Skandagiri or Kalavaarahalli Betta is a hill, located off Bellary Road (NH-7 Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway), approximately 70km from Bangalore city. It is very close to Nandi Hills and Chikkaballapura. The peak is at an altitude of about 1350 meters, it is every adventurer's paradise with beautiful night trek, altitude camping, stunning sunrise, and serene and swimming clouds that sometimes limits visibility to just a few meters. The village is called Kandavara Halli and the hill is called Kandavarahalli Betta (also called Skandagiri and Kalwarahalli Betta). It is in the Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka.
Skandagiri is one of the hill forts in the Nandi Hill ranges. The dilapidated walls of Tipu Sultan's fort can be seen even today. History says this was a small but strong hill fort. It surrendered to British troops on 19 October 1791. It remained in British hands until the peace treaty of 1792, which concluded the third Anglo-Mysore war.
There are 2 caves, one starts from the base and as per locals, leads to the temple at peak and another one is somewhere midway which is about 30 feet only. Both are yet unexplored, especially the first one. Local say that there are pythons in the caves and had swallowed their goats at times. Supposedly, there are 6 Samadhis in that cave.
HOW TO REACH KALAVAARAHALLI BETTA - SKANDAGIRI?
You can reach Chickballapur (55 km) in one hour by bus (from Majestic). From there, you have to go to what is known as Paapagni Math (5 kms) and that is the foot of the Skandagiri. There are some old temples at the top and a small water spot.
Skandagiri is one of the hill forts in the Nandi Hill ranges. The dilapidated walls of Tipu Sultan's fort can be seen even today. History says this was a small but strong hill fort. It surrendered to British troops on 19 October 1791. It remained in British hands until the peace treaty of 1792, which concluded the third Anglo-Mysore war.
There are 2 caves, one starts from the base and as per locals, leads to the temple at peak and another one is somewhere midway which is about 30 feet only. Both are yet unexplored, especially the first one. Local say that there are pythons in the caves and had swallowed their goats at times. Supposedly, there are 6 Samadhis in that cave.
HOW TO REACH KALAVAARAHALLI BETTA - SKANDAGIRI?
You can reach Chickballapur (55 km) in one hour by bus (from Majestic). From there, you have to go to what is known as Paapagni Math (5 kms) and that is the foot of the Skandagiri. There are some old temples at the top and a small water spot.
