Exploring Offbeat Places of Ramanagara

Everyone knows that Ramanagara, a small town around Bangalore is famous as Silk City. But there are various unexplored places as well for a perfect weekend getaway from Bangalore.

I wanted to see places where I get to be in the abode of nature and find serenity as well. So, reached out to my travel buddy for options and he suggested two offbeat places – Kanva Reservoir and Thimappana Betta. So, without a second thought we made a quick plan to explore these places on a Saturday so that we can be back on the same day.  In this blog, I will be taking you all on our journey and the experience.

Kanva Reservoir

We started off from Bangalore at around 7:30 am on a rainy Saturday along the Bangalore-Mysore Road. We took a pit stop at A2B for breakfast and then drove towards Kanva reservoir our first stop. This place is around 60 kilometers from Bangalore and it took us almost 50 minutes from A2B. 

After entering Ramanagara, you will need to take a right turn and drive around 30 minutes along the village roads. The drive is very refreshing as it takes you through beautiful farmlands, mango grooves, grazing domestic animals and lovely village life scenes. 

Google maps took us to another side of the reservoir where vehicles are not allowed. We asked the localities and some of them guided us to actual place from we could view the reservoir closely.

Visitors are not allowed to go inside the reservoir. The caretaker told us that we could walk further down up to 50 meters and there is a spot where we could get a panoramic view of the lake. We clicked pictures of the reservoir from outside.

We then drove to the second spot where we could click pictures of the lake.  From this stop, you will get a panoramic view of the entire lake set amidst the backdrop of lush greenery. 

Then it started drizzling again. So, we stopped clicking pictures and just stood there to absorb the view around us. It was so serene here and we could feel the fresh air brushing our face – nature’s healing therapy.

We could not find tourists here. But there were some people doing fishing. We could see some small fishes on the ground, and few were being packed in boxes.

We also saw a boat parked there. Locals informed us that under normal circumstances(non-COVID) they usually take people around the lake for a joyous ride. 

When we took a walk around, we saw coracles also parked. So, looks like during peak tourism time, you have lot of activities here.

Our next stop was Thimappana Betta which is near Kootagal. We had listed it on google maps. But this time we decided not to follow google maps and ask locales for route. But looks like locals mistook this for another place and guided us to Shri Bettada Thimmappa Temple. We hit another jackpot now and a surprise element.

Shri Bettada Thimmappa Temple

This temple is also located slightly uphill on the other side of Kanva reservoir. So, you will get to see panoramic views of the lake from this temple hill top. 

You can also see the famous twin rocks of Thimappana Betta from here. So we knew that we were somewhere close to our next destination.

Lord Venkateshwara’s deity is present inside the temple. Priest explained us that usually there are tourists from Ramanagara and Bangalore giving offerings to god. But now due to COVID, not many people are visiting. Hence we did not find anyone here except the priest. We prayed to Lord Venkateshwara, took his blessings, clicked pictures, sat on temple steps for a while and drove towards Thimappana Betta by asking the route map with the temple priest.

Enroute we suddenly spotted a lake with lotus flowers and stopped for a quick photo time. 

And we also saw twin pillars placed on a rectangular concrete foundation.

Khambada Narasimha Swamy Temple

While my friend started walking towards the lake to click lotus flowers, curious traveler in me was interested to know about these two pillars. Luckily, we spotted a villager who was sitting and relaxing there. We asked him about this place, and he told us that it is called Khambada Narasimha Swamy Temple. Khamba(in Kannada) is called as pillar(in English) and Narasimha is Vishnu’s another avatar. Hence Khambada Narasimha Swamy Temple.

Right next to the temple, we saw a Naga devata Katte. He told us that some devotee had recently renovated both these temples. Hence, we could see tiles, pillars and smell the fresh paint also.

In front of the temple, there is a tree with a different species of flower which I had never seen before. Villager said that it’s called “Devara Pada” Flower usually offered to Shiva and Parvathi.

We thanked him for the info and asked him route to Thimappana Betta. He told us to drive further till Shyanabhoganahalli and from there you can see directions to the hill.

We then drove towards our last stop for the day. The twin rocks start catching up your attention from far off distance and you know that you are very close to this hill.

Thimappana Betta

From the main road, there is a signpost to take right to this betta (hill in English). 

We parked our vehicle at parking spot and there was a person who collected Rs 50 as parking fee.

 As you start walking you can see a stunning viewpoint on the right with railings, temple as you walk straight ahead and on your left a big monolith which you should climb to get a glimpse of stunning views around.

We didn’t spot anyone at the viewpoint. So, we walked straight towards it. There are railings places along the border to ensure safety of tourist and a nice seating spot for people to sit and enjoy the view. 

We sat there for some time to absorb the view. It was so relaxing, and we got one more round of nature’s healing therapy. I am in fact falling short of words to explain the experience.

We then walked towards the temple. A priest explained us about the deity Lord Thimappa Swamy (Lord Venkateshwara) and helped us offer our prayers. Outside the temple you will find some nice seating spots to relax.

After taking Lord’s blessings, we then started our climb to the monolith rock. 

We saw a small mandapam but there were people taking pictures. Hence, we decided to take some shots while coming back and started walking ahead to watch the twin rocks closely.

We saw some people walking towards twin rocks, but we decided not to take that risk since there weren’t many people around.

We then kept our phones inside our bags and relaxed there for quite some time. This spot was the best to have stunning views of the surrounding rock formations, lush greenery, village and a sneak peek of Kanva reservoir lake as well. 

We just sat there and spoke for an hour almost and the weather along with soothing breeze supported us. After some time, we realized that it was almost 2:30 pm and we had to head back to Bangalore before traffic gets piled up on Mysore road. On our walk back, we clicked some pictures of mandapam and the surrounding views.

We then headed back to Bangalore with a satisfaction of the day well spent in nature’s abode.

I always knew that Ramanagara is famous amongst adventurists for rock climbing, trekking and rappelling activities. But people who are not interested in these adventure activities can explore these calm places as well for a short half day trip from Bangalore. And hopefully my blog will help you to plan the same 😊.