Chennagiri

Chennagiri
Location: Behind Nandi Hills, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nearest Towns: Chickballapur, Devanahalli, Bangalore.
Distances: 56 km from Bangalore
Route: NH4, Bangalore, Devanahalli, Nandi cross, behind Nandi Hills
Camping Sites: top of the hill, or at the base of the hill near the Shiva temple
Trek Length: half a day trek
Difficulty Level: Moderate to difficult
Best Time To Visit: All round the year
Worst Time To Visit: Peak Summer & Peak Monsoons
Permission: None Required
Things To Look for: Stone temple atop the hill, stone pool
Things to be aware of: Confused villagers & Monkey menace
Things to carry: Lot of Water, Sunglasses, Cap, Food

Summary:

Channagiri or Channarayagiri, 56 kms from Bangalore, is one of the 5 major hillocks in the Nandi Ranges. The others are Nandi giri, Skanda giri, Deva giri, Dibba giri. The Nandi hills range has views across the plains and ideal for hiking. Channagiri hill is densely covered with shrubs. At the base of the hill is a Shiva Temple with a huge Nandi, built in Chola Architecture. The trek starts from a temple near Sultanpet and the track goes behind the hill and culminates at the hill top taking wholly about 2 ½ hours. A small temple and a stone water pool within a fort stands in ruins. Hardly used by trekkers, Channagiri is suitable for teams to enjoy nature at its best. Expect strong winds as you near the top. Adjacent Nandi Hills and Kalwarbeta are in full view from Channagiri. A nice drive from Bangalore and good trek makes Channagiri an ideal destination for a day trip. Do carry lots of water and beware of the naughty monkeys at the temple.

The route to Chennagiri is almost the same a Nandigiri except that we have to pass through the village of Sultanpet to get to the base of Chennagiri. This hill stands behind the Nandi Hill and is hence not visible from the main road. When asked for directions, villagers generally mislead by showing the path to the nearby Skandagiri, also known as Kalawarabetta. While the trek to Kalawarabetta starts from the Chickballapur town, the trek to Chennagiri starts from Sultanpet village itself.

It is 4398 ft. (1340 meters) above sea level. The hill is very steep and at some points is at an angle of 70+ degrees. Though the route upto the top is marked & is easier to find, we have to make our own way each time to climb down the hill. This is difficult and equally exciting. There are some stretches where we have to do a little bit of rock-climbing. We also have to carefully make way through a small forest of thorny shrubs. All in all, a very exciting trek, is not recommended for family trips.


The terrain is very diverse, rocky at some places & evergreen forest on the slopes. The forest of the hill acts as a substrate for cloud condensation and every morning the trees are covered in water. This allows for many moist forest species of plants and animals. The hills are very rich in birdlife making it a very popular location for birdwatchers and bird photographers. The evergreen forest patch on top of the hill being a favored wintering location for many migrant species of warblers, flycatchers and thrushes. The forest patch is also home for a relict population of the Nilgiri Woodpigeon. A breeding pair of Shaheen Falcon, the resident race of the Peregrine Falcon is also often seen here. The Malabar Whistling Thrush, Uropeltid snakes and Pill millipedes which are otherwise known only from the Western Ghats ranges are also found here. The hill slopes are the home of the Yellow-throated Bulbul, a species endemic to the hills of peninsular India.

When I first trekked here many years ago, this hill was not exposed to Stone Quarrying, that has been one of the long time works threatening the environment and the ecosystem. My trek to Chennagiri this year was disappointing as I saw that many parts of this beautiful rock were quarried. There is no end to the greed.


Best Regards,
Roopa Sreedhar
9886162404