Ramadevara Betta and Sri Revana Siddeshwara Betta – 31/01/2016

Best of the beast: Lake adjacent to SRS Hills

So it was my 6th back to back trip, as I mentioned already Vinay had got new Gixxer recently, his first service was done so the beast was all set for a spin. Me and Vinay called our friends to check if they are interested to join the ride surprisingly the response was overwhelming, 11 friends turned up for the ride. Whenever we planned for these two places i.e SRS Hills and Ramadevar betta, we started with only 2-3 people but ended up with 10+ people turning up for the ride. Same thing happened 2 years back (1/02/2014) where 10 people joined the ride.


Sunday morning: We all assembled in front of R V College gate as planned at 5.30 am. Within 10 minutes everyone joined and we were good to go. Mysore road offered a decent ride with minor traffic. We rode at normal pace as to make sure everyone is OK. The first destination was Ramadevara Betta, as soon as you enter Ramnagar you need to take 170 degree right turn, use Google maps for convenience. It’s hardly a km through rough terrain after which you reach main entrance to the hills.

The outer gate at the base of the hills

Ramadevara betta Vulture sanctuary, its always good to read about the place history

Sun shining in the sky as we walk towards the hills

Ramadevara Betta: The board said the timing are from 8 am to 5.30 pm, we were there by 7 am. We parked our bikes and walked rest of the stretch. After half kilometer we reached another gate from where staircases start. During open hours you can bring the vehicles till this point. We were the first ones to reach this place. We needed to climb around 400 odd steps to reach Lord Rama temple atop. Climbing through the stairs was interesting with the surrounded lush greenery, chirping of the birds and soothing climate. We took around 20 mins to reach the Rama temple. There is a pond, Rameshwara and Nandi temple at this place. There is a view point constructed here which offers a decent view of the surroundings but yet it didn’t satisfy our instincts. The specialty of this pond is that the depth of this pond is still unknown. There has been efforts measuring depth of the pond by many means but none

were successful. 

The second entrance, during open hours you can bring vehicles till this point. 400 steps to be climbed from this point till the temple atop

Climbing stairs is never boring when eyes are greeted by the lush green and sound of birds chirping makes your day

Trying some photography angles

Rama temple at the top, flat ground

Rameshwar swami temple to the right of the main temple

View point and place to rest

Most of the visitors return from this point thinking this is the last end but path to the left of the temple leads to the summit where the most stupendous view can be seen in all directions. The trail is short and path is clear. Finally we hit a big vertical hill which seemed to be impossible to climb at first look but because of steps carved in the hills and supporting railings it is easy to scale this stretch. Once on the top we were greeted by the view with a lake guarded by rocky outcrops and the horizon marked with a band of blue hills the panoramic vistas were a treat to the eyes. You can sit there and observe the vultures flying over your head. As it’s a reserved forest for eagles you can see a lot of eagles flying over your head. If you are a bird photographer then pull out your your zoom lens and freeze moments through the camera.

Left turn from the main temple leads to the summit of the hills. Clear and easy stretch

And the scariest ascend is here. supporting bars would make it easy to scale this tiny yet deadly stretch

View from the summit, looks like one of those scenes from Hollywood movies.. Isn’t it?

Vultures flying around for morning breakfast 😛

A lot of them flying around

Beautiful hillock right next to the summit

And that covers all the 11 riders (shadows count too :P)

Descending, its more scarier than it looks

Old chap claims to be there during Sholay shooting

We had another destination for the day SRS Hills so we didn’t spend too much time at this place. We walked back to the place where our bikes were parked. We met an old man who claimed that he was there during Sholay film shooting. He said he acted as one of the villagers. He told some more exciting tales from the movie shooting as well.


We had tasty breakfast at Ramnagar town. It was just 11 in the morning but the sun was high upon us, we bought cold drinks and water to keep hydrated during the next trek. We headed to our next destination of the day which is around 12 km from Ramanagar. After 2 km we took left turn which leads to the base of the hills, the rest of the stretch is through country side road. It was peaceful riding through this stretch. 


Sri Revana Siddeshwara Betta (SRS Hills): We could see hill from far distance to our right. The blue shelter for the trekkers looks like a snake on the hills. We parked our bike, this place is extensively visited by a lot of devotees so during weekends you can expect good number of people around here. There is a temple at the base dedicated to Godess Bhemeshwari 

Sri Revaba Siddeshwar entrance arch

And the ascend begins

As soon as you start climbing you feel shelter upon your head is ruining the look of the hills but as you go up you will realize its importance when the sun rays hit your skin on a really sunny day. You see a beautiful lake guarded by rocky outcrops to the right which makes your day. The hill is really steep which makes it difficult to climb but thanks to the temple authorities who took initiative in carving rough steps to help one climb with ease. As I already mentioned this place is extensively visited by devotees, you can see aged persons scaling the stretch. It’s usual practice for devotees to climb the hill on bare foot but it’s up to individuals how they want to proceed. As you climb you can feel cool breeze kissing your face, the panoramic scenery across becomes more lively. 

The roof top gives devotees respite from the sun

Majestic lake beside the hill

Finally when you reach the top there is Rudra Muneshwara and Siddarameshwara mantapa on either side with a bell at the center. We then need to climb down a little bit to the other side to reach the Revana Siddeshwara temple. The moment you reach the top the monkeys would start attacking from all the directions make sure you don’t have any eatables or offering to the God in hand. There is a water tap outside the temple where you can quench your thirst and wash legs before proceeding to the temple. Lord Revana Siddeshwara idol is installed in a cave and is beautifully decorated and worshiped. We spent some time sitting resting there at the peak watching monkeys doing mischievous things.

Such mantapa on both the sides

The bell

Descend a little bit on the other side to visit the temple

Revana Siddeshwara Temple

It was nearly 1 o’clock in the afternoon by the time we left the place. The descend was easy and fun. Had tender coconut water at the base to hydrate ourselves and cucumber to eat. We visited the lake at the base, its safe to take a dip in this lake but we didn’t had extra pair of clothes upon that we were too much tired, getting into water and driving would make it worse.

Suzuki Gixxer

The drive back was smooth everyone reached home back by 3 pm.


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