Wooded lands of wild fauna. Review on BRT Wildlife Sanctuary

Imagine, you are idling your weekend in pristine tranquil woods amidst the backdrop of picturesque serene mountains. The tall densely canopied trees swaying coolly in the gentle breeze, whispering sweet conspiracy of silence in your ears. The bright hued flowery carpets showered from countless Tabebuias, Mahuwas, Magnolias, Begonias (majorly showing off my limited Botany knowledge here) that seem to warmly welcome you to their pristine paradise, and the flocks of birds joining in with their dulcet chirping and twitters.

Furthermore, a thick waft of honey aroma engulfs you, which is in fact the fragrance of Ballerina flowers blooming in abundance. As you traipse up merrily in such resplendent virginal territories, you encounter along the sloped curvy course - startled sambars (not the pot-boiling kind but 4 legged ones), naughty deer, frolicking wild hares, wanton wild boars or even crafty foxes. Your waddling around numerous ponds and lakes may bring you face to face with - disinterested pachyderms and seldom with magnificent leopards and majestic tigers. Be watchful though of lone straying tuskers or herd of elephants that cross your path often. But don?t you dare take your eyes off from the sprightly avian class, lest you miss out catching the rare sight of a gliding male ?Paradise Flycatcher,? wooing his beloved by swanking his splendiferous tail feathers.

Sounds like a dream heaven? Then, welcome to BR Hills - a unique combination of a hill resort and wild life sanctuary.

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The Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as the BR Hills, is located in southern Karnataka, about 90 km from Mysore and 255 km from Bangalore. It occupies an area of 540 sq.km, height ranging from 3300 ? 5000 ft above sea level. The sanctuary derives its name, ?Biligiri,? from the prominent white cliff on which is perched the temple of Lord Rangaswamy. The best season to visit is just after the monsoons when the valley will be in full bloom. Alternatively, you can escape the heat of dry cities during the summer months.

BR Hills are well connected by roads. There are frequent State Government run buses from Bangalore and Mysore. Around 40 km from Kollegal, the road deviates into windy slopes that take you up to the destination. At about 20 km from the sanctuary, Karnataka Forest Department has set up its check post and only those vehicles with prior permission are allowed in. As we enter the last 5-6 km stretch of forests, the vegetation becomes profuse, more scenic and very enchanting.

There is a single Jungle Lodge at a place called K.R.Gudi. The package offer is Rs.1500/- per night. I suppose it?s a good lodge with different options of living quarters ? A hunting bungalow with furnished rooms, electricity and modern toilet facilities called Maharaja Lodge; Twin bed cottages/ tents with all amenities; and ethnic huts supported on stilts. Also available are options of log huts and encampments. The whole place is lit up with hurricane lanterns in the nights that add to the charm of quiet hinterland. For more economic boarding, Forest Department guesthouses are available on earlier intimation.

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Apart from the earlier mentioned beings, the sylvan surroundings also house various types of gaur, cheetal, sloth bear, panther, wild dog, barking deer and rarely spotted four-horned antelope besides commonly occurring bonnet macaque, hanuman langur, civet and giant squirrel. Also, more than 200 species of birds are found, such as yellow-throated bulbul, the Nilgiri wood pigeon, racket-tailed drongo, hill myna, large Indian parakeet, chestnut-bellied nuthatch and the crested serpent eagle, some of which are unique only to this place (most of which I missed out trying to adjust my binoculars and zooming onto my colleague?s toupee that I mistook for pruned feathers of some rare species). It is believed that more than a third of India's butterflies are known to occur in this sanctuary so as the large chunk of honeybee populace.

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The other places of interests are:

Lord Rangaswamy Temple: A famous shrine that attracts visitors from far and beyond, especially in the months of April May. The temple is situated on the tallest of the peaks and the view from top is absolutely fantastic. Folklore goes that deity Ranga, a form of Lord Vishnu, was a vagabond strolling along with two of his buddies. And then he came across the local belle Kusumale, a Soliga girl, on these hills. Cupid struck and the couple was married (I love such Gods),, and the Lord decided to settled down here. Till date, Soligas - the indigenous tribe of this region, address Lord Ranga as ?Bhava? or Brother-in-Law.

Kanchikote: Ruins of old forts of an ancient king Gangaraja. There are several other relics like watch towers, open terrace and kinds strewn here and there on the hills but all in bad ruins (but thankfully with no graffiti like ?Sonu loves Mona? that?s usually found on such wrecks).

Podu or Hamlet: There are about 16 settlements of Soligas in the interior of BRT sanctuary. These are little hamlets with 10 ? 20 huts per podu, devoid of any modern facilities like transport or electricity. But the tribals here are a very self-contented lot and have their own ways of entertainment. In fact, I was lucky enough to attend one of their festivities called ?Rotti Habba? celebrated on Moonless night, where people from one podu throw open a fest to all other hamlets and treat their guests with rotis (bread) made from Ragi around a bonfire. Later the hosts and guests gather around to sing and dance in great delight. (Needless to say that my rudimentary dancing skill, closely resembling the actions of a bear chasing away bees, was highly appreciated)

May be its no comparison to Ooty or Darjeeling, but BR Hills has that unique undisturbed-by-civilization kind of rustic charm, not to be found in places of regular tourist interest.

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And for the diehard shopoholics amongst us who cannot wrap up a trip without buying something, there is nothing around except for the purest of Honey. Grab a bottle or two, the best souvenir from the place.