish Surampade
4) Adhar Kanungo
5) Channabasappa Nad and myself.

Difficulty Level: Moderate to Difficult
Route: Bangalore - Pune Highway(NH4) on Tumkur Road -> Dobbespet (Right Turn Under The Flyover) -> Madhugiri.

Distance from Bangalore: Around 102 kms.
Nearest Town: Korategere Taluku (Tumkur District).

Finally i want to thank Chaitanya for organizing a day trek to Madhugiri Fort. It has been one of memorable treks for me and toughest one to incline after Savana Durga.

Looking forward for more such one day events in future with BTC.

Keep exploring in and around Namma Bengaluru :)


Written By    : Gautham Baliga
Main Blog      : My Life, My Journey
2nd Blog        : Chaitanya 2 Nature
Organized By : Chaitanya Kumar Adusumilli
Date of event: 31st-March, 2013
Place            : Madhugiri
Pictures        : Gautham, Chaitanya, Channabasappa, Santosh