Devrayana Durga

Date: 7 October 2007

The sun must have been shining the brightest that morning. Only white fluffy clouds dared to come out. Well the traffic was daring too. Before we hit the Tumkur highway, the rural areas lining the road, offered us traffic which was even worse than that of the city and we had no choice but to accept it. It was 9:30 am when we had left our home. Some people would oppose the idea of leaving for a nature hot spot at such a time. Even I wanted to leave early, but due to some reason, we were delayed. Although we had left a bit late for a place 75km away form our home, I was still excited to see the rich flora and fauna of that place.

Devarayana Durga is a huge hill in the Tumkur district. It is surrounded by forest 48 square kilometers in area. The boundaries of this forest are made of small villages and fields. At the top of the hill is an ancient temple. The fascinating thing about this place is that beside the temple on top of the hill is a natural spring which never dries up! Below the temple is the source of this spring. It is a very narrow and dark cave which permits only two people at a time. At the end of the almost vertical cave is the water’s edge. It is almost impossible to see in that cave even with a torch, unless it is powered by a high intensity bulb. The priest who sits at the end of the cave with his lamp adds to the strange but great experience one would have while in the wet-walled cave. If you ask him (priest), he will splash the water in the cave, the sound of which would give one, the idea of the depth of the water at that point. Outside, one will see many monkeys playing the fool around. Well they are actually fun to watch. Little monkeys can be seen playing on dangerously steep slopes of the hill. One might think they would fall down and thus break every bone in their body, but they have mastered the art of climbing and may fall once in a blue moon.
The view from the temple atop the hill is unimaginable. The few lakes which are present at the foot of the hill look like little puddles of water and the enchanting hills look like sand castles. The scene will turn an adult into a child and will test his/her imagination to a great extent. Also one can see the twisting and turning roads which helped one get to such a height. The descent from the hill is also an unforgettable experience. The road sides are filled with wild vegetation and herbs. This rich vegetation entertains thousands and thousands of birds and insects. Bees and butterflies keep poking at the flowers to get their daily bread.

Two of my friends and I decided to walk to a lake where our families were planning to relax. As we walked through the forest, the eerie sounds seemed to soothe our ear drums. The butterflies were enjoying the diffused sunlight falling from between the branches of the rather irregular canopy. Dragonflies hovered above our heads, displaying their acrobatics. There weren’t many birds around. This must have been the effect of the afternoon heat. During the walk we found a chameleon. I was excited, because this was the first time I had seen one. Unfortunately it was dead. Some vehicle must have run over it. After walking for about one and a half kilometers down the road, we finally reached the lake.

The lake was a tiny little wonder. Towards one side, the bank of the lake was heavily covered with mixed vegetation, comprising of some Eucalyptus trees, Cassia trees and some thick bushes. We found some very interesting creatures there. Under a rock we found some frogs, that were probably cooling off in the mud until the rains would hit. To our surprise we also found a scorpion resting in its burrow which we had accidentally destroyed. However it didn’t show signs of anger nor did it move. We then carefully placed the rock in its former position. As the sunrays grew dimmer, some new creatures appeared. We saw small green bee eaters gliding from tree to tree in search of tit bits. We even saw damselflies laying their eggs in the water. They had bright blue colours which could attract anyone’s attention, if they would fly by.

The variety of birds, insects and plants amazed me. Here are some of the creatures and plants I saw there.

Birds:

Red-Vented Bulbul
Small Green Bee Eater
Ashy Prinia
White-Breasted Kingfisher
Indian Robin
Greater Coucal
Unidentified Raptor

Butterflies:

Blue Tiger
Small Grass Yellow
Common Wanderer
Psyche
Small Salmon Arab
Common Mormon
Common Jezebel
Unidentified Blue

Dragonflies and Damselflies:

Crimson Marsh Glider (female)
Unidentified Damselfly
Wandering Glider

Others:

Unidentified Scorpion
Unidentified Frog or Toads
Dead Chameleon

The sun was setting and we began our journey back home. The only part of the journey which disappointed us was a stretch of road which wasn’t asphalted. Rocks jutted out from all sides and it posed a serious threat to the good condition of our vehicles. The experience we had at Devarayana Durga was amazing.


Food: According to me, it would be sensible to carry food in case hunger would attack. There is no restaurant near Devarayana Durga. If you want to treat yourselves with snacks, on top of the hill, near the temple there are small stalls selling confectionary, snacks and coconuts.