A name that is half-whispered by every Trekking enthusiast. Trekkers far and wide have visited this magnificent mountain standing at 5734 feet and it has remained as a feather in their cap till time immemorial.
Location
Kumaraparvatha, is one of the peaks in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is situated in the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary and lies in proximity to the pilgrimage town of Kukke.
Through the Lens
The trek takes you through a variety of features. It begins with a climb through the Tropical Rainforest, which is your typical drop-dead silence; no sunlight ever reached the forest floor, just you and the noises that the insects and the animals that call it home make. A 5 km journey through here and the trail opens up into a wide clearing that gives you a 360-degree view of the Western Ghats. The next section has the sun shining on you, while you steadily climb through the steep slope that increases in inclination and keeps the wind blowing at you and giving you enough reason to keep going with the spectacular views all around. The third and final feature is your typical forest with fallen leaves, gurgling streams and trees but the twist is the hidden creatures in the form of leaches that latch onto your shoes and will not let go. Overall, it is a complete treat, as you climb through the different landscapes it gets exciting and the yearning to reach the peak becomes greater and greater.
With the destination described let me take you through our very own trekking experience.
The beginning
Participants – 2. Names: 1) Tejas D S 2) Sreenidhi S
They say any journey begins when you start planning it. Our plan had a roadblock at the very beginning; we had no reliable source to confirm that the trek was open. Scrounging through the internet we found many numbers and dialed them all diligently, they connected to us to people all around Karnataka, most of them wrong numbers. Sreenidhi finally got hold of a temple security guard who confirmed that the trek was open on the day before we had planned to leave. Thus began our journey, we had all the essentials for a trek packed and waiting to book our tickets which finally happened on 28/10/2020. We got in our cozy Sleeper class bus full of adrenaline and sleepy eyes.
On the morning of 29/10, we got down at Kukke a famous pilgrimage town dedicated to Lord Subramanya. We freshened up and made our way to base of our trek, and the next two days will be forever etched in our memory.
Base to Bhattara Mane
The first 4 kms of the trek is through the forest of the Western Ghats, we were accompanied by a local dog that loves trekking and follows trekkers all the way till Bhattara Mane(to be revealed later). There is but one trail here and easy to follow but the inclination keeps increasing with only a few sections of flat land. In the beginning, it got strain-full for us with our bags on our shoulders but soon we were acclimatized to the humidity and the trail and we started enjoying the climb. Our first stop was at a small stream that eventually flows into Kumaradhara river. The cool water refreshed us and we dropped our bags down for a snack, we were amidst our break with the local dog whom we had started calling Gunda, but I digress. It was here we came face to face with the terror of the forest “The leeches”, we were aware of it and had carried salt and Dettol to counter it, but we did not anticipate the invasion. As I casually glanced at my shoe I saw tens of leeches slowly making its way into our socks, we hurriedly flicked them off, packed our bags and dived back into the trail with Gunda. After about two and a half hours of steady climbing we came out of the forest section and when we looked back above the tree-line we could see the wide expanse of the Western Ghats with the town we had left behind just a speck in the Green canvas. We stopped here for our first photo session, and made our way ahead with the taste for a better view as we knew that what as we gained more height the view would only get better.
Here, we ran into our first Human on the trial, his name was Vasanth, he was a daily-wage worker at Bhattara Mane, his job entailed carrying rations weighing about 20-25 kgs everyday till Bhattara Mane, which is 6 Km climb and later working in the farms till evening and climbing back down. He has been doing this for the last 15 years. We asked him how he managed to do this every day and his reply left us smiling in appreciation. He said,” Neither do I feel tired nor do I feel sad to do this, if you feel sad to climb you can never even begin”. His words ring true for not only doing the job he does, but to every single thing we aspire to do. If we are de-motivated or lethargic to do things, we will never begin.
The sun was now shining upon as and we were standing at the boundary wall of Bhattara Mane at 9:40 AM, we had been climbing for the last 3 hours and 10 minutes and had reached our first landmark. Here is where Gunda the dog left us as the other dogs at Bhattara Mane are not welcoming towards him.
Bhattara Mane
An abode of peace standing at the halfway mark between the base and the Kumaraparvatha peak is Bhattara Mane. The main tenant of this house is Mahalingeshwar Bhatt fondly called “Bhatre” by everyone ranging from trekkers to family members. He has lived here since his birth, all of 65 years.
He cuts a composed and graceful figure quick with his wit and an aura of Knowledge follows him. He is usually clad in his dhoti and walks around with his six-pack on display, the result of his everyday sojourn of 12 kms to the base and back for almost 55 years. Even now, he visits the town 3-4 times a month with a long stick carrying a satchel with his belongings. He has been an environmentalist protecting this mountain ever since, he forbids any kind of bonfires, alcohol or smoking near the mountain. Being a curious man born in the mountains, he has explored the entire stretch surrounding him and has encountered all kinds of wildlife in his journeys. Meeting him and visiting his famed abode had been a dream come true for me.
As we entered Bhattara mane we spoke with “Bhatru” he enquired of our hometown and accepted our request for food for the next 3 meals. Post that we refreshed ourselves in the stream nearby, drank water to our hearts content, and relaxed in the shade of a grove. Post lunch we explored the vicinity and settled in the benches near the forest office for a panoramic view of the Ghats. Post dinner we pitched our tent near the stream and retired to bed early as we had an early morning wakeup call in place.
The Second Ascent
The next morning we were awake by 5 AM, rolled up our tents and quickly refreshed ourselves and since the breakfast at Bhattara Mane is at 7 AM and that would delay us for the next half of our journey we had made alternative plans. We had taken ready-to-eat Bhel puri packets along with onions and a knife, we quickly diced the onions mixed it with the bhel puri and had a scrumptious meal that we washed off with the cool stream water. We then headed over to the forest office which is an all-weather anti-poaching camp, here we left most of our luggage and carried only a small bag with dry fruits and water. We collected our entry passes and our belongings were checked for plastic, the number of plastics items were noted down and a deposit was collected which would be returned when we gave the exact count of plastic items on our return from the peak. This is a novel initiative by the forest department to eliminate plastic waste in forest regions.
Pic 6: The view from the forest office
We then made our way into the trail that began from the forest office. The trail here was initially amidst the tree line, which eventually opened up to the skies and would further remain the same save a small section of forest in between. As we made our way through steadily through the inclination our sense organs were on over-load, we were breathing in fresh doses of clean mountain air, our eyes were full of the greenery and mist surrounding us, and our skin was in constant touch with the dew left behind on the smaller leafy plants. The way ahead to the peak had three major landmarks, Kallu Mantapa(Stone Pavilion), Shesha Parvatha and finally Kumaraparvatha. We made it to Kallu Mantpa in an hour and 10 minutes, an age old structure that has weathered the elements stands here in the slopes, with a stream that flows into a tiny waterfall nearby and is a perfect resting spot. We ate some of our dry fruits here and rested for 10 minutes, and continued our journey.
The route from Kallu Mantapa to Shesha Parvatha is where the inclination keeps increasing. As this is in a range, a series of hills, you climb one go over the ridge and you climb the next, you go down one and you climb one again an iteration of this and we finally reach Shesha Parvatha, Shesha in English is snake, the name translates to the “Mountain of Snakes”. The view from here is breathtaking you can see the hills of the Western Ghats range extending in all directions, you can spot many other famous trekking destinations from this point. It is from here that you get the first clear view of Kumaraparvatha, during the entire trail it stays hidden behind Shesha Parvatha. We stopped here to take a few pictures, we had now been climbing for two and a half hours. A small water break later, we headed over to our main destination.
To get to Kumaraparvatha from Shesha Parvatha you have to descend the entire way into a dense forest (the third forest route of the trial from base), this forest has dried leaves strewn across the floor and a stream gushing along the route. The name given to this section is “Leech Forest” to live up to its name the leeches here are faster and more deceptive. As we walked through the route which was not very steep we did not pay much attention to our shoes, after a while we both felt stings in our feet and when we looked down we say them hopping across into our shoes, with a lucky few gorging into our bloods. We were better prepared this time; we easily plucked them off and splashed some Dettol to keep them away. We made it across to the last challenge that lay before the peak, thousands of stones neatly arranged into the trail, this path is actually a waterfall in the monsoon. About 400 metres of climbing on these rocks we made into one last section of about 20 metres.
Our hearts were pumping pure bliss as we strode across, here another trail joins in which is from Somwarpet in the Coorg district, an alternative route to the peak of Kumaraparvatha. We finally made it to the peak, those last steps before the entire horizon opens up for you is always a pure feeling and makes it worth the climb, all the tiredness vanishes while you take in the view and range the climb you have had.
We took in the view for a few minutes in silence and then dived into our bags for water, juice and more dried fruits. A hearty meal later, we had something planned for the photoshoot here. We were at the peak on October 30 and on November 1st it was the Kannada Rajyotsava, (The day the state of Karnataka was given statehood in 1956) So we had carried with us a Karnataka Flag, we hoisted it on the rock temple situated at the peak, snapped a couple of pictures with the flag.
Sreenidhi had already prepared a caption for his picture and was thrilled. We took a selfie to commemorate our trek and got ready to climb back down. It had taken us three hours and thirty minutes to get to the peak.
The Descent and Return
All that was left now was to trek back down, they say that if you feel exhausted going to the top of the mountain then just get back down the exhaustion will go away, funny thing really. Anyways we took one last look of what we had come for and begin our descent at 11 AM. The tricky section was the dried up waterfall route with the many stones, this section took us thirty minutes and then onwards it was smooth sailing. We speed walked through the “Leech forest” assuming that they won’t catch us this time, but as a customary they did greet us and we shook them off and made it to Shesha Parvatha. The journey now was up and down a series of hills, which we took in silence only letting the wind make all the noise. By the time we reached Kallu mantapa our water bottles were empty; we stuck them in the gushing stream and filled our stomachs with the cool mountain water. Within a while we were in the vicinity of the forest office, we decided to take a break before we finished our trek, hence we sat down by the benches near the forest office and relaxed. With the reminder that there was hot food waiting for us at Bhattara Mane we begrudgingly got up and continued. The plastic count came back correct and our deposit was returned at the forest office, we thanked them and headed to Bhattara Mane. We had completed the descent by 1:40 PM.
This was a Friday and the trekking here had opened just a week ago but there was already a crowd at Bhattara Mane that numbered to 30. We were pleased with our decision to climb in the weekdays. Initially our plan was to rest here for a few hours and then head down to the base but seeing that there were tents pitched everywhere and all the cool shady spots taken, we packed our bags and started descending.
The 4PM sun was upon us and we longed to get into the cool of the forest, through our descent we met trekkers going up for the weekend climb who stopped us and enquired of the trek, cause we were the popular guys who had succeeded and were heading back down. We would brief them about the trek and the number of people at Bhattara Mane and continue. While descending we took a break near a big rock called “Bhemana Bande” (Bheema’s rock) and as sson as we resumed we heard a sound behind us and when we turned it was none other than Mahalingeshwar Bhat himself trekking down in his dhoti and satchel, he had some work in the town and hence was journeying. We were overjoyed and continued the remainder of the descent conversing with him about his life stories, life in the mountains and hearing about his travels. He left us at the base of the trek not before agreeing to take a photo with us, which will be treasured for time to come.
We then made it straight to the Kumaradhara river and sat in the steps for a spa, as the cold river washed over us all our soreness vanished, we changed into fresh clothes and made it to the Subramanya temple to thank god for all the strength. A hearty meal later we got into our bus back to Bengaluru.
This trek was a memorable one not only because we finished it. It was dubbed as the toughest trek of Karnataka, we would call it moderate as there were very few technically difficult sections, but was more of physically enduring ones. I had started preparing for the trek in September by going for a run every day, though I had started small, I was able to run about 5KMS at a stretch, which I thought was not sufficient for an enduring trek but we booked our tickets anyway. When I was at the bus stop before we left for the trek, I did have second thoughts wondering if I could do the trek, what would happen If I Could not finish and return mid-way because I was too tired? But, I told myself that I would now think only in sections, while travelling I will get a good night’s sleep and while ascending I will only think of getting to the landmarks one at a time and that is what I did, till Bhattara Mane I only thought about getting there and so on and so forth. Everytime I got tired I would just put my head down and robotically put one step in front of the other and in a while I noticed that I had covered a pretty long distance, so I would tell myself that if I quit now I will have to climb this section all over again, so I climbed ahead instead. While descending there was no stopping and in the end the trek was over. The next time I even think that I might get exhausted I am going to tell myself, I have climbed KumaraParvatha this is nothing and keep going forward.
I will now leave you with a poem from Walt Whitman,
“ Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.