For all those hardcore trekkers
out there, Madhugiri Fort is one which will not disappoint you. I went to
Madhugiri Fort on the 17th of March soon after the onset of summer.
Although we had to trek up in the hot sun, the experience was certainly worth
it.
This Fort, located on the
outskirts of Madhugiri Town, is approximately 120 kilometers from Bangalore. We
drove down in two cars and it took us nearly three hours to reach the place.
You’ll have to drive down the Bangalore-Tumkur highway and then take a
deviation at Dobbasapete which is 70kilometers from Bangalore. The road till
Dobbasapete is a four lane road. But after taking the deviation, the last
50kilometers to Madhugiri Village is a two lane road and it’s somewhat okay. (Actually
it’s bad at some stretches.)
We reached the fort around 12noon
and started to trek soon after finding shaded places to park our cars. The trek
up the Madhugiri Fort is quite difficult and I strongly recommend that you start
trekking after each member in your group has a water bottle.
Like the entrance to almost every
other fort I’ve visited in India, this fort also begins with huge gateways and a
number of steps after. These steps take us only to the first level of the sentry’s
lookout.
Thereon begins the rock climbing
and you shall reach the peak only after trekking for two more hours! We were
nine of us in our group! After trekking for an hour, four of my friends started
to lose interest as they were tired. And so, the four of them picked a
sheltered place and decided to rest there while the remaining five proceeded
further.
The numerous graffiti etched all
over the walls of this fort is a very evident sign of the government’s total
neglect towards this fort and is a very disappointing sight! Anyway, I came across a
blog which mentions an interesting history about this fort. Do check out this
guy’s blog... http://rakeshholla.blogspot.in/2012/05/madhugiri-fort-hillocks-galore-2.html. He's written it under a heading called HISTORY.
As we trekked higher and higher, our
huffing and puffing increased tremendously. I don’t know about the others but my
body was reacting to the altitude! My head started feeling a little woozy and I
had a running nose! Nevertheless, we didn’t stop and were determined to go
till the peak.
By the time we were done with
three-fourths of the trek, three more friends gave up and decided to not go any
further. It was only me and my friend Spandana (“Dana” for short) who were still
determined to complete the trek whatsoever.
The last stretch of the trek was
quite steep. The gradient on the rock makes you wonder if one can actually
ascend that stretch. Dana and I were trying to figure out the safest path to
take on this last stretch when a group of guys who were already at the top
shouted out to us and pointed out the path we should take.
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| We still had another 45minutes of trekking at this point. Madhugiri Town is seen in this picture. |
It was at 2.30 in the afternoon
when Dana and I finally completed the trek. This was the highest point on the
Madhugiri Fort! Madhugiri town could be clearly seen while standing at this
point. The peak was really calm and quiet. Dana and I agreed on how
awesome it’d be if we could come up here every other day! The only noise we could
hear was the distant honking noises of the buses in the Madhugiri Town’s Bus
Stand.
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| Dana and I.. very thrilled after completing the trek! |
At 3.45 we were near our cars. To
our delight, the other seven had already trekked down and had bought water
bottles for the two of us. I got my voice back only after chugging a liter
of water down my throat!
We started to drive back at 4 and
reached the outskirts of Bangalore by 7.
If you're looking for some exciting adventure, you should definitely go here!
If you're looking for some exciting adventure, you should definitely go here!
