Madhugiri Marvels & More | Your One Day Trip Guide from Bangalore!

Madhugiri is marvellous. But still unknown to many people staying in Bangalore.

This series of day trips from Bangalore provide you an opportunity to spend a day visiting places near Bangalore. We encourage you to explore the rich landscape, heritage and beautiful spots surrounding Bangalore.

Day trips from Bangalore 11 is the eleventh in this series to help you visit places around Bangalore/weekend getaways from Bangalore. If you are looking for places to visit from Bangalore within 150 kilometres or if you are looking for a comfortable one day trip from Bangalore, you should look at this post on this blog.

One day trip from Bangalore – Exciting Options with Itinerary!

This one day trip from Bangalore will take you to magnificent monolith fort at Madhugiri. This second largest monolith in Asia also has an excellent fort. Coupled with a visit to the lovely temple at Seebi, this will be a nice one day trip from Bangalore.

All this you can comfortably do in a day. We will tell you how!

The Circuit

Route – Bangalore – Koratagere – Madhugiri – Sira – Seebi – Tumkur – Bangalore

Road condition – Very good

Route – Google Map of the circuit

The Itinerary

6.30 AM – Leave home and hit NICE road if you near it. Exit at Tumkur road. Driving early morning on this road is pleasure as there is no traffic.

8 AM – Breakfast time at Kamat Upachar or McDonald’s after crossing Dabaspet.

8.45 AM –  After breakfast, take a U turn on the highway and drive towards Bangalore. After five KMs, Look out for a signage for Devarayanadurga/Madhugiri and turn left towards Urdigere under Dabaspet flyover. Drive along the nice road. Enjoy the rural vistas. You will also spot few lovely lakes on the way where you can have photo sessions. Reach Madhugiri at 10 AM

10 AM – Arrive at the foothills of Madhugiri hill and park your car. Start exploring the hill fort. The magnificent monolith has remnants of a lovely fort. At 3,930 ft (1,200 m) elevation, Madhugiri is a single hill. It is the second largest monolith in Asia. Nestled on its steep slopes is a fort, once credited to Hyder Ali. Antaralada Bagilu, Diddibagilu, and Mysore Gate are the three gateways of the fort. A series of doorways leads to the hill. The ruined temple of Gopalakrishna is located at the top. It may take one and half hour to two hours to reach the summit. The ascent of the hill and exploration of the fort is slow due to steepness pf the hill. Descent is quicker.

1.45 PM – Back at the foothill and it is lunch time. You will find few restaurants in Madhugiri town where you can have lunch. Shanti Sagar near bus stand is one good option.

2.45 PM – Depart for Seebi. The drive to Seebi via Sira is pleasant drive.

3.45 PM – Arrive at Seebi. The Narasimhaswamy temple in Seebi is a quiet and nice place. A temple built in 15th century, it is famous for its lovely murals too. Spend 45 Minutes in the temple. More details on the temple can be seen here in Wiki

Seebi Narasimhaswamy Temple

4.30 PM – Depart Seebi and drive back to Bangalore. On the way you may stopover at Kamat or McDonald’s or Coffee Day for a snack and coffee and reach home by 7 PM

Travel Tips

1. These timings are indicative and is for travel by car. This is also a nice trip for bikers. If you are leaving late, then adjust your timings accordingly.

2. The climb at Madhugiri is a combination of regular stairs and rock-cut steps. It is steep at some places. Be careful while climbing. Don’t be adventurous.

3. Make sure you wear a shoe with good grip.
4. Wear a hat to cover the face. The morning sun will be quite harsh on the face.
5. If you are travelling with elderly people who can not climb, they may have to stay in the car which is definitely not welcome.
6. Carry drinking water and some energy bars when you climb. The top of the hill offer lovely views.
7. Madhugiri is a photographers paradise. Keep your cameras ready.
8. Carry a nice binoculars to enjoy the panoramic views of the landscape.
9. People living around Hebbal/Yelahanka/Hennur etc can also look at going on this route as an option – Bangalore – Doddaballapura – Gauribadanur – Maadhugiri – Seebi – Tumkur – Bangalore
   1. Distance – 279 KMs
   2. Route  – Google map of circuit
   3. Have breakfast at Doddaballapura. This route is longer by 20 KMs and may take additional 20 mins of journey.
10. Few extensions to the day trip can be done as under depending upon time available. We have not included these following hills in this itinerary – though they are close by – as they require a climb and it would be tough to climb them after lunch.
    1. Channarayana Durga

A lovely hill fort. The hill is almost 3300 feet high at the top. There is a nice fort on the hill which is not in a great condition though. A lovely fresh water pond on the hill is another attraction. One needs 2 – 3 hours for exploring this place. Situated at a height of 3734 feet, Channarayana Durga was strategic fortress during medieval times and many battles were fought for its possession. The fort was originally built by Channapa Gouda in the 17th century, a feudal lord from Madhugiri. Later the fort fell into the hands of the Mysore king and also the Marathas.

2 Siddara Betta

A small hill with an interesting cave temple, this is fairly an easy climb. An interesting feature of the hill is that it is hollow inside and one can ascend the hill which is in the midst of a forest and come down to its base inside through the hollows. There is a samadhi of Saint Gosala Siddheshvaraswamy which is visited by pilgrims from the surrounding parts, particularly on Mondays. It has a cave-temple enshrining a Linga at the foot of which is a perennial spring in the form of a well, which is said to be the source of the Suvarnamukhi river.

3. Jayamangali Blackbuck sanctuary

The third blackbuck sanctuary in Karnataka, this is also a birder’s paradise. If you are a keen birder, then you need to spend couple of hours here. Else, an hour in the sanctuary will give you a glimpse of these lovely animals. More details you can check this nice story by Kartick V Bhat

An unusual Outing – Jayamangali Blackbuck Rseserve

Channarayana Durga and Siddara Betta can be combined into a seperate day trip. Alternately, one needs to leave very early say 5 AM if you want to cover all three and skip Seebi. For this, one needs to be fit as all the three hills – Madugiri, Channarayana Durga and Siddara Betta – requires climbing.

Please Share

We hope you liked this post and enjoyed reading it. Please share it among your friends by clicking the buttons below. Our aim is to share our experiences to inspire you to travel more!