More often it is a last-minute trip that brings in more fun and adventure with it. The previous day of Re0ublic day all of a sudden we decided to go to Ramanagara and within no time we found our selves riding all the way from Bangalore to Ramanagara. It was pretty hot in the afternoon and by the time we entered the town, it was almost 5 pm.
Ramanagara, which is around 50 km from Bangalore, is famous for its Sholay Hills where the greatest Bollywood movie ever was filmed. The place is known for its adventures location and natural granite formations. Ramanagara welcomes you with this beautiful sculpture of Lord Hanumana as you enter this place.
On the first day since we reached late in the evening, we could not visit any place. We had dinner, played some games in the rooms and took a rest wishing for a fruitful day the next day.
Early morning we got ready and started our journey of exploring Ramanagara. Rangarayara Doddi Lake was the first place we visited. The early morning rays made the place even more beautiful. We all had the urge to just climb the hill near to the lake even though we all were damn hungry. We went to the last point we could gain access to. Had some amazing pictures clicked while on the hunt to explore.
We headed next to Sholay Shooting Hill Top, the main reason why probably I wanted to visit the place. The place opens at 9 am and the entrance fee is 30/-. We have to climb around 400 steps in order to reach the top of the hill. As you move along you will find many temples on this hill.
But the breakthrough is when you have to take the steep small oneway staircase carved through the rocks in order to reach the highest top of the hill and for the most serene views of the place. Although it looks scary it was easy to climb on to. And as we reached the top, it was a moment of accomplishment. It felt amazing. Although the sun was hot we couldn’t feel the heat. Maybe because we all were excited to be there on the top.
Call me crazy but I couldn’t resist saying out some of the most famous dialogues of Sholay. “Are O Samba kitne aadmi the re?”, “Naach Basanti Naach”, etc, etc. (Although I made sure nobody heard it around). Places become even more memorable when you have something to relate with it.
Since two of our friends had to reach back to their work we hurriedly left the place planning to visit one more place before leaving. We reached Janapada Loka, a folk museum only to find out that it’s closed. We did forget that we came on a public holiday to visit the place. Before leaving we found this small shop selling traditional wooden toys and could not control buying a few keychains as souvenirs.
We even tried to see the Silk Cocoon Market which is said to be Asia’s largest cocoon market but couldn’t because of time restrictions. There are provisions for rock climbing, camping and other such adventurous activities in Ramanagara. If you have ever visit the place make sure you experience all of it.
Other places such as Kanva Reservoir, Channapatna, etc were a little far from Ramnagara and since we were running short of time we decided to leave gathering all the adventurous memories along with us. I guess probably one or two days is more than enough to explore all major tourist places here.
