Kanva Reservoir

Close to Bangalore, Mysore Road around 65 kms you have a road deviation at Kengal that will lead to Kanva Reservoir. Also, you can reach the reservoir through Ramnagara, Magdi Road. I would rather you take the longer route through the villages. Bus service is poor; because, you dont find many people around anyway. I heard the frequency of bus is poor and one was sighted at 16.00 hrs. It is just a reservoir; if you are expecting something like water skiing, kayaking, or wind surfing - you are in for a surprise. The place is quite; a dam kind of structure is being built. Go around and you will find a road leading to the village, Kanva. There is a government fisheries department, Karnataka. They cultivate fish. At any given time they cultivate only 1 species and sell them to farmers for fish farming. The reservoir has fish which is contracted out to private contractors for 3-5 years. I heard you can buy fish for Rs.35/-. You can fish once you pay a nominal fee to the contractors or get their permission. Generally this large scale fishing happens in April types. The place is ideal for a quite afternoon swim, flying kites, picnicking, kayaking (i.e if you have a kayak). I wish the local villagers rented out a kayak to visitors. The waters are calm and there is a constant breeze. The depth depends on different areas. Sometimes you find it deep suddenly because they make bricks along the reservoir bed. The clay is ideal for brick making. Carry your own water, and food. There are hardly any shops around which is good in some ways. Reminds you of PLASTIC-yuk-yuk. If you are scared of the depths I suggest you carry a life jacket or floaters. The water is warm and nothing to be alrmed about. Still it is better to be safe rather than sorry. Quite a number of cranes catching fish here in this reservoir. The brown and yellow head eagles feed of the remains that the cranes leave. People from villages make bricks and you can see couple of kilns built along the reservoir bed. The reservoir also comes handy for women folk who wash clothes here.

Antaragange-Shatashringa Hills,Kolar

Antaragange is a very much underrated place to visit. It took us a whole day to explore the places around to really appreciate it. It is 75 Kms from Old Airport Road, Bangalore. The stretch between Bangalore and Kolar town is OK with all new construction in farmland properties in the name of development and urbanisation. You can see pockets of vegetable farms and mulberry/rose/niligiri/stone crushers units. The drive itself is better now with the New Madras road taking all the traffic. There is construction going on on NH-4(National Highway-2 laning).

20Kms from Kolar town you can see a yellow flowered tree if you get lucky (Early Feb-March) on the main road next to the Hanuman Temple. Also from here you will be able to make an outline of the rocky terrain that will invite you to explore. Please avoid going to Kolar region in summer unless you want to make omelette's on the rocks.

The directions to the temple are not that obvious and don't expect any signs. Follow the golden rule of asking the townees. Next follow the platinum rule of verifying with another townee.

You must have heard stories or might be expecting a lot of water as in a stream but in the summer months the water that flows out from the basava's (bull/nandi) mouth is a trickle but it adds upto 50k litres of water a day. It is beleived that by drinking this divine water, women have conceived and pregnancy is a sure shot.

Here is a picture of a well on top of the hill for irrigation purpose.There is a constant queue of people trying to fill their 5 Litre cans which they either sell for a price at the entrance or use for their own drinking water.

The temple spring WATER tastes excellent and you can feel a tinge on your teeth when you taste it. It is spring water and you will want to get hold of some before the arduous (for smokers and the like) climb to the top of the hill. The temple is itself partially neglected and I have heard stories of the temple being very cool on the inside. The temple is open for a fixed number of hours everyday and is locked at other times.

Mornings bring the monkeys down from the hills and they can be unruly if not careful. We had seen monkeys snatching bags mainly because the monkeys look undernourished and are always on the lookout for food. There has been news of some robberies too, so it is recommended that you travel at least as a pair. By evening the monkeys go back up to the hills where they rest.

There is a wonderful and worthwhile view which you can attempt from beind the temple. It is a trek with some steps carved out of the stone. It can be easily climbed with occasional rests of the panoramic view of Kolar town. There is a calm and the rustle of the leaves will bring you a sense of tranquility. It is hot during the summer and the water you collect from the bulls mouth will sustain your climb. Not many attempt it except for some youngsters and lovers seeking some quite time. You might need some sun burn cream or a hat.

At the top of the hill you are in for a surprise when you see the electricity poles and a small ground the size of a mini cricket field. There is a large base on the top of the hill and there are 7 villages on top of the hill. This is the best part and we never expected to see so many fields. The villagers grow all kind of vegetables, paddy and you can see coconut trees too.

Some more pictures of the villages and views from atop the hill. A very beautiful girl obliged us by letting us take a photograph of her. She was on her way back home from the fields. This girl will give Jiah a run for her money. If only I was Colgate or Close Up advertising chief.....We tried buying some eggs from a local shop but found that surprisingly the eggs came from Kolar. We did see some country chicken though.

There is a dargha that is very famous among the townees who picnic here on weekends. There is an alternative route to get to the village in case you do not want to climb. You have to climb down from the temple and go back into town and after passing the main roundtana or town circle you can ask the policeman in the circle. In the middle of town you have the resting place of Haider Ali's father

The road itself is new and takes you through a winding path. There are ancient resting places and the very first village has a very old temple. The rustic beauty of the village has not changed much and people still use the traditional water mills and tools.

A nice temple but obviously neglected. You have a shiva temple inside. The temple has a dance stage and cattle are still reared/pegged to temple pillars. In short it is a working temple. The person who commissioned it must have had grand designs for this one. I wonder what he/she would think if they saw it now.

There are proposals for rain water harvesting and local politicians are coming up with some plans. Read the news here:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/08/stories/2008080856301000.htm

There are no hotels or restaurants here and the only comfort is there are small shops selling some biscuits,bananas and snacks. So, have a big breakfast and carry some condiments along.

There is however an arts and cultural centre (AADIMA). The centre has a get together every full moon. There is accomodation available in the form of a bed in a hall with a request to the centre.

The place is wonderful as along as it does not get commercialized and retains the fields. Even a construction of a wall defaces the village. I feel this place is special only because it has fields on top of the hill and without it all is lost.

Someday maybe there will be a ropeway between the hills. The view is magnificent.

The proposed dam in lot of ways serves the town people and is required as long as the displaced villagers get adequately compensated.