Sarathi Picnic on 18th Jan in Devarayana Durga Forest, Tumkur

Keeping in mind Sarathi's tradition of providing endless fun and entertainment and its effort to promote social and cultural events for people in Bangalore, we've planned an eventful days-out, all packed with games, music, masti and lots of fun for people of all ages on 18th Jan, 2009 at a place which abounds with natural splendor and historic legends. It's a place Dr. Salm Ali used to frequent during his extensive research on birds in Karnataka. It's also a place where, legend says, Rama had halted during his long journey to Lanka and created a natural spring  by striking an arrow on the ground. Well, when Ramayana mentions about such a place off the Bangalore-Bombay NH4, near Tumkur, it's really left to speculation whether Rama and his convoy passed by our Namma Bangaluru!! So here it is. We're giving you lots of scope to do your researches (rather googling) to find out Rama's links with Bangalore. What-so-ever, there's no doubt that Rama did traverse the NH4.... !! And so will we the coming weekend.

 

We'll be heading off to Devarayana Durga State Forest, near Tumkur. It's an awesome place with all the ingredients of a picnic spot. It's a deciduous forest perched on a hillock with wonderful views of the surrounding valleys. The forest is the home for a large number of animals, birds and butterflies. It has play grounds for the kids to play. It also has forest rest houses, one of which used to host Dr. Salm Ali. It also has a hilltop temples. I believe everyone knows that Hindus are famous for making temples at the most exotic sites. Most of the hill temples offer magnificent views. Above all it has Namada Chilume, the natural spring, supposedly created by Lord Rama. So gear up for this exotic trip into legends and forests and hills and spend a day away from your daily hassle and bustle.

 

Here are some awesome snaps of the area.

You can read more about Devarayana Durga from Wikipedia and also this site maintained by  Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC) of Tumkur.

 

Sarathi has organized for a bus from Seva-in-Action at 7am on 18th. People may also come by their own vehicles.

Directions:

 

Take NH4 (Bangalore Bombay Tumkur Road), cross Neelamangala, turn right towards Deverayana Durga at Dobbasapete and follow directions to reach the Forest Guest House. It's a fairly straight forward road and you should reach without any problem.

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Thanks & Regards,
Sudipto Das