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| Ambaji Durga |
- Place: Ambaji Durga (Chintamani)
- Difficulty: Moderate (if you trek from the base, and not ride/drive until the durga temple)
- Distance: 100 km x 2 = 200 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > KR Puram > Hoskote > Ambaji Durga
- Krew: Gundachar (Gunda), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Ankushagiri Trek.
- Budget: Rs 250/head (Petrol = 400/2; Breakfast+Tea = 100/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Alright, this was a different direction and scoop shot again that nobody was expecting. Ambaji Durga offers a superb climbing setup, if you are into climbing. There are two ways to the top; there is the social media way, and then there is our way. Let's see what happens when we ditch the normal route and hike up the mountain right from the base - the old school route to the top!!
And this marked 35 weeks, 34 treks, 8 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 22nd trek in 23 weeks for 2026, with 20 first ascents. :)
INTRO & PLAN:
The Grand TN expedition was in full swing (Rayakottai Fort Trek, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri trek, Udedurgam Trek. Mallapadi Fort, Jagadevi Fort Trek, Thattakal Fort Trek, Ankushagiri Trek).
We decided to pull one off the hat and decided to shift the direction totally. It was towards Old Madras Road. Gunda was ready and confirmed in a jiffy. And to even start, I had to travel to KR Puram to pick him up. And this wasn't an easy part. Since I'm unfamiliar with anything towards IndiraNagar, Koramangala, ITPL, etc, and with the strict NO GMAPS rule, a lot of homework had to be done haha!
After speaking to a lot of people, drawing hand maps, and noting down important landmarks, I was locked in - yeah, to make it to the start point of the journey. Out of the city, we are HOME.
TIME: 08:00 (23 May, 2026)
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| Presenting Ambaji Durga Trek |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, I was up by 3am sharp. Stretched out a bit, looked out the window, it was dark and cool. Had rained severely last night. Having gone through the past 10 years' weather data and fairly knowing what was in store for the day, had a sip of coffee and hopped onto the bike, gave her a gentle kiss and said "let us pull this off together"!
TIME: 04:15
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| The only way we know ;) |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > KR Puram > Hoskote > Ambaji Durga)
As the ride began, was short of petrol. So fueled up at 4:30, put in some goth metal and locked into the zone. With the short sheets in my pocket, rode non-stop until Silk Board. This was a known route. Then, as I took the left and headed into the ORR towards KR Puram, it was new territory; looked up into the dark skies, took a deep breath, and zoomed ahead. With the city still in dark mode, kept riding; each of the "monuments" kept gliding past, and it felt good. Finally, the hanging bridge of Old Madras Road was in sight. From here had to travel 4km into the interior roads of KR Puram, and then a happy Gunda arrived. I was explaining like a kid, how flawlessly I rode for the first time; all he did was smile, looking at the unusual enthusiasm :)
TIME: 05:30
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| Had to be Chitranna and Awesome Chutneys this side :) |
As we took off from KR Puram and approached Hoskote, the orange ball of fire rose in the sky, floating around like a happy buoy :) But one thing that was growling was our tummies. We took a call to ride past Hoskote and join the Chintamani road and hunt for breakfast.
We pulled over at a local hotel and belted some yummy lemon rice and the "awesome" chutney. If you are heading this side (KA-AP) border, the chutney is the true GOLD.
With the strict NO GMAPS rule throughout, we asked locals for directions and figured the way. And actually, with so many hills around and it being our first time, we ended up at Kaiwara haha!
Then, literally blocked a local on a moped, and when we enquired, he pointed us towards Ambaji Durga. When we said, we have not come here to ride up the mountain 80% an then climb the rest 20%, but we wanted to ascend the entire hillock, his face lit up (maybe he was our types when he was young!) he pointed to other hillocks in the region and went on about the various landmarks of the old climbing route to Ambaji Durga and wished us good luck. Literally felt like falling to his feet. Felt very happy to meet such a pure, strong soul to inaugurate this route :)
We took the mud route at Kailasagiri and parked our bike at an open area and awoke the "lizard's spirit" and decided it was time to ascend!
TIME: 07:45
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| And the trek begins :) |
AMBAJI DURGA FORT TREK
ASCENT:
The ascent took us about 75minutes. So, here is the caveat: most of the people who visit here ride/drive up to the Durga temple, which is about 70-80% of the ascent and then do a 10-15minute climb and consider that as the Ambaji Durga trek. No wonder it became popular. But the true ascent starts from the base of the hillock on foot. And as always, I have divided the ascent into three phases. SO, keep with me here!
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| Initial Trails :) |
Phase 1: The Initial Trail
Ok, the route started off easy, but very boring. Being a commercial place, there were a lot of heavy CC bikes zooming past us on the mud roads heading towards the Durga temple. And the hill herself, was right next to us, calling us. I turned my head slowly towards Gunda, then I realised, he was already looking at me haha. Then he suggested we take a chance with the old route and directly climb the whole hill itself, doing "justice" to the actual hill :)
First thing we did was get off the muddy path onto the base of the hillock. Took a deep breath, started mentally marking possible routes and possible markers. A golden rule we always follow is "while ascending, we insert dirty taboo thoughts (with pure intent) into each object we find, so that it will help us guide us back". Having mentally marked 2-3routes up the hillock, we began the off-beat, old route free-style climbing the hillock. Bye-bye annoying crowd :)
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| The First Fort Wall at Ambaji Durga |
Phase 2: To the First Fort Wall
Now, things became quieter and less annoying. We were in our element and started actively searching for pathways. Sometimes Gunda would lead, other times I would. We took turns. The terrain is very similar to other hillocks like Kunti Betta and Skandagiri. The trail had hard green grass with tightly pressed mud.
Pushing ourselves at a healthy pace, ofcourse taking breaks when needed. We could spot the first fort wall. I requested Gunda to wait at a point and dashed up the steep vertical incline, hopped over the fort wall, climbed up the fort wall and gave a thumbs up. We had found the old route :) - a faint mud path which ran through very faintly along side the fortwall.
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| The Second and Final Fort Wall of Ambaji Durga |
Phase 3: Second and Final Fort wall (With a Balaji Nama Stone as an important in between landmark)
Ok, the old route was found. But again, there was a catch. Natural water flow paths merged alongside this, making it confusing yet fun. So, again the routes were ditched, and the old school rules were pulled out of the bag. Get on the shoulderline of the hill, traverse it to the neck and finally summit. These never fail. Guided by these rules, we started scrambling up the hillock.
Then a BIG FAT MONKEY casually walked; I went right past it, and I guess it got disappointed with me not giving it any attention; it sat right in the middle of the path blocking Gunda. Such an attention seeker this monkey was haha. Laughing at it, we casually requested it to move, and guess what, it actually moved.
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| Gunda taking the off-beat path at Ambaji Durga |
Finally, we spotted the second fort wall, and as we climbed it up. A few climbers were taken aback in shock seeing us climbing the fort wall with torn pants, muddy hands and bloodied fingers. And wait, we were taken aback seeing the very clean-dressed hikers as well ;) We at summited Ambaji Durga.
TIME: 09:00
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| At the summit of Ambaji Durga |
TOP:
At the top of Ambaji Durga, a Shiva temple exists. Paid respect to the place and searched for a tranquil place far off from the crowds. Took off our jackets and shoes, which weighed a ton like Goku's training gear. The cool winds embraced us graciously, felt so good. We hydrated ourselves and sat and discussed how the gamble had paid off. What should have been a boring, easy trek turned out to be fun and thrilling!
After some more rehydration, we crashed for a good 15-20min deep sleep at the peaceful summit. Well, the crowd? They were crowding around the temple. Felt sorry for Shiva and Nandi. Having rested well, we decided to make a quick turnaround as late noon/evening rains were expected.
TIME: 10:00
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| Keep this Balaji Nama as landmark. |
DESCENT:
The descent again took us about 45minutes. We put back on our jackets and hydrated again and decided to leave the top. As nobody was around the temple, peeped in and waved a big HI to Shiva and thanked him for allowing us to sleep for some time.
As we were about to push back down, we could see the crowd sitting at various points along the standard route, more obsessed with photographs rather than the actual thing itself. Looked at Gunda; he smiled and understood. It's the offbeat path straight down the mountain during descent as well.
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| Mental mapping. |
The descent was easy but tricky. With my pants ripped at the knee region, I had to be extra cautious. Descending steep rocky boulders and passing through thorny shrubs, we made it back to the muddy path. The bikes and cars kept coming and going. We walked with sweat dripping off our foreheads like a small stream. The true struggle in the mountains is when we extract some "juice" out of it. Got back to the bike, hydrated ourselves and looked back at the hillock, thanked her for the PULL, rich experience and finally "LETTING US GO BACK".
TIME: 11:00
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| Gunda and Art of getting Lost :) |
RIDE 2: (Ambaji Durga > Hoskote > KR Puram > Home)
Ok, as we began the ride back. The winds hitting the sweat-ridden face felt heavenly. We quickly retraced our route and made it back to Hoskote to pull over for a stretch break. Every 50km a good stretch wonder while on a bike. Dropped Gunda back near his home at KR Puram and then the gloom set in. Now, the adventure had not ended.
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| The attention-seeking Monkey |
As I left, I got lost in a matter of two minutes amidst the traffic and was standing in front of the KR Puram railway station. Felt like a kid lost in a fair. Then, went straight towards an Auto driver (the best direction giver) and asked him for directions; with Google Maps, people are seldom asking. He felt so happy and guided me. Then followed his instructions and found my way, but with the traffic heavy and me not used to riding in these chaotic conditions, I decided to pull off another stunt.
Spotted a bus heading towards Banashankari no matter what. When the bus stopped, I stopped right behind. A few riders with their GPS gave a thumbs up for not shifting lanes abruptly; I was blasting doom metal and giving a thumbs up back, laughing aloud within the helmet. They would never understand my pain, or rather having fun exploring Bangalore following a bus. Having reached Silk Board, put the last rites to this wonderful chapter :)
TIME: 14:00
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| Gamble paid off. |
CONCLUSION:
Well, this trek proved to be superb. If we had taken the normal route, it would have been surely disappointing. The whole ascent does so much more "justice" to the hill itself :)
Past 35 weeks, we have pulled off 34 treks, ~6750kms in total, 8 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Gunda: Visibly looked bored during the initial trail, and pushed for the direct ascent. Without his frustration, this wonderful route would never have been walked upon. Thanks a lot, keep the good vibes burning bright :)
Sippy: Very happy with the inaugural of the Old Madras route; more hills will follow, and KR Puram, traffic, we will meet again haha :)
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
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| Wish us luck in the Old Mad Road expeditions :) |
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