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| Virabhadra Fort Trek |
- Place: Virabhadra Durga Fort Trek (Bodarahalli)
- Difficulty: Easy.
- Distance: 110 km x 2 = 220 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Hosur > Rayakottai > Virabhadra Fort.
- Krew: Anwar (Bhai), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Jalasiddeshwara Betta Trek.
- Budget: Rs 242/head (Petrol = 484/2; Breakfast = 0/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Alright, Virabhadra Fort Trek is one of the most beautiful trails we have hit so far. The trek per se is an easy one, but the rains made our climb tricky. Had real fun, welcoming the monsoons.
And this marked 40 weeks, 41 treks, ~9.0 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 29th trek in 28 weeks for 2026, with 26 first ascents. :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition had to be put back in motion; we had covered some major hillocks of the region such as Rayakottai, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri Malaikottai, Udedurgam, Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Ankushagiri, & Periyamalai. With Bhai back in town from an official trip, it was clear that we would continue this side of town.
With Bhai, the planning is simple. When we have egg puffs near the office every day for lunch, the conversation went something like this:
Sippy: "Bhai, this Saturday?"
Bhai: "Yes, of course, no doubt in that".
Simplicity is key :)
TIME: 14:30 (3 July, 2026)
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| Sippy and the new best friend, the whispering tree :) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, I was up by 03:00 and was stretching out, listening to some doom metal. Then Bhai called me at about 03:30 asking me if I was up? I was taken aback. I replied, "Bhai, usually I'm the one who calls others; what is going on here? Haha" Immediately liked the energy, so got ready in a jiffy, had a sip of coffee and went down and wiped my bike gently, kissed her on the dome, and asked if she was ready to pull this one off.
TIME: 04:15
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| The rain ride to Virabhadra Fort :) |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Hosur > Rayakottai > Virabhadra Fort)
Well, this ride was a 110km stretch, with strict NO GMAPS rule in place. As I left home, it was dark, cold and very light drizzle, felt like home as I left home. Put on some slow doom metal, bobbing my head all along, cruised at a slower speed than usual and reached Bhai's place in Attibele. - 35km done.
Now, the real twist started. It was still dark, and drizzling had gotten heavy. As we left Attibele, we took the interior Attibele route, which we had taken this route 3-4 times in the past. But this time it was something spooky, to be frank. If you have watched this amazing movie "Sambhavna", you'll know what we went through.
Attibele goof-ups: As we rode, we were speaking all the way, but missed a turn (even though we were attentive). Then, when we took a U-turn and returned, we missed a turn and ended back at Attibele; this had never happened before. Then, when we slowly went ahead, the left turn towards TVS was there.
Hosur Time Warp: We were happy that we found the route. As we came near TVS (post Hosur), it was more or less a single straight road to Rayakottai, which we had done 3-4 times in the past. As we rode for a good 30-45 minutes, we ended up at an unfamiliar town; when we looked at the boards, it said "HOSUR". Now, this was a serious mind freeze moment.
We looked at each other and burst out laughing. We recalled the Sambhavna movie, going around in spirals - a time dilation concept. Then, we asked a few locals for directions and hit the road. Asking more people for directions, we finally reached the base of the Virabhadra Fort. Here, an aunty was selling flowers; she asked me to park the bike near the temple where she sells flowers. We cruised along and just parked the bike and locked the helmet. She called out and asked me to park it to the left. I parked it to the left, and then she said, "Park it closer; it was not out of her line of sight." Then went so close and parked the bike right next to her, asked her if it was good; a radiant smile emerged on her face, and confused looks from ours. Strange, Strange morning already!
TIME: 07:00
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| The only luxury we need :) |
VIRABHADRA FORT TREK
ASCENT:
Well, this trek is a very smooth one with clear trails. It has about 6-7 layers of fortifications. But you know THELOAPERS, getting lost is in our genes, so we goofed up as usual. With the light rains, the climb was tricky, but a perfect training ground for the upcoming monsoon treks. We took about 45 minutes to ascend, with maybe 25 minutes spent on exploration. A solid dash to the summit, maybe 25 minutes, but we don't see the point of that. Like always, have divided the trek into phases; LET'S GO \m/
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| The Initial Trails at Virabhadra Fort Trek |
Phase 1: The Initial Trail
Well, the initial trails are pure joy. The trail is very clear, and not much cognition is required to find ways. We dashed non-stop, taking turns and enjoying the views that were getting more beautiful with each step we took upwards. The greenery was just so pleasing to the eyes and the brain. It was like somebody holding a massive leaf and waving off all the unwanted thoughts from our brains and hearts :)
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| New Weapons in my arsenal :) |
Phase 2: The Temple and Whispering Tree
Okay, as the rocky boulders ended. A new topography opened up; there were farms. Actual small farms where beautiful purple flowers flooded the land. Well, it was very uplifting. We found a Hanuman carving on a boulder. There is a Hanuman temple here and a huge tree in front of it. So, massive and with the winds and the rains, the tree was creating this mesmerising sound. We just sat there and took it in; no words were spoken. HIT US REALLY HARD. There was something about that tree, I tell you :)
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| The last stretch is on the rock face |
Phase 3: The Rock Face Grind
Well, here there are two routes. One with the arrows painted heads directly towards the summit. But where does the other one go? Yeah, we followed the other one as the first was obvious. Haha, it was a crazy climb on the steep, wet rock face, which ended up on the opposite side of the hill. Getting lost is not a bug, but a necessity for exploration :)
From here, we had to get into thick vegetation and crawl our way back up to reach a stone mantap (the previous image). And from here we cross-traversed further on narrow ridges. The final summit has some tricky stretches; with the rains coming down, it made it tricky, but we managed to climb up, and it was something out of the world.
TIME: 07:45
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| Bhai at the Summit of Virabhadra Fort |
TOP:
Summit: The horizontal rain showers :)
Ok, the views are simply stunning from the top. But that was not what blew us away. As we settled down, the rain intensified. A cloud at quite some distance started condensing and started to shower, but the wind speeds were so high that the rain droplets were going down, then getting picked up by the winds and coming and hitting us horizontally right into us. IT WAS SURREAL, TRUST ME!
With rain, we understood it was risky at the summit as we had ground down the wet rock faces, but how many occasions do you get hit by a "horizontal rain"? We just sat there getting drenched and enjoying the natural shower. In between, Bhai quipped, "Boss, good thing I didn't bathe today".. we burst out into pure, unadulterated laughter, and a few of the rain droplets went right into our mouths. The rains drenched us alright, but uplifted our spirits, sometimes I wonder what actual luxury is? :)
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| Sippy is chowing down on some noodles, with chops :) |
Stone Mantap: Pahadi Maggie :)
Well, we spent a good 20-30 minutes and then decided to cross-traverse back to the stone mantap. The rocks were really damp; now we carefully got down the summit and began walking on the dangerous cross-traverse section. The cross-traverse is a narrow, damp rock ridge with thick branches of shrubs blocking in between and falls on both sides. This was risky, yes, as I was telling bhai, "Stay on the left, atleast we will have bruises. On the right side we are dead" A strong wind blew in the opposite direction and cleared the shrubs. We were awestruck; before the window closed in, we pushed through and made it to the stone mantap. Trust me, this is exactly how it happened, it was magical :)
At the Mantap, Bhai whipped out some awesome homemade Maggie. And I had borrowed some chopsticks and learnt how to use them last week; we chowed down one of the best breakfasts of the season. As we ate, I expressed my truth about the change that was happening within me to Bhai, told him that I feel closer to the mountain dogs, goats, sheep, or any other animal feel closer to me than humans I'm meeting off late. Bhai looked at me, wondering what he had put in the maggie hahaha :)
TIME: 09:00
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| Welcome the rains :) |
DESCENT:
Now, the descent was a non-stop one completely in the rain. We traversed down the stone faces in a jiffy and visited the temple; there was another ancient temple behind the original one. Looked spooky, hence had to check it out. Here, a ferocious devi (some form of Kali, Kabbla) was the primary god. As Bhai was looking at her, he looked back to find me playing with the lion sculpture in front. Usually a Nandi sculpture exists, but this was new for me and the kid within me wanted to pat and play with. No judgements please :)
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| Ola Simbha - wanted some maggie? :) |
The final descent was a non-stop one. As we descended, the rains got heavier, and I slipped on multiple occasions, springing back on two legs almost immediately. We made it back to the temple, smiling at the flower lady, took our bikes and looked back the hillock one final time, thanked for the superb experience and more importantly "LETTING US GO BACK".
TIME: 10:00
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| Bhai heading towards the summit. |
RIDE 2: Virabhadra Fort > Rayakottai > Hosur > Bangalore)
As we rode, the roads were wet, and the surroundings were slush green. It was heaven on earth. Such beauty, I actually killed the throttle and allowed the bike to glide on her own, taking in as much as possible. Then retracing the steps, we cruised along at a decent pace nonstop to reach Hosur. Then Bhai had lunch plans, so dropped him at Jayadeva and reached back home :)
TIME: 13:00
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| Yeah, the monsoons are here finally alright :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, Virabhadra Fort Trek turned out to be some experience, alright. Hard to comprehend actually. Well, that is what these Grand TN expeditions are presenting. Such unadulterated beauty and experience. The time warps, nature's responding to our wishes; these things seem surreal, but these are absolutely how they happened :)
Past 40 weeks, we have pulled off 41 treks, ~8250 kms in total, ~9 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Bhai: Calm and calculated, and zero chaos. Once committed, he show up no matter how difficult it is. The trek aspect: calm, calculated and each step is pure perfection :)
Sippy: 100% chaos, slips and falls down, GETS UP, carries forward like nothing happened. Hahah :) with 41 treks in the bag and 52 nearing, it literally feels like floating on a "FLYING NIMBUS".
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
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| 52/52, here we come chaotically :) |
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