Pushpagiri or Kumara Parvatha, at 1,712 metres (5,617 ft), is the highest peak in Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is located in the Somwarpet Taluk, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Somwarpet in the northern part of Kodagu district on the border between Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts. It is 6th highest peak of Karnataka.
About 36 kilometres (22 mi) from Somwarpet and 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from Kumaralli, it is located amid the jungle. Trekking can be done from the base, Bhagati, which is a 10 km, three-hour walk. Otherwise, trekkers can cross Kukke Subramanya, located in Dakshina Kannada district of Pushpagiri Range. The trekking zone can be approached from Pushpagiri or from Kumaraparvata peaks.
The Eastern entrance can be reached from Beedehalli via Heggademane temple and the Western entrance from Kukke Subramanya via Giri gadde. However, the entrance through Beedehalli is less strenuous.
The entrance from Kukke Subramanya is located the sea level.
Climatic conditions
The climate is generally cool and wet. The climate is that of a highland, with no extreme variations. It receives heavy rainfall between June to September. From October to December the area is covered in mist almost all the time.
- Rainfall: The rainfall in Coorg varies extensively, ranging from 3,500 mm (140 in) per year in the western Highlands and to under 1,000 mm (40 in) per year near the eastern plateau.
- Temperature: November to January are generally the coldest months, with the daytime maximum temperatures that ranges of an average of around 7° to 20 °C. April and May are normally the warmest months here, with temperatures of an average 29 °C. The temperatures in Mercara and Virajpet are generally a few degrees cooler than in Kushalnagar because of the hilly terrace.
- Visibility: This place often enjoys good visibility, although hill fog sometimes restricts the visibility.
Kumara Parvatha also called Pushpagiri, is one of the exciting trek locations in Karnataka. Popular among the trekking fans as KP, the Kumara Parvatha Trek trail is well trodden but equally challenging , typically takes an overnight stay at the mountains to complete.
Before we get any further on the Kumara Parvatha Trails , let’s take a quick look the KP trails orientation and how to finalize your trail.
The trek route is fairly in a east-west orientation across the Western Ghats. In other words you’ll be trekking across the Western Ghats, scaling the third highest peak in Karnakata.
The eastern end of the trek is a Beedehalli, a tiny village some 22km from Somwarpet town in Coorg. The western end is practically the car street of Kukke Subrahmaniya Temple.
Between these two points lies a varying stretches of terrains with, equally varying difficulty to trek. Approximately at the midway point is the Kumara Parvatha peak, hovering over 5,600 feet above sea level.
So here come the first decision you would need to make, if to trek from Subrahmaniya side or from Beedehalli side.
And still, if you would want to trek the full trail or trek up to the Kumara Parvatha peak and return back to your starting point, be it Subrahmaniya or Beedehalli.
Whatever is the decision, it’s about 20km of trek overall.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of the two ends of the trail, that can help you to decide which direction suits better in your situation.
The biggest highlights of Kukke Subrahmaniya end are its better connectivity and the relatively better facilities around the town (hotels, shops, restaurants etc). And of course the Kukke Subrahmaniya Temple itself.
It’s quite straight forward to reach Kukke Subrahmaniya town from most of the larger cities around .Check out how to reach from Mangalore to Kukke Subrahmaniya and Bangalore to Kukke Subramanya. That’ll give you broadly the two major connection plan for Kukke, from these two major cities on the west and east of Kukke respectively. You’ll find quite a few daily bus connections to Kukke Subrahmaniya from Mangalore and Bangalore side. And of course there is a Kukke Subrahmaniya also has a railway station nearby, though the train frequency is a bit limited.
Kukke Bus Stand is located hardly 2km from the edges of the forest where the trek trail starts. Most of the lodges , restaurants, shops, the parking lot and the temple (where you can get a free wholesome meal!) are located much closer.
The 14km trail from Kukke to Kumara Parvatha peak is all about scaling 1½km (about 1500 m/4930 feet) in elevation. From the Beedehalli you’ll reach the Kumara Parvatha peak after 600 meters of elevation over a 7km long trek. That’s Beedehalli is already at an elevation of 1100 meters, where as Kukke is about 140 meters.
So from a difficulty scale the Beedehalli to Kumara Parvatha peak fares better (or less challenging, if you’re an avid climber!)
Another factor to consider is the type of the trail. Here again look at the trek trails from both the ends to KP Peak. From the Beedehalli side, the trail mostly passes through thick forest cover. What it means is you will not be exposed to the hot sun (it’s really hot to trek in open), thanks to the forest canopy most of the distances till the peak from Beedehalli forest checkpost.
The story is quite different on the Subrahmaniya side. The first 6½ km is through thickly wooded forest cover, and pretty steep too. Then you’ll enter open grassland terrain, still with steep gradient to scale. You’ll get the forest canopy cover only towards the last 2km to the KP Peak. Doing this under the scorching sun is no mean thing. Also the trail zigzags its way practically though the bare undulating highland, with strong headwind to drag your energy.
