Charm of Life: CONQUERING THE HEAVENLY BEAUTY.."Kumara Parvatha"

We the team got up in the dawn of 8^th Jan with hopes soaring high and bags packed tight, all set to conquer great heights. I have to say… though very tired from the last night’s roller costar ride through the snake like swirling ghat section roads with potholes for every single bit.

We had a bunch of energetic young team of 15 wherein nobody lacked that “we must do it “ attitude. They say the essence of the almighty is very important before heralding any work, likewise our team left no room for saying ‘no’ for this. Finishing our morning chores, we headed towards the temple called ‘Kukke Subramanya” or the temple of the Snake God.

"Kumara Parvatha" peak as seen from Kukke Subramanya Temple

Taking the blessings of the almighty for our new feat, we headed towards the village lane which leads to the foot of the mighty ‘KUMARAPARVATHA’ or what I call it as ‘HEAVENLY BEAUTY’.

With hopes in heart and enthusiasm in our blood, we made our way through the dense foliage of the thick forest. At times, saying slogans, sometimes hooting or making some wild noises, it was as if the forest did not lack Tarzan’s progenies .We would sit-by at times to quench our thirst or to take snaps in order to keep an account of our journey to victory.

“Kiddo-Betta” - A Pile of rocks on the way to “Bhatru Mane”

After a tedious walk of 5KM, we encountered open air...…I think I have to say that was what we were expecting so long; but when we actually encountered it, we were running helter –shelter for shade .Our frustration was clearly represented on our faces.

Road sign near forest office – we had a difficult time locating this

Finally after walking for a kilometer or so we saw our ray of hope or I can put it in this way “Oasis in Desert”; it was the house of Bhatta, famously called as ‘Bhatru Mane’. As soon as we saw this our energy was back with a blitzkrieg and we fastened our bags to jump into the house.

Our ray of hope (Bhatru Mane)

The first thing what we did as soon as we reached the house was, sat for some time at peace and then drank lots and lots of water. It was around 3 in the noon and Bhatta had already prepared food for us and was ready to serve it to us. I have to say it was a sumptuous feast after a tedious trek. All of us enjoyed it a lot. We all had our heart’s content. All of us decided to take some rest before starting up again, likewise we went down to the stream and laid down on our night mats beside the stream glaring at the brimming sun and the beautiful greenery around with cool breeze tossing our faces gently. It was as if we were in a dream.

OASIS (The Stream)

It was around 6 in the evening and we didn’t want to miss the sun-set which was at its best there. We hurried up the hill to the viewer’s point with the intention to witness the flabbergasting sun-set…and we succeeded! We also witnessed the beautiful hue of the sky and the drowning of the sun behind the hills. It was an awesome experience...

Energetic Bunch of 15 @ view point

As the night draped its beautiful shadows on the earth we decided to hold back our journey and raise our tents. We had lit a campfire to ward off the cold climate.

Clockwise: campfire, food prepared, tents, food under preparation

Our team was not behind in the preparation of food. The food prepared was a feast to our taste buds. After lot of enjoyment sitting around the campfire and chatting, we descended to our respective tents. Just don’t know when did I close my eyes; ……..and when I opened my eyes, I saw the sun smiling at me spreading the morning soothe.

A new day, a new hope, a new wave of energy went down our spines, tickling us to wake up to fulfill our endeavor .By the thought of reaching the summit, all of us got ready within few minutes of waking up. Like a group of hard working ants in a line, we set our journey all the way to the summit .Though the walk was very long, our enthusiasm made it look short. The path was a rocky one with us stumbling now and then, but still nothing would stop us from reaching the summit. On our way to the top there is a “Mantap” which is the only resting place in the rocky terrain.

The Mantap

The three hours of walk up the hill finally proved fruitful, when we reached the summit. Our joy had no bounds. The feeling was like that of a victorious soldier in the battle field. We got a feeling that we had slain the mighty beauty and that now it’s under our control. The feeling was great!!........

The Sesha Giri summit (CONQUERED)

Sesha Giri as seen from Bhatru Mane

We stayed at the summit for some time and then started back with the same enthusiasm as that of the start. We reached ‘Bhattru mane’ around 1 at noon and had our food and took some rest before starting down. With full energy on we started back and we reached the foot of the hill around 6 in the evening…There ended our ‘KumaraParvata” Trekking Expedition. This experience is close to heart of every team member…………we treasure it. Alas! i have to say, we went to conquer the heavenly beauty, but the beauty conquered us.