A bike trip to a Temple with Yali Pillars & Military Architecture Fort

Rangasthala Sri Ranganatha Swamy

Devanahalli Fort

It was a cloudy Sunday and I told my friend Manjunath that we should enjoy the climate by going out for a ride and after having a little bit of discussion about the nearby places, we decided to go to a beautiful temple of Ranganatha Swamy - Rangasthala near Chikkaballapur Town in Karnataka at 11:00AM. It  took one Hour Forty Five Minutes to reach this place due to heavy city traffic.

Rangasthala (Temple with Yali Pillars)

Location:
Chikkaballapur District
Karnataka

Distance:
Bangalore to Rangasthala - 60 Kms

Route:

Bangalore Banashankari II Stage - New Airport Road - Chikkaballapur - Thippenahalli (6 Kms from Chikkaballapur on the way to Gouribidanoor) - Rangasthala 

Best Time to Visit:
Any time during the year. Every Year in the month of December, Bramhotsavam will be celebrated.

Stay:
The nearest place to stay is Chikkaballapur/Bangalore

As we reached Chikkaballapur, we were very hungry and after having lunch in one of the hotels we reached Rangasthala and saw the astounding Gopuram of the temple which was under renovation.

The Vijayanagar style of architecture gives a warm welcome to the visitors. It is believed that the idols of Ranganatha Swamy (Lord Vishnu) in Rangasthala, Srirangapattana & Srirangam were installed on the same day and at the same time. It has 4.5 feet long Ranganatha Swamy idol with Bhoo Devi & Neela Devi sitting near the leg of Ranganatha Swamy. 

The temple is magnificently carved in the Vijayanagar style. The idol of Ranganatha Swamy is very beautiful and annually "Bramhotsavam" will be celebrated in the month of December.

Yali Pillar

The Yali pillars in the temple is yet another attraction for the visitors. Yali is a mythical creature that can be portrayed as part lion, part horse and part elephant. These are mostly seen in the pillars of South Indian Temples. 

There is a board in the temple indicating the prices of different Sevas to the God.

View from the backside of the temple

We have spent about forty minutes in the temple and left to Bangalore. On the way in the National Highway, we stopped for snacks and to our surprise we got down before Devanahalli Fort.

Devanahalli Fort & Tippu Sultan Birth Place:

There is a small board on the highway showing the directions to Devanahalli Fort. Fortunately, this is the birth place of "Tippu Sultan". This place is about 35 Kms from Bangalore and is constructed by "Malla Baire Gowda" in the year 1501 A.D.

Directions on the Highway

History of the Fort

Front entrance to the Fort

From the outer view of the fort, we thought that the inner parts of the fort might be ruined. However, its a shocking experience as it still protects the live Devanahalli town by its tough walls. The fort is roughly oval east oriented and has about 12 semi-circular bastions at regular intervals.

Paths along the Fort Wall

Paths along the Fort Wall

Town inside the Fort

It has the entrances in the east and west and nicely decorated with cut plaster work. The bastions are provided with gun points built in lime and brick. With the help of these, soldiers can shoot the enemies through the gun points without getting noticed by their enemies.

Gun Points

Gun Points

There is even a small Venugopala Swamy Temple inside the fort. However, the temple was closed when we went.

Entrance to Venu Gopala Swamy Temple

Dhwaja Sthambham

Tippu Sultan was born in this place and his birth place is preserved in his memory. This was his favorite hunting place.

In the Year 1791 A.D. when British captured Bangalore Fort, the soldiers at Devanahalli Fort lost their courage and abandoned this place. After about one week, the British took over this fort without war.

The evening was very pleasant and was about to rain. So, we decided to leave early to avoid getting caught in the rain. The return journey was very cool with nice breeze and to our luck it did not rain till we reached home.

Spending a Day in Channapatna - Toy City of Karnataka

Location:
Ramanagar District
Karnataka

Distance:
Bangalore to Channapatna - 61 Kms

Route:
Bangalore - Mysore Road - Kengeri - Bidadi - Ramnagar - Channapatna

Estimated Travel Time:
One and Half Hour by Bike

Best Time to Visit:
Any time during the year. However, for vising the Kanva reservoir rainy season or immediately after rainy season (August to October) is the best time to visit.

Stay:

The nearest place is Bangalore. However good hotels are available in Mandya (40 Kms). For food, lot of restaurants are available on Bangalore - Mysore Highway.

Places to see in and around Channapatna:
1. Kengal Anjaneya Swamy Temple
2. Kanva Reservoir
3. Ramaprameya and Ambegal Krishna Temple

It was a Sunday and I asked my friend Manjunath for having a trip. He accepted my request and kept a condition that the to and fro journey for the day should be less than 150 Kilometers. So, finally we decided that the nearest place within 150 kilometers is "Toy City of Karnataka" - Channapatna and we started our trip at 09:15 AM to Kengal Anjaneya Swamy Temple.  

1. Kengal Anjaneya Swamy Temple:

 Anjaneya Statue made of Red Stone with mustache

We reached Kengal Anjaneya Swamy Temple which is on the right side of the Bangalore-Mysore Highway while travelling from Bangalore. The temple is located in Vandaraguppe Village at a distance of 7 Kms  before reaching Channapatna. The temple has five and half foot Anjaneya shrine made of red stone (in Kannada "Kengal" means red stone). The history of the temple says that the Anjaneya Shrine was installed by a saint "Vyasaraya". The red colored shrine will be usually decorated with orange colored sindhoor. The mustache to the god is yet another attraction.

Kengal Anjaneya Temple

Entrance to the Temple

Closer look of the temple

The Ex-Chief Minister of Karnataka Mr. Kengal Hanumanthiah hails from this place and did a great work in renovating this temple. As many people were there, it took about twenty minutes for us to have darshan and from there we left to Kanva Reservoir.

2. Kanva Reservoir:
The nearby tourist attraction is the Kanva reservoir at a distance of about 8 Kms from Kengal Anjaneya Swamy Temple. The road is narrow and drive a little bit slow in this route.  The reservoir construction completed in the Year 1946 and is named after sage "Kanva" who was believed to reside here during Ramayana era. The total capacity of the reservoir is 212.29 TCM. As we went in summer, we were very disappointed as there was no water in the reservoir.

Four gates of the reservoir

No entry for the visitors inside reservoir

Entrance to the reservoir

Reservoir without any water

Stone displaying Kanva Reservoir is Zero Kms from this place

A tree on the banks of reservoir

An Inspection Bungalow is located near this place. Spending few minutes in this place is worth rather than staying here and there are no good facilities to stay nearby. After spending about fifteen minutes here, we felt the hunger and rushed to Channapatna for having Lunch. In Channapatna, on the main road, there are many shops which sell the Wooden Toys that are locally manufactured. As a result of the popularity of these toys, this place is known as Toy City of Karnataka. This traditional handicraft is protected as Geographical Indication under  "Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999"  enacted by World Trade Organization.

It is an appeal to the tourists to buy few wooden toys from this place to encourage the handicraft workers and protect it from extinction. The usage of these Eco-friendly toys also reduces the usage of harmful non-degradable plastic toys. 

After buying few toys here and stomach full of lunch we further proceeded to Ramaprameya & Ambegal Krishna Temple.

3. Ramaprameya & Ambegal Krishna Temple:
This temple is located at a distance of about 3 kms after Channapatna and a left turn has to be taken under the arch displaying Sri Ramaprameya Swamy Mahadwara (written in Kannada) on the Bangalore - Mysore Road.

This temple is constructed by the Chola King Rajendra Simha and is 1500 Years old. The temple is very huge and is famous for worshiping Vishnu and Krishna.

The main part of the temple houses the shrine of Ramaprameya (Vishnu) carved out of Saligrama Stone in Abhayahastha posture.

Vishnu Shrine

There is a huge courtyard with nice sculptured pillars inside the temple and a cream colored Gopuram.

The backside of the temple contains beautiful Ambegal Krishna ("Crawling Krishna"). The small idol has very charming eyes and butter in the hand. It is believed that the couples who did not have children were blessed with children after praying to Krishna.

Ambegal (Crawling) Krishna

Rama, Sitha & Lakshmana

With these beautiful memories in both the temples and a slight disappointment at the Kanva reservoir, we left Channapatna in the evening. On the way, we had dinner in Bidadi and reached home in the night.