 |
| Bheemana Kindi Trek |
- Place: Bheemana Kindi Trek (Kanakapura)
- Difficulty: Easy - but restricted.
- Distance: 100 km x 2 = 200 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Kanakapura > Halaguru > Bheemana Kindi.
- Krew: Datta (Dattu), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Ramanahalli Betta Trek.
- Budget: Rs 275/head (Petrol = 230/2; Breakfast = 200/2; Tea = 20/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Bheemana Kindi, is one beautiful trail, BUT it is restricted by forest officials. It is believed that this is place where Bheema and his brothers lived and Bheema to pave way to Kunti (his mommy) shattered the boulders at the top of the hill so that they could unite. History apart, how did we pull this off? - a freaking heist of a trek this was :)
And this marked 344 days, 54 treks, 11.5 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 42nd trek in 39 weeks for 2026, with 39 first-time ascents and zero repeats :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition was in full roar (Rayakottai, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri Malaikottai, Udedurgam, Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Ankushagiri, Periyamalai, Virabhadra Fort, Maharajakadai Fort Trek, Musattu Malai Trek, Saanarappan Malai Trek, Sanjeevarayan Malai Trek, Arulagiri Fort, Mookankur Malai Trek), but we had shifted focus to Mysore and Kanakapura road as well.
Well, as far as the planning goes, it is actually pretty funny, here is how the conversation went:
Sippy: Yo, Dattu, free this weekend?
Dattu: Free tomorrow.
Sippy (scratching his head, but feeling very happy): Give me a couple of hours.
This energy I love. So, had to pull out maps, and see lists of treks pending, plan route to the place, then study trek routes etc., a solid 2hrs was good enough. Bheemana Kindi was in our list since years, but since year the forest officials had closed of this route. So, trying to do this on a weekday seeking local info, seemed like a perfect strategy - a hesit had been planned :) - and moreover we had PLAN B and PLAN C, if things didn't work out at all!
TIME: 15:00 (21 Sep, 2026)
 |
| Heist done to perfection ;) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, was up at 3 AM sharp, the usual time. Stretched a little, got ready, had a sip of coffee and left my home by 04:30 listening to some slow doom metal, head bobbing all the way in the opposite direction towards Mahalakshmi Layout to pick up the "endurance monster"- Dattu. True to his text, dattu all smiles came running out and hopped on the bike and said "LET'S GO" :) The energy, the vibe was all hin check.
TIME: 05:00
 |
| Trek is strictly "restricted" - not "prohibited". |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Bidadi > Channapatna > Bheemana Kindi)
Well, with the strict NO GOOGLE MAPS rule in place, we cruised comfortably in the dark. With the rains since three days in the city, it was surprisingly cold. This feeling was something we had not felt in months. It was almost like the entire monsoon went absconding from the city for this year.
We cruised the first stretch comfortably to pull over at out regular hotel in Bidadi for some piping hot Thatte Idly - the first of the hotel's :) - they laughed at us and asked us, which "betta" we were going to climb today.
Post breakfast, the ride continued and it was still cold. Felt really good. We discussed a lot of topics ranging from books we were reading, music we were listening to, some deep shit psychological topics as well haha :) Taking the Kabblu route, we glided past the nice towns, seeing the cows and goats yawn lazily to the morning sunrise. This country road is so beautiful, green fields on both side flared up our nostrils.
 |
| The sheer scale of Bheemana Kindi :) |
Now, as we approached the final kms to the hillock, this one bigger than what we had thought. It looked massive. Inspite we knew the exact route, we pulled over multiple times to interact with the locals and get the "feel" of pulling off the trek. All responses got were positive, one local even suggested a back door route haha, love you guys!
So, the point being here, before you hit a mountain trail, it is better you tap into the social web of the locals, there is absolutely nobody who would know the happenings of the place than them. The info you get from them, no smart phone can ever provide - Simple, Ashte!
Parking our bikes, near a field nearby, we awoke the "astral goat's" spirit this time, as we needed to pull this one off and get away. And, as began, we could spot some live wire hanging down, to prevent animals coming out. Now, shook our goat's spirit a little, but regained composure and dash we did into the trails of Bheemana Kindi.
TIME: 08:00
 |
| The beautiful trails of Bheemana Kindi |
BHEEMANA KINDI TREK
ASCENT:
Well, lets get the facts out of the way, we took 40 minutes to ascend, and 30 minutes to descend with a 10 minutes break at the top. So, in a span of 80 minutes, we were out of there. And we had to really push and please note, it did not stop us from taking in the nature and slow down when required. Previous logs on the internet indicated anywhere between 1.5-2hrs to climb alone. SO, yeah we were on SUPER KAIOKEN mode throughout. And boy, the endurance monster was the perfect choice for this one.
Like always, have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/
 |
| Initial trails: Following the water |
Phase 1: The Initial Trails
The Initial trails were clear but we had to follow the water path. So yeah, was muddy and with the rains since the past 3 days, some parts were slushy. But we had to get out of sight immediately, so dashed up, reading the path by experience and even after all that, I ended up in a thorn bush haha. Something about the forest thorns and me, we are just attracted to each other, haha. As I came back hurdling, there was this huge branch with big thorns had had broken off a tree, sticking to my back, and I came running, where Dattu was patiently waiting on a path he had discovered, he laughed at my situation and helped me get rid of the branch. The trail we had joined. Now it was time for the no-break ascent!
 |
| Phase 2: The Non Stop Grind |
Phase 2: The Non Stop Grind
Now, this was a true tester of stamina (considering our pace) and our mental fortitude (considering the animals lingering around). So, we did find a lot of animal poop around on the trails itself, some of them fresh. And considering the vegetation all around us and the daunting silence that shrouded us, it was a spooky. We kept at it non-stop, and the humidity due to the vegetation, prevented sweat from evaporating, making it drip like a stream from our faces. We could hear some animals here and there, we kept ticking. The endurance monster felt home and finally we made it to the end of the second stretch which is marked by a small water tank.
 |
| The final push to the summit. |
Phase 3: Summit Push
Just before we could push to the summit, we explored a small overhanging rock, why? - we could spot our bikes from there and check if any forest officials had swarmed the area. When the coast was clear, we pushed to summit, and we could see a lot of dolmens all around, clearly indicating ancient people had stayed here. If was the pandavas is debatable, but yeah ancient people had stayed here clearly and there were proofs all around. The rocky structure reminded us of Arulagiri very much. Pushing step by step, with sweat dripping all over the place, we made it to the top :)
TIME: 08:40
 |
| The overhanging Arch at Bheemana Kindi. |
TOP:
Whew, that was one non-stop dash to the mountain. Looking at the overhanging arch instilled some peace. The small temple was closed and there were no signs of activity recently. And by the way, even when the temple operated, it was on Monday and Thursday, hence Tuesday was our choice ;)
We passed through between boulders - which is believed that Bheema shattered with his mace, to make way for his mother Kunti to unite the mother and sons. Felt good, more actively cold as water from the top was trickling down it. We sat behind the boulders and hydrated taking in the views.
 |
| Dattu making is way through the boulder passage. |
There does exist a passage little further a well. But, considering the situation we were in, we decided to rest for strictly 10 minutes and head back down. Once we could feel our breathing and heartbeat normalise, we took another few deep breaths and decided to head back down.
TIME: 08:50
 |
| Sippy happy spotting all the dolmens just prior to the summit. |
DESCENT:
The descent took us another 30 minutes. This was non-stop and purely surgical, absolutely no non-sense type of descent. We followed the trails to the T. The sun had risen, and the it sweat was pouring out of our faces like a river now. But we grinded our way back. Then as we neared the bike parking, we took a side route just to scout the place for officials. Once the coast was clear, we hopped onto the bike, even though dehydrated, and took off and merged with the country roads and locals. Then we stopped, got a glimpse of the beautiful hillock, we could see locals living the agrarian life, some bulls ploughing the field, it was a beautiful scene. And oh yeah, one local was sleeping on the centre of the muddy road, and as he woke up upon listening to the bike, we told him, it was okay and continue sleeping with a smile :)
Last but on least, we thanked the mountain for one hell of a experience, truly we tested our stamina, joint strengths and we had still "GOT IT". And more importantly we thanked the mountain for "LETTING US GO BACK".
TIME: 09:20
 |
| The live wires to prevent animals entering the village. |
RIDE 2: (Bheemana Kindi > Kanakapura > Bangalore)
This was a 100km ride back. Dattu said he wanted to see Kabblu. It is the most revered hillock of our club. I climb it every year on my b'day. So, it was Kanakpura route for return. And oh boy, it was such a good decision. The roads totally empty unlike mysore road, we allowed the bike to take us. As we reached Sathnur, we could spot the mighty Kabblu standing tall and strong, beauty she really is. Then I asked Dattu to try and spot the chai shop we had pulled over four days back. And surprisingly, he could spot it. We has some good elachi chai to boost our energies, playing with some local dogs.
The last stretch was covered in a jiffy and we pulled over at our regular bar for some ice-cold beers followed by some nice mudhe oota at our regular hotel as well. Post which, dropped dattu and returned back home :)
TIME: 11:30 (return to Bangalore time)
 |
| Thick vegetation all around. |
CONCLUSION:
Well, this was one true heist of a trek. One of the best we have done. It was tactical an surgical. Bheemana Kindi as trek offers a very rich trail. But since it falls under the Kabblu Forest range, understable that the officials have restricted it. But doing the ascent non-stop in 40minutes whew! Felt good. You put love for the mountains on one pan of the weight balance and you put fear of multiple things on the other, which goes down?
In the past 344 days, we have pulled off 54 treks, ~10,700 kms in total, 11.5 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Sippy: Very happy doing such heists. Had to run and catch up with the endurance monster and voluntarily walked into foliage of thorns haha, towards a historical record of treks until Oct 12, 2026 on the FLYING NIMBUS \m/
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
Oh yeah, if you want to read about the past 52 treks, here is the link: 52 NON STOP TREKS.
 |
| Sippy signing off, LET'S DO THIS!! \m/ |
No comments:
Post a Comment