One day picnic to Antharagange

We received a call from our friends on Friday night at 10:00pm saying we have to go to antharagange tomorrow. We had no proper plan to go out for that weekend hence last weekend we had been to Hampi. So this was the new place we heard about and we decided to go. So morning around 6:00am we left B'lore and headed towards Kolar. It was so chilling ride I swear we were literally shivering. We came to normal condition once we had morning breakfast at hoskote.

Antharagange hill, considered to be the hidden treasure of natural resources, is situated near Kolar, the land of gold. The hill is just a stone’s throw away from Kolar and any season is just fine to visit the place. It is a hill range with huge volcanic rocks and boulders scattered all over. Thorny shrubs cover the hill, while there is dense plantation forest at the base.
Antharagange, enriched with Shola forests, has been attracting tourists from various parts of the country, throughout the year. The region, covered by seven to eight huge hills, is also known for its rich wildlife and biodiversity.


Antharagange water source,temple
Reaching this place is in fact a real good physical exercise as one has to climb thousands of steps. The Kashi Vishweshwara temple, situated on top of the hill, attracts a good number of devotees. Water flowing out of the mouth of a small basava (bull) statue installed beside the temple is considered as the 'prasadam' of Lord Shiva. This water flows into a pond beside the temple.

Flight of steps, halfway the hill leads to an ancient temple. The spring at this temple is claimed to wash off your sins. The forty-five minutes hill climbing will keep you panting for breath and opens up for an extensive and beautiful green plateau on the top. Anthargange is an ideal location for light trek, rock climbing and camping. Big and small boulders have helped to form cave like formations offering exhilarating network of cave exploration activity.
Later we finished Antharagange trip and had lunch and headed towards to nearest place called Kotilingeshwara temple.

Kotilingeshwara temple
Kotilingeshwara is the presiding deity of the temple of the same name in the village of Kammasandra in India. Kammasandra is a small village situated in Kolar district of Karnataka state. It is about five kilometers from Kolar Gold Fields and about 6 Kilometers from Aalamaram. This place has the distinction of having the biggest Shivalinga in the world. The main attraction of this peaceful retreat, which is surrounded by plush greenery, is a huge Shivalinga. Measuring 108 ft (33 m), this shivalinga is tallest of its kind in the world and accompanying it is a 35 ft (11 m) tall Basava, surrounded by lakhs of small shivalingas spread over an area of 15 acres. So far, around 86 lakh shivalingas have been installed. The entire project involves the installation of one crore shivalingas of various sizes, hence the name ‘Kotilingeshwara’

How to reach
B'lore-->KR Puram-->Hoskote-->Kolar-->Antharagange
To Kotilingeshwara
Kolar-->railway crossing-->Bangarpet

Distance
70kms to antharagange 22kms to Kotilingeshwara