Chikmagalur - Part 2 - Baba Budangiri : Second highest peak of Karnataka

Baba Budangiri is one of the most picturesque places to visit while in Chikmagalur since its surrounded by the wide mountain ranges of Western Ghats. It’s very famous among trekkers where in people start their trek from Mullayanagiri hill and complete at Baba Budangiri. I must say this will be the most beautiful trek route since the views that will unfold enroute are going to be breathtaking. But avoid trekking during Summer due to scorching heat which might drain you out. Best season to trek would be monsoon or winter.

As mentioned in my earlier blog, we set off from Mavinaguni post breakfast and the total travel time to Baba Budangiri was showing as 1 hour in Google Maps. Due to scorching summer heat, we decided to take our vehicle on top of both the peaks.

Drive upto the Baba Budangiri peak is very adventurous with enthralling views of the surrounding mountain ranges.







Baba Budangiri is the second highest peak of Karnataka with Mullayanagiri being the first highest peak of Karnataka. I was super excited today to visit both and tick few more places from my bucket list 😊.

We first reached the pilgrimage place and there are roads from here taking up-to the peak. From here you can choose where you want to go. Vehicles can go up-to the highest mountain range, but roads are bad. So, you need to decide from here.

We drove straight up for some 15 minutes and stopped at one place where we parked our car and walked to one mountain peak. Trekking paths are cleared carved out here and you can easily choose which one to take based on how much you can climb. But you need to be little careful while walking since there are no trees to seek shelter from scorching heat. Ensure you have taken water with you to keep yourself hydrated since we could not find any shops selling refreshments also. There was an ice cream food truck though 😋.








Once on top, it’s a soul soothing experience. One can sit here for hours absorbing the serenity of this place. You will be amazed with the exhilarating view of the surrounding hills which is totally worth the journey.




We then set off back along the same route to visit the Baba Budangiri Pilgrimage spot.

Baba Budangiri is also a sacred pilgrimage spot for both Hindus and Muslims. For Hindus, Baba Budangiri is also known as Dattatreya Peetha. In fact, Baba Budangiri is shrine named after the Sufi Saint Baba Budan who is worshiped by Muslims. While Muslims believe that the Sufi saint who resided in this cave seems to have brought coffee to India, Hindus believe that Dattatreya Swamy used to reside in this cave. Hence this place has been controversial always due to political and religious tensions. This place is also called as “Ayodhya of the South”.

This cave is located on the main road itself. You need to leave your footwear on top and then start taking the steps down leading to the cave. Photography is not allowed inside the cave. Hence you need to switch off your phones/camera and capture what you see in your eyes. Inside the cave you will find Dattatreya’s feet and 4 tombs of Baba Budan and other Sufi saints.






After offering our prayers, we walked back to car parking. There are rest room facilities here and some shops where you can get some refreshments.

From here we set off to our next spot – Mullayanagiri Hill which is the highest peak of Karnataka. I will be covering the details of our thrilling hike to this hill in my next blog.

So signing off now from second highest peak of Karnataka 😊.

Chikmagalur - Part 1 - Unwind in the coffee land of Mavinaguni

Chikmagalur - Part 3 - Mullayanagiri: Highest peak of Karnataka

Comments

  1. rashmi10 April 2022 at 09:24

    Beautiful. .. Even we have visited and the experience was mind-blowing

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sandesha - Museum of Communication

Image
Gone are the days when we would send inland letters or post cards to our near and dear ones. This is that era when there were no phones to talk to our loved ones. Post was the only means of communication back then. I am sure people from Gen X, Boomers and some percentage from Gen Y will relate to me on this. But Gen Z also need to know how communication has evolved since ages. So in this blog, I take all my readers to Sandesha – Museum of Communication in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.   We took a metro and got down at M.G.Road Metro station. From here the museum is located on Museum road and its walkable. We followed google map directions, walked along the nice pavements of Church street and finally reached museum at around 10:30 AM. Please note there is no entry fee here.  Sandesha in Kannada means message and hence this is the apt name for this museum.  This museum is completely dedicated to the journey of communication in India. While the security guard went inside to call the gu
Read more

Bellikkal Hills - Your Stint with Nature

Image
Bellikkal – Your Stint with Nature Bellikkal is a less crowded and secluded hill station in the Nilgiri mountains of Tamil Nadu. This is located on the south east of the Mudumalai forests, 16 km from Ooty and 249 km South of Bengalaru. Located at a high altitude, it is totally isolated from the outside world and is a great place to get rejuvenated and recharged.   There are several vantage points at Bellikkal that provide many beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding mountain peaks. One of the main attraction is the Neelakurinji Flowers. The flower has purplish blue color when aged. It looks light blue in the earlier stage of blooming. When in full bloom, they lend a bluish haze to the area. But these bushes blossom in a clustered manner once in twelve years. And we turned out to be lucky this year. We had planned this trip well ahead and had booked a homestay “Wild Walkers” for a weekend stay in Bellikkal. Day 1: We started from Bangalore at around 6 in the
Read more

Monsoon Series - Dudhsagar Trek with Tambdi Surla

Image
Its monsoon season of the year and time for yet another monsoon trek. And one should not miss visiting the enchanting Dudhsagar falls during this time. So Dudhsagar was in my bucket list right from my college days. But somehow plan did not work out and could not make it. This time of the year, thanks to my travel buddy who instigated me to join her for this trip and we decided to tick this place off from our bucket list. Basically, there are 2 ways you can plan to see Dudhsagar falls – Firstly, the majesty of the Dudhsagar falls can be best viewed from a train as it passes the small Railway station of Dudhsagar but that fun would be for just some fraction of seconds. Secondly, trek through the lush green dense forest to the base of the waterfalls so that you can absorb the view at your heart's content. We chose to do the latter. After a lot of research, my friend had shortlisted Muddie trails since their itinerary had mode of travel as train from Bangalore to Goa and back which we
Read more