Biligiri Hill Station

Biligiri Rangana Hills belongs to Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka state. Situated in southern part of Karnataka, BR hills (also called Biligiri Rangana Betta in local language, Kannada) is famous for hill area with beautiful scenary. Lord Biligiri Ranganatha temple is situated at the hill top. The temple premises is famous for its valley view. This place is a remote place and the population in this village kind of place is very less. Normal visiting period is from October to March.

This place is a vast hill area starting from Kerala and ending at Tamilnadu. MM hills also stretches after this place. This hill region is the continuation of base at Western ghats. B.R.Hills and MM hills are situated in the Southern arc perpendicular to the Western ghats and are at the center. In between these two hills there is a dam called Gundal dam constructed between two hills,is a picnic spot. During February-March, there will be a car festival in BR hills and attracts lot of devotees across several Southern states of India. Tonsuring, offering goat and chicken is a common scene during the festival. Some tribes stay here and there are lot of developmental activities taken up by Government of Karnataka for them. On top of the hill there are several picnic spots whicha are a must see. This place is also known for wild life sanctuary.







Wildlife Attractions
Flora : The vegetation at the B.RHills sanctuary ranges from the high altitude grass lands to the evergreen forests and the scrub jungles. The great chapaka trees found inside are worshiped by the Soliga tribes of that area.

The entire hills are covered with the dry broad leaf forests forming a part of the South Deccan Plateau. It is the only forest in the central southern peninsula to harbour the pachyderms in large numbers.

Fauna :The BRHills is generally famous for the large asian bovid,the gaurs. There are about 26 varieties of mammal found in the sanctuary. The prominent ones are sambhar, chital, barking deer, four footed antelope. The Carnivorous inhabitants of the hills are the tigers,leopards,wild dogs,lesser cats and sloth bear, Three species of squirrels including the flying squirrel is seen inside the sanctuary. According to the recent surveys, there are possibly 17 tigers roaming inside the forest preying upon the weaker animals.

Avian Species : The B.R Hill Sanctuary preserves more than 254 varieties of birds and a lot of migratory ones are welcomed during the winter seasons. A very uncommon species discovered there is the microhyla sholigari. The racket tailed drongo and the crested eagle are among the favourites. Other important varieties are Malabar whistling thrush, paradise flycatcher and the yellow throated bulbul. Besides a larger variety of pleasant butterflies are also found in the hilly ranges.


Nearby Attractions
The city of palaces, Mysore as a tourist destination can never be forgotten while visiting the southern region The prominent palaces are the Amba vilas or the main Mysore Palace. Jaganmohana palace, Lokaranjan Mahal and the Crawford hill.


Accommodation
Comfortable stay is provided to the tourists in the living quaters available there. There are well furnished Tents and huts with attached bath and toilets which are lit by the hurricane lamps. There is also a large Maharaja Bunglow that can accommodate about 15 tourists at a time. The bunglow was once the property of the Maharaja of Mysore.