Savandurga

Savandurga (or Savana Durga) is in Karnataka of India.



History
This was a location for the making of David Lean's movie Passage to India.

Landscape
The hill rises to 1226 m above mean sea level.

Get in
Savana Durga is situated on Magadi Road. It is around 70 km from Hudson Circle (in Bangalore City). On the way to Savana Durga you will find ChamarajaSagar Water Treatment Plan (on your right). Magadi Road is also known as State Highway 17E. When you cross the 50 km mark, you will start seeing the monolithic rock structure. You will have to turn left from the highway and travel another 12 km before making another left turn to travel 3 km. At the end of that 3 km stretch, you will find Savana Durga.

Fees and permits
There is no need to give any fees to climb the rock. There are some guides, mostly kids, who will guide you to reach the top of the monolithic rock. You will have to pay them some money after you get back from the top.

There is a ₹1 entry fee to enter into Kempegowda Udyanavana. For all those people who need to do some adventure activities then you need to get permission from the District forest officer at Ramanagaram with the payment of ₹125/- per head as entry fee.

Get around
There are young boys who would be willing to lead you up to the top, for about ₹50-100. However, the track is pretty straight forward and you would not strictly require a guide. The key is to follow the power lines as it leads all the way up to the top. Also, there are white coloured arrows painted on the rock at regular intervals.

See
The monolithic rock climb is used by many trekkers. On top of the rock you will find a fort and a temple. The temples dedicated to Sri Basaveswara, Sri Narasimhaswamy and Sri Veerabhadraswamy, at the base of the hill also draws a large number of devotees.

Do
Religious people can visit the temples. Trekkers can explore the monolithic rock.

Buy
There are no souvenirs to buy from here

Eat
There are no major hotels nearby. If you are willing to quench your appetite with light items like biscuits, you can get it at the foothill of Savana Durga Rock.

Also at Nayakanapallya (3 km before foot hill) there is a small restaurant you get good thatte idli (Rice pan cake) suggest to eat before hill climb. Before climb carry at least 1 liter water bottle per person.

Drink
You can buy packaged drinking water at the foothill of Savana Durga. There are a lot of tender coconut vendors and other fruit juice vendors, at least during the holidays.

Lodging
There is no facility available to stay at this place.

Camping
There are few adventure clubs like Nature Admire, Capture, Care, Angel who organise adventure camping at these place, it not just camping they also provide food, transport, activities like rappelling, zip line, kayaking, camp fire, jhummering, vine traversing.

Stay safe
If you go early in the morning, you will find that the rock is wet in patches. Wear good rubber soled shoes during the trek.