A small Trekking paradise in Mudigere, Near to Sakleshpura & Chikkamagaluru | Which gives 360° panoramic view of Western Ghats, Charmadi hills and Shishila hills valley.

Etthina Bhuja is a Kannada language word, Of course it is in Karnataka .😀 Which means Ox’s Shoulder. Is is a small Trekking paradise in Chikkamagalur district, But it is near to Sakleshpura or Mudigere, Itt is one of its kind in entire Western ghats valley.

Etthina Bhuja Hill

Where it is located

This place is located near Byrapura village of Mudigere town of Chikkamagalur District. Etthina Bhuja is 55 km from Chikkamagalur (40km from Sakleshpura) and Chikkamagalur is the famous Tourist destination of Karnataka and nothing much to explain about it. Till the foot of the Etthina Bhuja Hill can be reached by road. This place is 270 km from Bangalore and can be directly reached via Mudigere town without reaching Chikkamagalur district. Use Google Maps.🌏

How to reach

By road - Mudigere Town can be easily reached by many locations of Karnataka or nearest city is Chikkamagalur. Many KSRTC 🚌 or Private buses are available to Mudigere/Chikkamagalur frequently from Bangalore/Mysore/Mangalore/etc.,

From Mudigere town you have to travel further 25 km to reach Byrapura village or Sri Nanya Bhairaweshwara Temple of Byrapura. This ancient temple of Lord Shiva is the Base camp or starting point of the trek.😇. Taxis or Autos or Local Buses will be available to reach Byrapura from Mudigere town.

If your driving by Car or bike, Then its an awesome drive after Mudigere. Experience the road trip like never before in the beautiful curvy forest and hilly road. But think before you throw garbage on the road, I believe you won’t. 😎

By train – No direct trains available for this place, nearest railway station is Sakleshpur. Byrapura is 40 km from Sakleshpur.

By Air - Nearest airport is Mangalore, Mudigere town is 120 km.

TREK

Etthina Bhuja is 5 km round trip in distance from the foot of the hill or Sri Nanya Bhairaweshwara Temple of Byrapura, where the starting point of the trek. No guide is required for this trek and it is suitable for beginners and for family and kids too.

The one side 2.5 km Trek can be divided into two steps.🧐

Step 01 - 1.5 km trekking on muddy road with rocks inside a forest.
Step 02 - 1 km uphill trek on open grassland with 360° panoramic view of Western Ghats Charmadi hills and Shishila hills valley

Time - Approximately 1.5 to 2 hour is enough to reach the top for a beginner.

Best time to visit

Summer ☀️- Feb to May: Summer season, hot weather, yet but no option. Best for sunset.

Rainy 🌧- June to September: A best time to explore in rain, fog, drizzle, wet roads, leeches 😜 & beautiful drive experience.

Winter ☁️- October to January: A perfect time for pure weather, more greenery, more clouds.

Accommodation/Camping

Camping at the top is bit difficult and only few areas have flat land at the top and high wind makes it very disturbing, yet worth it. But now a days due to too much waste disposal at the forest from tourists, camping might be banned to save nature. Education doesn’t give you everything in life. Discipline life gives peace. Please do not throw garbage on roads or in forest or in hills.
There are many Home stays or resorts available near Byrapura village or Mudigere town from Budget to premium level, choose wisely by google or over internet.

Food: Thereis a small hotel near trekking starting point, to have light food &snacks.

Precautions: On the very top climbing a rock s bit highly risk, i recommenced with full care and safety, do it without any stupid activities. please..,

Note: This place has become so famous, avoid weekend please

Special Attractions

Mekanagadde Betta or Bettada Byraveshwara temple - This place is a small trekking adventure similar like Etthina Bhuja around 2 km round trip. maximum 1 hour to reach the peak from the base point. There is a temple called Bettada Byraveshwara temple is the starting point of the trek and till this temple can be reached by road. The uphill drive of last few km is bit risky and worth it. This place is 11 km from Etthina Bhuja and 27 km from Mudigere.
Devarunda or Sri Prasanna Rameshwara Temple - Devarunda is a Small village near to Mudigere town and this place has a very unique big historical ancient Prasanna Rameshwara Temple (Lord Shiva). Devarunda means Gods meeting place. This place is 25 km from Mudigere and 11 km from Etthina Bhuja. This place is also called as Dhakshina Kashi Rameshwara temple. A must visit for this beautiful temple once in life.
Jenukallu Gudda & Deepadakallu Gudda peak Treks - Need special permission to reach this place and It takes half a day to complete the trek.
Magajahalli Abbi Falls - Near to Hanbal village, Suitable for family & kids toenjoy the waterfalls,
Agani Peak - A small easy Trekking & Off-roading experience, which takes around 1-2hr to reach top from base point, Karadikallu homnestay is the base point.

“You need special shoes for trekking.., & a bit special Soul as well...”

— Unknown

TRAVEL PLAN

Ettina Bhuja is located in Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru.

Detailed travel plans for Mudigere with various options are explained on the Guide page.

Check the link below for more information.

mudigere

How I made this trek, @7am with full pressure of nature call…😝

My Travel Story…

It was a weekend trip with my friends,,, convincing to trek this hill from past 15 days was a big challenging… 😇, finally agreed… and it’s that night to leave from Bangalore on Friday,.. it was 5hr drive to the base point Nanya Bairaveshwara temple near to Byrapura village.

We Booked Shishila Junglestay 🏕️ which is around 10km away, We left early and reached base point around 3am itself, we thought we will spend sometime enroute and reach around 6am, but after having heavy dinner 🧆 at hotel, we decided to reach and will have light sleep at car only,

It was pitch dark, forest area, offroad, bit drizzling, chilling weather, so at 3am we reached and decided not to trek till sunrise, to get some light for the path. We slept.!

Around 5.30am we woke up, it was little bit daylight ⛅ emerging, it was enough to start the trek, we took a bottle of water and started.

First 1.5km is easy on narrow offroad inside forest, beautiful weather, fog, chilling climate, cold breeze, one of the wonderful early morning trek i did, Overall amazing walk,

The last 1km is bit uphill walk, in that the last 500m of complete steep trek is challenging, Thats’ where the problem started for me 🤪, not only for me for everyone, Prssure build of Nature call 😂.

Either we need to go back and reach Homestay or Find some water source near by.

2 of my friends decided not to hike the last steep.., because they were unable to walk a single step, because,, you know,, what i mean,, 🤣.., but we 4 of us somehow managed and decied to climb till the top, even though every single step.. nature was calling us,, come,, come,, sit here,, sit here,,, 😝

but we didn’t concentrate on it, and we were just enjoying the fog and sunrise, with lot of pressure we reached the top, then it was the perfect time of sunrise and the fog on the 360° panaromic view of westernghats, 🥰 it was breathtaking view, we forgot everything for a moment. The sunrays hitting on the forest trees, and revealing between the fog, it was the perfect morning trek for us,🤗

We spent 30min on top, we took some timelapse videos, photos, selfies, overall it was a worth visit. We all loved it.

To everyone, at the top of Ettina bhuja, there is only little bit of space to accomodate for many people, so be careful with surroundings, and while return be cautious, 🛑

For us, the climbing down was the most challening, it was the time which already crossed for nature call, with lot of struggle we came down slowly to base point,., the 2 friends who didnt trek last steep luckily they found a water stream and ufff,, i don’t know what happened to that stream from that day. 🤣

Finally, we cameback to base point around 10am, reached homestay and enjoyed the thing which we wanted to do 4hrs back, Nothing beats the joy of releasing the pressure.

That’s all. 😄