Anjanadri Hills / Anjaneya Hills - The birth place of Lord Hanuman 22/01/2016

Place: Anjaneya Hills a.k.a Anjanadri Hills, Anegondi (near Hampi) Karnataka.

Distance:  100 x 2 = 200  kms

Route:  Ilkal -> Hanumanalli -> Anjanadri Hills-> Hospet -> Ilkal

Type: Temple, Trekking

Terrain: Stairs

Ideal for: Friends and Family

Transport:  Mahindra TUV 300

Crew:  Nabhi, Shankar, Basu, Chandu, and  Myself

Best of the beast: Anjanadri Betta Summit

Sometimes you visit a lot of places far away from your home but won't have seen a lot of awesome places close to your place. I was in Ilkal for Sankranti celebration, Chandu had purchased new car recently, so we called out for a short trip to Anjanadri Betta which is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. It's hardly 100 km from my place, a good day out for us.

Saturday morning: After a lot of calls and coordination everyone was aboard by 6 am. The silky smooth highway offered a decent ride until Budugumpa cross after which you hit countryside roads and have to continue another 20 km. We pulled over for breakfast beside the highway I don't remember the exact location though.

Sunshine as we stopped for breakfast

Anjanadri Hills a.k.a Anjaneya Hills: Though this place is popular among the locals it is still underrated in the tourism department. It's very close to the Hampi, one can easily spot this hills from Sri Virupaksha Temple of Hampi. We parked the car and proceeded towards the entrance.

Stalls near the base of the hills, only snacks and cold drinks available.

Anjanadri hills, you can spot temple at the top

A close up of the above picture

Devotees do rounds around the hills

Thanks for the recent developments at this place, there are good stairs till the top. Around 570 steps need to be climbed which should take around half an hour and will leave you tired to the core. I saw many visitors from Maharashtra, this place is often visited by a worshiper of Lord Rama and Hanuman.

570 steps to be climbed

Some steep curves near the peak

At the summit, there is a beautiful temple at the edge to the right. As expected this place is dominated by monkeys which are believed to be the avatar of Lord Hanuman. As soon as you enter the temple you can see a glass tank where a  floating stone used during Ramayan for crossing the sea is placed. As you enter the temple core you can see Hanuman idol carved on the rock. Also is the small shrine for Rama and his consort Sita are installed inside the temple.

Temple to the right edge

Temple entrance

Floating rock inside the temple

Temple core, no photos beyond this point :(

We came out of the temple to explore the surroundings. The view from the hilltop is marvelous. Unlike in southern parts of Karnataka where you find greenery all over the place here you can see rocks everywhere. Patches of paddy fields looks like a solved jigsaw puzzle, coconut tree plantations and the whole of the ruins sites is visible stretching into the horizon. All around in the horizons are the rugged rocky mountains and at one side in the mighty Tungabhadra river. It was a naturally secluded strategically important location for a capital city. You can also spot the Sri Virupaksha Temple on the other side of the Tungabhadra river. This place is dominated by monkeys so be careful if you are bringing any food or offerings for God.

Monkey's all across the place

Bhadravati River, Koppal dst to the left of the river and Bellary dst to the right of the river

Panoramic views, you can see rocky mountains till the horizon

20x zoom: Sri Virupaksha temple can be spotted from here

Getting down was much easier and quicker. At the base, there are a couple of shops to quench your thirst and hunger. We drove back to Hospete where Chandu had some work with the car service center. We had a quick meal at the bus stand and then headed back to Ilkal

Conclusion: If you are visiting Hampi you can visit this place, you can spend around 2-3 hours depending on how long you are willing to spend time here. Having come all the way up, tired, with stunning views down, great unending cool breeze may tempt you to stay longer. Also, this place is very popular for watching the sunset so plan accordingly.

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