Exploring Cave Temple of Siddhar Beta (Karnataka)

While going to Siddhar beta after Urdigere we found a huge Shiva statue and Hanuman statue on the left side of the road. Both the statues were made of single stones and were under construction. On the right side of the road there was a beautiful lake which I later checked to be Iraksandra tank. We halted there for about half an hour and took our breakfast under the shade of hanuman statue. Thereafter we started our journey for Siddhar beta again.

Ipsita (my daughter) was so curious about the trip that she made us get up at 5 o’clock in the morning. We left home (Bangalore) at 6.30 in the morning and reached Siddhar beta (100 kms) at 11 o’clock having multiple halts on the way. We first saw a medium size temple of lord Siddheshwar swamy at the foot of the hill. From there after 200 meters of distance we found an arch were the trekking began. Climbing up Siddhar beta was not risky but quite tiring as the steps and slopes continue for more than two kilometers.

Finally we reached the cave temple on the top, where the priest poured five mugs of cold water on each our heads for 10 rupees. The caves actually extend from there behind that temple upto one kilometer. We hired a guide to explore some caves. The caves were fully dark and required us to literally crawl at many places. The name of the hill is siddhar beta (saints’ hill) because the saints used the caves for meditation in the past. The journey was tiring but quite adventurous and memorable.

While coming back from Siddhar beta (3 kms) we saw a board named “Bendone Tank” where a lot of visitors were getting in. We went inside the garden. There were lots of medicinal plants and Rasi Vana (different plants for 12 different Rasis) etc. The tank inside was fully of muddy water. We could not visit all the points inside Bendone tank as we were very tired after doing a terrible trekking at Siddhar beta.

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