Drive to Devarayanadurga - February 25th 2017

A free Saturday was all mine to do what I liked. I had planned the previous day that I will go somewhere, though hadn't really decided where. I got up lazily at 10:30 AM, and then after having second thoughts if I should really go or not, I finally decided to head out, convincing myself that I didn't have anything else to do at home. I thus quickly took a shower, had breakfast and started at 11:30 AM.

Just before leaving, I checked the distance of Devarayanadurga from my home, and it was 90 km. Round trip would be 180 km, and I thought it should be okay for my Activa too. I did not have any thoughts of any other place, and just started without thinking much. With music on, it was specially good to drive for the first 30 km on Outer Ring Road since there was no much traffic at all :-P. (Surprisingly, I didn't even stop at KR Puram signal, and crossed it without any delay. I felt very lucky and proud :-P)

I reached NH-4 in an hour. From there, the road was smooth with no much vehicles. The drive as always was awesome. All the way I maintained the average speed of 65 - 70 kmph, though at times I touched 85 - 90 kmph. I reached Dabaspete and took a deviation, and another 15 km from here was my destination. Stopping only to fill my tank, I reached at 1:30 PM.

Bhoga Narasimha Temple

I first went to Bhoga Narasimha Swamy temple, the one at the foothills of Devarayanadurga. There were quiet a few people - something that I never expected (All the way I was hoping that it won't be too secluded and isolated- which would be a trouble for me as a solo girl). Seeing so many people made me too happy, and I parked the vehicle. Within 10 more minutes, I was out after the darshan, and now headed to the other temple, Yoga Narasimha Swamy which was on the hill. A few U pin bends up the hills and I was there. The view of the town around was good from here, though it was not that a huge hillock. Here also it was a little crowded, and I climbed those 100+ steps to reach the temple. This temple was also good, and I was out after the darshan in a mere few minutes. Next to the temple there is a pond, and next to it there is a path which would take one to the peak. It was only another 100-200 mt walk, but there were no much people there (To be frank, only about 6-7 guys were there) and I thought it was not safe enough for me to go there all alone. (The only thing which gives me second thoughts about going somewhere alone - "safety issues") So I returned and took my vehicle and went towards the IB and came back the same road, to reach the main highway road.

Devarayanadurga town, at the foothills of its hillock, with Bhoga Narasimha Temple at the center

Road to IB from Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple

From one of the view points near IB

A right from here would have taken me back to Bengaluru, but the sign board said that taking a left will take me to Goravanahalli Mahalakshmi Temple - 20 km away. I checked my watch and it was still 3 PM. I thus turned left, and headed to Goravanahalli.

This road particularly was good since there were only farming fields all along, and the road was narrow but well maintained. All around I could see rocky hillocks. There were hardly any vehicles on the road, and the drive was easy and a relaxed one, except  for the annoying speed breakers about every 3 - 4 km. I reached the temple at 3:30 PM. There was a small queue outside the temple, with about 50+ people in the line, but it took no more than 15 minutes to get the darshan of Goddess Mahalakshmi. Once out, without taking anymore time for anything else, I started the journey back on the same road.

Road to Goravanahalli from Devarayanadurga

With the music still on, I was enjoying the ride and in 30 minutes, I reached Dabaspete. It was 4:30 PM and I decided to even visit Hesaraghatta lake on the way, which I wanted to visit for a very long time now. Before continuing the journey, I stopped for an orange juice on roadside, and then without giving anymore break, I headed straight to the lake.

Asking people for directions, I reached there at 5:20 PM. It was a peaceful destination, with a few people who came to visit the temple there. There was no water in the lake at all. But the cool breeze was soothing for the evening. I sat there, staring at the empty land, and I could see frequent flights that was heading towards Devanahalli for landing, like one in 5 minutes. I spent about 30 minutes there, and exactly at 6 PM, I started again to reach home, which was about 40 km from here. The traffic was a little much now, and I reached at 7:45 PM. When I checked the meter reading, I realized I had driven for 270 km for the day, and felt a little proud (for setting my record for driving maximum km in a day in my Activa :-P ) and happy for having completed it safely :) I also decided to never miss a chance again and go for a drive, whenever I get another free weekend like this.