Savandurga: What’s so special about this rock?

Savandurga hill, rising 1226 m above sea level, looms over the surrounding dense forest. Located approximately 60 km from Bengaluru is Savandurga, India’s largest monolith hill, and one of the largest in Asia. On top of it lies Kote Sri Nandi Gudi, a small Nandi temple.

There are two very popular temples on the foothills of Savandurga – Savandi Veerabhadreshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temples. Pilgrims from all over Karnataka come to this place to pay their respects. The pilgrims more often than not, trek all the way up the hill. This has become a normal thing to do, so much so that people have started hiking up the hill for recreation.

What else is there that makes this monolith so popular? The buzz around this monolith hill has been going around since the time of Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru. This place was one of his capitals. After Kempegowda came Dalavayi Devaraja, Tipu Sultan and Lord Cornwallis (after the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Third Anglo-Mysore war). One wonders, why was this place so coveted? Was it the sweeping view of the kingdom back then, and the city of Bengaluru at present? It probably was.



Savandurga hill is also home to the Savandurga Fort, built in 1543 by Samanta Raya, an officer in the Vijayanagara Empire. Now in ruins, what’s left of the fort falls on the route which climbers take to hike up the hill. From there, the view of Bengaluru city is simply breathtaking.


Hiking up the hill can be both fun and challenging at the same time. Fun because, the view from the summit is just great, and challenging because unless you are hiking the hill really early in the morning, you are going to experience some very hot rocks on your way up.

1. How to reach Savandurga?
   One can hire a cab to Savandurga from any of the nearest cities and towns. There are buses too that go to Magadi.
2. When is the best time to do Savandurga trek?
   The rock gets extremely hot during the daytime on a hot sunny day. So start really early in the morning if you wish to have a pleasant hike.
3. Is the Savandurga trek difficult?
   The trek is easy to moderate.