Rayakottai - Day Trek to a Fort on a Hilltop

Rayakottai trek – 14th Feb 2021

Things were getting back to normal now that vaccine was in place. Travel industry also started reviving slowly with all travel groups following necessary protocols to ensure hassle-free safe travel. So finally, after a long gap of a year, we decided to venture out on our first trek this year. Thank to my travel buddy who always choses the best place and this time she chose Rayakottai trek which I had never heard of but was super excited to explore. Hence without a second thought, decided to book this trek with BMC (Bangalore Mountaineering Club) which was a day’s trek planned on Saturday.  

We were picked up from our designated stops through different parts of Bangalore city at around 7 am. It was hard to get up so early that also on a Saturday morning, but anything for a wonderful trek experience 😊.

After a pit stop for breakfast on Hosur Road, we drove straight on Hosur road and upon entering Krishnagiri we took a service road on the left. From here you need to follow google maps which will take you straight to the fort entrance.

The fort is situated within the town of Rayakottai which is one of the ancient fortresses in the Krishnagiri district. It is now one of the protected monuments by the Archaeological Survey of India. In the 18th century Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan ruled this fort. The fort was captured by Major Gowdie during the third Anglo-Mysore War in 1791. According to the Treaty of Srirangapatna, this fort came into the hands of the British.

With that brief history, we started our trek from the base point at around 10 am. As you make your way through colorful flora, thorny plants and twigs, it feels you are walking and feeling nature at every step. And every stop you take for a break, you will be mesmerized with stunning views of the surroundings. It’s an easy trek and beginners can complete it with ease. 

At one point, you might get confused by seeing two ways – if you take left and walk straight you will reach directly to Shiva Linga temple and that’s the end of this path. Path on the right will take you straight to the hilltop.

We first took left and headed straight to the temple. It is carved out well amongst big boulders. It feels so peaceful to sit there, meditate/relax for some time here. There is no priest here. So, you can just go inside the cave, see the Shivalinga and come back.

We clicked some pictures and started towards the next stop. Enroute our trek we saw fort entrance, ruins of some mandapam, some storage place and many more which are worth some clicks.

At one point, you will be able to get a good top view of the entire fort along with the city and mountains in the backdrop. It’s just amazing worth a panoramic shot or video.

From here we climbed straight to the top, where we saw a big lamp. This is the topmost point of this trek with some breathtaking views of the city around. On one side you will find tiny patches of green (plantations are covered with green nets to cover the crops from excess heat). On other side you will find houses with their roofs painted blue.

We took some nice clicks and relaxed here for a while. Since its not so crowded, it was just us on the hilltop which made the experience even more blissful.

We descended from this point and found a big boulder with nice shade for relaxation. We had our packed lunch here and relaxed a bit enjoying the enchanting views along with cool breeze.

We spent some half an hour here and started descending back at around 1 pm. We were back to parking lot by 1:40 and reached Bangalore by 3 PM. Distance to trek is 4 kms which includes both ascend and descend. 

I would recommend this place for a good one day outing from Bangalore especially for trek enthusiasts.