Motorcycle Diaries - BR Hills

(For context, biking reference in this article is to motorbiking.)

Searching for biking destinations around Bangalore, I picked Biligiriranga Hills, colloquially called in abbreviation - BR Hills. The choice ticked some essential things that I look forward in a biking trip: distance that allows minimum 3 hours ride, off the beaten path that brings more nature than smoke on the road, quietude and simple local food. 

A biking trip is an immersion in the senses. 

The machine binds you not only with the road, but connects you with your thoughts, the eyes capture the passing villages, crops sown or ready for harvest, distant hills, hardworking farmers, old women carrying dried sticks, cattle and ponds that may have few blooming lotuses; the wind against your body, the nose relishing the freshness of cold air in the forest and the occasional stops for a cup of coffee or, snack.

The road trip to BR Hills started at 7:40am on a Wednesday morning with the sun trying to jostle dark clouds. After a dusty hour, near empty roads greeted me on Kanakapura Road, NH -209. The earphones under my helmet were mostly silent as Google Maps voice assistant did not feel the need to guide on the straight highway.

The immersive experience that makes the biking trip special, unfolded.

A bridge passed that had transparent water streams flowing over rocks and few birds flying downstream. I halted few times to click these frames before settling down for my breakfast - a plate of thaate idlis (larger sized idlis that’s popular along the Mysore highway), vadaa and a cup of filter coffee.

The sun pierced through the clouds and the day warmed up. The sugarcane fields looked resplendent with the bright plumes crowning them; this is a winter delight. They swayed animatedly with the wind.

On the warm road, there were patches of red grains spread by villagers to dry. Their uneven spread suddenly made the riding difficult against upcoming vehicles. Trying to avoid one such patch, my bike hit against a bike from opposite lane. By the time I realised, the side collision had left the bike’s leg-rest broken and rear brake badly bent; the vehicle continued to remain steady as I parked it off the highway.

Partly shaken as I looked behind, the other bike was gone and an old lady by the road picked up the broken leg-rest and walked towards me; she looked dismayed, not sure if the spread grains were to be blamed for the narrow passage left on the highway.

As I switched on the engine, I saw a man who had stopped by, looking at me observantly. He drove towards me and assessed the damage. In my persevering English and Hindi, and his Kannada we communicated; he wanted me to take the bike to a workshop and repair, before going any further.

He gestured to follow his bike to a nearby town Kollegal, leading me to a workshop. He spoke to the mechanic and my bike was instantly attended. I shook hand to thank him; he smiled and rode away. 

My bike got repaired thru some frugal and functional engineering; as I resumed my journey, I could not stop thinking about the man who may have had other priorities, could have simply asked me to go to the nearby town and look for the workshop, went out of his way to help a stranger.

The pain in my ankle receded as I rode with gratitude.

The NH-209 gave way to State Highway 57 towards BR Hills.

Along the road I came across few more of the red grain patches making me slow down and even stop at one such patch to realise the red grains were Ragi.

The road led to the gates of BRT Tiger Reserve; I had no prior idea that there was a 20 kilometers patch through the reserve! As my ID was checked at the gate, I saw people riding out of the reserve without helmets, which restored some relief thanks to my riding gear.

The tiger reserve road is like a narrow strip of tar in a hilly forest, pristine and beautiful.

My destination lay 4 kilometers from the reserve out gate. As I disembarked from the bike at the hotel, it was a sense of reaching another milestone in my biking journeys.

BR Hills is a small village that has about 200 families as I found from the hotel manager, and a population of 1,500. The place owes its prominence to the Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple that is at the end of the village on the hilltop. The history board at the site traced its origins to mythology, when Sage Vashistha was blessed appearance of Lord Balaji leading to this temple. The temple is currently under renovation. Walking in its garden with radiant views of the hills around it at day break is bound to connect you with the history of generations that once walked by where you stand today. 

Besides the hills and history, the place overwhelms you with its simplicity and low carbon footprint with its local populace drawing so less from nature, than our quarrying cities. 

The ride back through the Tiger Reserve, ragi patches and sugarcane plumes left a permanent etch on my memory timeline.