The Other One: Savan Durga

Wildflowers lining muddy paths to the Savan Durga foothills

We went to the Savan Durga hillock some weeks back. SD is supposed to be the largest granite monolith in South Asia. RK has been traveling there from the time he was a child because there's a temple to Narasimha, who is the family deity on his mother's side. Even just 40-50 years ago, you could only reach the place by a bullock cart trip that lasted a few days, while praying that tigers didn't try to leap on you.

The tigers are non-existent now, and the forests severely cut back. But the place still retains a rural, isolated air, despite the concrete roads and the large number of shiny cars racing up and down.

We went there for hiking and birding. I thought the monolith would be great fun to climb, having some memories of traveling there soon after my wedding, and trying to climb the rock in my pattu padavai (silk saree). I was sure the kids would love it.

However, some earlier this year, some love-lorn couple committed suicide by throwing themselves off the rock and since then, all hiking and trekking activities around the monolith have been suspended. In a way, it's a good thing- fewer cars, small amounts of trash, fewer people. Not good for the local economy, of course.

But fortune favors the bold and we found many treasures in the foothill forests, crumbling walls of long lost temples and the smaller rocks scattered at the foot of the monolith.

Location of Savan Durga

Ani enjoying the monolith from his vantage point

Interspersed between the rocky facades are grassy niches like this one, fed by hidden rain water streams. They form the home for many small animals and pastures for grazing goats.

Inside that thick crop of trees lining the foot of the monolith live a multitude of spectacular birds, including those that are found nowhere else on the planet.

On the road to SD itself are lots of beautiful birds, but of course, given the traffic, it is hard to stand in one place and view them. Among the birds we saw on the way to SD were the coppersmith barbet (barbets are birds that I have not seen in the US. These are about the size of a myna, but green in color, quite difficult to distinguish within the foliage of the trees they usually hang about in. If you have spent any time at all in an urban park in India, I can assure you that you would have heard a barbet many many times). The coppersmith barbet leaps into view when it shows you its head. The rest of the body blends into its leafy surroundings perfectly, but stare into the tree long enough and there! You'll see a flash of red and yellow, gone before you can process it.
Another bird we noticed was the crow pheasant, also a very common denizen of urban parks. Check out the devilish eyes!