Sarathi Socio-Cultural Trust
Sarathi: Picnic 2008
Keeping in mind Sarathi's tradition of providing endless fun and entertainment and its effort to promote social and cultural events for people in Bangalore, we'd planned for an eventful days-out, all packed with games, music, masti and lots of fun for people of all ages on 18th Jan, 2009 at a place which abounds with natural splendor and historic legends. It's a place Dr. Salm Ali used to frequent during his extensive research on birds in Karnataka. It's also a place where, legend says, Rama had halted during his long journey to Lanka and created a natural spring by striking an arrow on the ground.
We headed off to Devarayana Durga State Forest, near Tumkur. It's an awesome place with all the ingredients of a picnic spot. It's a deciduous forest perched on a hillock with wonderful views of the surrounding valleys. The forest is the home for a large number of animals, birds and butterflies. It has play grounds for the kids to play. It also has forest rest houses, one of which used to host Dr. Salm Ali. It also has a hilltop temples. I believe everyone knows that Hindus are famous for making temples at the most exotic sites. Most of the hill temples offer magnificent views. Above all it has Namada Chilume, the natural spring, supposedly created by Lord Rama.
The picnic started with breakfast of 'Luchi' and 'Alur-Dom', followed by 'Maachh Bhaja' and Beer and followed by a full course lunch of Muri Ghanto, Begun Bhaja, Maachh Bhaja, Kosha Mangsho and Chatni.... just to name a few. There were lots of trekking tracks and many of us spent a good part of the day exploring the surrounding jungles and hills.
Here are some awesome snaps of the area taken by professional photographers.
You can read more about Devarayana Durga from Wikipedia and also this site maintained by Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC) of Tumkur.