Trip to Kyalancha

This time no walk backs, but planning for exploration to a lesser known KA place. We, KA fans seriously should start explorations, as some of my friends asked and longing for. This time we will make a  small start.

A Leopard in Kabini.  Photo by Abhiroop G Dastidar

After reading the story of a lone leopard once roamed in outskirts of Ramanagara and Kanakapura in Karnataka, I have been dreamed to explore the area. Time and opportunity at hand now, so this can be considered as the first call for our venture. I have traveled a lot of in Bangalore- Mysore highway but never deviated my route from Ramanagara to Kanakapura. this time we will make it.

We can plan the visit as a group, consists of KA fans at least 5 to a maximum 10, mostly from Bangalore, but anybody can join if you can travel and arrive at the fixed time.  At least one car and some bikes are preferred. The car can be used as a locker of our valuable goods/ food, during the trekking and bikes can be used to travel inaccessible village/forest paths, if needed.

This area has not been explored, despite the closeness to Bangalore. Partly due to unclear directions and names of the places.  For example, KA described as Kyalanche is located at  6 km east to Closepet(Ramanagara), But as per my google earth search a similar place is found about s 10 km south to Ramanagara closely associated to Kanakapura road,  which runs parallel to the main tributary of Akravathy river. location given by Google map is wrong too. 

It will be a one day trip, starting early morning from Bangalore.  Meeting point will be at Ramanagara on Mysore road at 6 am.   We will make a short get together and 15 minutes more drive will bring us to the village named Kyalncha on Kanakapura road. 

Bangalore to Ramanagara  70 kms.  Can be travel in one hour if we start at 4.30-5 am. 

If you ready to come please Read the story of The lonely panther of Kuppa Gudda hill. Open google earth or wikimapia in your computer and explore the area. Sadly Kuppa Gudda hill cannot be traced.  I am sure that some of you know the locality very well and the places mentioned in the book.  I assume our target places are now located either  Banathimathi Reserve forest or  Handigundi Reserve forest. A locally available village guide should be well arranged. Permission from the forest department also can be arranged prior to the exploration. 
Handigundi forest is an abode for some wild creatures, including leopards and sloth bear. Conservationists demand this area to be declared as a park to protect Vultures and sloth bear. 
Officials of the Karnataka Forest Department have submitted reports recommending that the 4000 hectares Handigundi Reserve Forest area to  be declared a ‘Sloth-Bear Sanctuary’. The surveys conducted recently have revealed the presence of about 60 sloth bear in the forests here. This follows the controversy surrounding the proposal of the Sanghamitra Foundation to create a Buddha memorial in these forests. The project involves the carving of a 715-feet high statue on a 1050-monolith for a spiritual center.This huge sized statue to be carved in a hill-sized rock which faces to Mysore Bangalore road. The project has been opposed on grounds that it will disturb the flora and fauna here as also the fact that the rocks are said to be nearly 2.5 billion years old. and as far as my knowledge is true this forest and rocks was the shooting location of Bollywood hit like  Shoaly. 

As we are unaware of the exact place and how many kilometers to trek, we should be prepared for a long walk including climbing the hill. If we are lucky we will get a chance to enter the same caves and underground channels as explain by KA. I think it will make an exciting adventure as well as a risky trip. Water, snacks, biscuits/ chocolates,  medicines should be carried in your backpack and trekking gear should wear. 

Closepet and Kanakpura

For a start to locate the place, I  searched for Kyalanche around 6 miles radius from Ramanagara and found a similar name of a village which lies in another direction, which is different from the book.

According to the book, the place should be 6 miles far from Ramanagara which is represented by the yellow line.

So the search down to Kanakapura road 

Google Map  will show like this, but its little far from the actual village.

Kylancha is marked in red and   Kuppa gudda hill must lie closely   inside this Handigundi Reserve forest area.

6 miles from Ramanagara is confirmed.  The location of the dead calf was not accessible by his car. Assuming  1-3 km radius and he had to cross the river.

Kyalanche village is marked in Red. Akravathi river flows in between two roads which lead to Kanakapura. 

Somewhere here Don made a hide inside the Lantana bush. Distance around 2 miles from the village.

There is a hill at this spot. But I  am not sure of its name.is it Kuppa  Gudda hill ?. According to the book, the hill lies east to the village at 1  to 2  miles distance.

For those who are not familiar with Lanthana Bushes. Its a common sight in South India

Lantana bush can grow more than 6 feet.

"Miniature bouquets of flowers"I could d see a visitor too,  can you?

Where is Kuppa Gudda hill?

I have zero knowledge and starting from zero. I could not find any similar name in that region. So just going my imagination to find out the possibilities.

From Ramanagara an old road to Kanakapura originates and known as Muduwadi Road. on its left side, a big hillock situated named Anna Thanna Betta at Siddakallu. As it is very near to Ramanagara so we can eliminate this hill

Vaddarahalli is a village located in this road. near to the hill and the Name Kylancha is applicable here too.

KP doddi or Krishnapura doddi is a small village on Kanakapura road, situated before village Kyalancha. Does it have some connections?

Gunnur is the nearest village located near to Kyalancha and surrounded by some hills and most probable place to have a base camp,

Within half a kilometer, there lies a small hill, which is most probably in my opinion, , the Kuppa gudda/gowda hill. A twin big hills located west to this spot within 2 kilometer distance,  which have lot of caves and underground passages lies north to south  which has descriptions similar to the book, but in a larger dimensions. So the confusion soars.

KA said the road to Kanakapura from Ramanagara lies at south of the hill, but this road passes parallel to Akravathi river and just west to the hills mentioned above. But KA never mentioned about the river which is an important geographical mark, and it's strange.

So we will have a tough task. Be ready for the adventure. we are supposed to stay about half a day by exploring every possibility. A good planning will be made after collecting details from locals and from the group members. 

While hiding in the lantana bush, Don ( KA) described some creatures of the jungle and it seems interesting.

KA mentioned about the bird Seven sisters. Have a look at them. It must be the Jungle babbler lives in flocks of seven to ten or more. It is a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the harsh calls, squeaking, and chirping produced by its members. They feed mainly on insects but also eats grains, nectar, and berries.

Jungle Babbler  (பூணில் pūṇnil) photo J.M Garg.

7 sisters bird. Jungle Babbler.... well known for their habit of moving in groups giving them the local name of "Sath Bhai" which means seven brethren but translated by the English in India to "Seven Sisters". photo  Dr.C.S.Nagaraj

Bulbul
It is a largely sedentary resident, generally associated with boulder-strewn hillsides or rocky outcrops with dense undergrowth, usually under either thorn-scrub, scrub jungle, mixed dry or moist deciduous forest at 300-1,800 m. It is quite tolerant of denuded habitat, although not found on completely bare hills.  It is encountered in pairs or small groups of six or more. Berry-bearing shrubs, This bird is usually shy and hidden within scrub and is usually detected by its sudden cackling outbursts of calls.  Lantana is an important food source  It also feeds on insects.

Yellow-throated bulbul photo by Sudhir Shivaram location near Bangalore

White Browed Bulbul photo by Anukash location near Bangalore

KA mentioned about the Blue Jay. Blue jays not found in India. The original The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a large, crested songbird native to North America with a bright blue coloration. Blue jays are known to be beautiful, intelligent, and highly aggressive birds.

Indian roller by Arshad KA. The Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis), sometimes referred as Indian Blue Jay. So we can confirm this bird was mentioned by KA. They are best known for the aerobatic displays of the male during the breeding season. The Indian roller is very common in the populated plains of India and associated with legends. It is said to be sacred to Vishnu, and used to be caught and released during festivals such as Dussera and Durga Puja.A local Hindi name is neelkanth, meaning "blue throat", a name associated with the deity Shiva (who drank poison resulting in the blue throat).

Another local name in Telugu is 'pala pitta', and in Kannada it is 'neelakanthi'. Adding its chopped feathers to grass and feeding them to cows was believed to increase their milk yield.The Indian roller has been chosen as the state bird by the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka and Telangana

There is a very popular superstition that sighting a Neelkanth is considered auspicious during Dussehra. It is also believed that if a person sees this bird and makes a wish, it will take the wish to the similarly blue-throated Lord Shiva on Mount Kailash who will fulfill the wish. This is why many charmers capture them to make money. The birds are caged, their legs tied, their wings trimmed and even glued so that they cannot fly (because many people like to hold the birds on Dussehra day). Once the festival is over, the unfortunate bird usually dies, as it would have been starved for almost a month (Indian Rollers are hard to feed in captivity).Photo and info by Shreya Paropkari

A leopard standing near to a lantana bush.  Photo by Abhiroop G Dastidar

There are several boulders and dops in the fields surrounded by Kyalanche making difficult to guess.

 

Several  rocky hills sorrounding the village in red

Probable rock.

A large hill between Kyalancha and Kottagallu makes a wild guess.

View from south  to north and probable caves at northern side

View from Northern side. May be the caves situated in this location

Southern view.

Matching geographical features.

Last words

We are just were given some ideas of the location and geography.As we are planning the trip, this article is considered incomplete. After fulfilling our venture, we will come back with real pictures and more accurate details. 

I am sure that this trip will yield so many things. Sometimes we may not find anything new, sometimes we will have bitter experience in the forest, or from locals. But still, the trip will be an unforgettable one.

Things to bring

Wear trekking gear with shoes and cap

Sunglasses sun cream

water bottle. glucose powder, chocolates

Packed Breakfast and lunch. take some   Biscuits too

First aid kit  and medicines

Camera/Binoculars
Identity card/ DL etc
GPS/Printed map of the area.
Read this book

Date:  Will be announced soon. Most probably On a Saturday. As of now, the monsoon is started, I think it will be difficult for trekkers in the rocky area. Wait for the rains to stop and sunny but cooler climate.

*Editing mode