Panorama Boulder Trail
Kanakapura
Overview
A short but rewarding climb to a panoramic boulder viewpoint via a Hanuman shrine carved into rock - slightly steep on the upper bare-rock section but easy to follow.
Photos
🌦️ Season
Any. Be extra careful of wet sections on rock during monsoons.
🎟️ Permit
If you go here during the weekend, a forest guard might stop you from going beyond the temple/parking.
Better chances of going here on a weekday.
🐾 Wildlife
Near the temple at the start of the hike, there are quite a few monkeys, so keep your belongings close. During the wet season be careful as there might be snakes and scorpions on the trail. Snakes will usually move away when they sense footsteps, but keep an eye out. In the dry season, you will be less likely to encounter them.
Leopards are active here, so please don't hike here at night.
Trail description
The trail goes due east from the temple tank. You might encounter locals praying at the temple or offering prasad, usually on Sundays. I have had the cooked prasad from the temple once.
After you start the hike you walk east and in about 500 metres into the hike there is a pond [photo] on your right, behind you.
About 400 metres after the pond, you'll see a fork in the trail. A boulder with a naama [photo] on it points to the trail to the right. This trail leads to the hanuman shrine and beyond.
You'll reach the hanuman shrine in about 100 meters from the boulder. You can stop and observe lord Hanuman's shape carved into a rock and then continue further up to the hilltop.
The trail from here gets a bit steep and takes you on bare rock. Once you're closer to the top it eases a bit.
The trail leads to a boulder from which you can get on. It's a bit tricky to get onto it. But gives you a nice panoramic view of the surrounding hills and forest.
Cleanliness
The shrine of lord Hanuman is littered with packaging of pooja offerings. Rest of the trail is mostly devoid of trash.
Crowd
I went here on a weekday so it was completely empty. But I am assuming weekends might be busy with locals at the Hanuman shrine. But only a few of them will go all the way to the top.
