B R Hills (Biligiri Rangana Betta)-Chamrajnagar

The Biligiriranga Hills, (Kannada: ಬಿಳಿಗಿರಿರಂಗನ ಬೆಟ್ಟ) commonly called B R Hills, is a hill range situated in south-eastern Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu in South India. The area is called Biligiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or simply BRT Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1973. Being at the confluence of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, the sanctuary is home to eco-systems that are unique to both the mountain ranges.

Location

The hills are in the Yelandur and Kollegal Taluks of Chamarajanagar District of Karnataka. The hills are contiguos with the Satyamangalam range southwards, in the Erode District of Tamil Nadu. The hills that give the range its name are situated 90 km from Mysore and 220 km from Bangalore. The hills may be reached either from Yelandur or via Chamarajanagar.

The hills are located at the easternmost edge of the Western Ghats and support diverse flora and fauna in view of the various habitat types supported. A wildlife sanctuary of 322.4 km² was created around the temple on 27 June 1974, and enlarged to 539.52 km² on 14 January 1987. The sanctuary derives its name Biligiri from the white rock face that constitutes the major hill crowned with the temple of Lord Rangaswamy or from the whte mist and the silver clouds that cover these lofty hills for a greater part of the year.

Hill range

The BR hills links the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats allowing animals to move between them and facilitating gene flow between populations of species in these areas. Thus, this sanctuary serves as an important biological bridge for the biota of the entire Deccan plateau.

The BR hills along with the Male-Mahadeshwara (MM Hills) range forms a distinctly unusual ridge running north-south amidst the plains of Bangalore(~900 m above MSL), Mysore(~600 m above MSL) and Krishnagiri(~450 m above MSL). The peaks of these lofty range rise as high as 1800 m (BR hills 1400 to 1800 m; MM Hills 1000 to 1200 m). The highest hill is Kattari Betta, at 1800 MSL. Various observations point to a possible biogeographic link between BR hills and Niligiri ranges.

Biogeographically, the sanctuary is unique. It is located between 11° and 12° N and the ridges of the hills run in the north-south direction. It is a projection of the Western Ghats in a north-easterly direction and meets the splintered hills of the Eastern Ghats at 78° E. This unique extension of Western Ghats constitutes a live bridge between the Eastern and Western Ghats with the sanctuary located almost in the middle of this bridge. Thus, the biota of BRT sanctuary can be expected to be predominantly of Western ghats in nature with significant proportion of eastern elements as well.

Climate and vegetation

The sanctuary, ~35km long north-south and ~15 km wide east-west is spread over an area of 540 km² with a wide variation in mean temperature (9°C to 16°C minimum and 20°C to 38°C maximum) and annual rainfall (600 mm at the base and 3000 mm at the top of the hills) The hill ranges, within the sanctuary raise as high as 1200 m above the basal plateau of 600 m and run north-south in two ridges. The wide range of climatic conditions along with the altitude variations within the small area of the sanctuary have translated it into a highly heterogeneous mosaic of habitats such that we find almost all major forest vegetation types – scrub, deciduous, riparian, evergreen, sholas and grasslands.

The forests harbour close to 800 species of plants from various families and shows a close affinity to the Western Ghats.

Flora and fauna

The Biligiris are charnockitic hills, covered with tropical dry broadleaf forest, part of the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests ecoregion. The forests range from scrub forests at lower elevations, degraded by over-use, to the tall deciduous forests typical of the ecoregion, to stunted shola forests and montane grasslands at the highest elevations, which exceed 1800 meters. The forests form an important wildlife corridor between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, linking the largest populations of Asian Elephants and tigers in southern India. The most conspicuous mammals are the herds of wild elephants. The BR hills is the only forest east of the main Western ghats mountain ranges in the central southern peninsula to harbour these panchyderms in large numbers. The forests were the study area for R. Sukumar, a scientist who studied the elephants of the area in the early eighties. A recent survey has revealed the presence of 17 Tigers in this sanctuary.

The BR hills has been a good place for viewing large game and at the same time encountering numerous smaller life forms. The forests have been famous for the Gaur, a large Asian bovid. There are about 26 species of mammals recorded in the sanctuary.

The other mammals include sambhar, chital, the shy barking deerwhich are quite common here and the rare four-horned antelope. Carnivores include tigers, leopards, wild dogs, lesser cats and sloth bears and among arboreal mammals two species of primates and three species of squirrels including the giant flying squirrel are recorded. A recent (2005) survey of tigers by DNA analysis of scat samples has revealed 17 tigers, although the number may be more. 254 species of birds recorded in the BR hills. These include the enigmatic southern population of the White-winged Tit (Parus nuchalis), a specimen of which was collected by R. C. Morris and now housed in the Natural History museum at Tring.

A recently discovered species includes a microhylid frog Microhyla sholigari, named after the Soligas, an indigenous tribe that inhabit these hills.

Management

The forests are managed by the Karnataka Forest Department. An IFS officer of the rank of a Deputy Conservator of Forests is in charge of the sanctuary. The officer operates from his office in Chamarajanagar. For administrative convenience, the sanctuary is divided into four ranges - Yelandur, Kollegal, Chamarajanagar and Punjur ranges, with the Kollegal range being the largest. Each range is in turn headed by a Range Forest Officer.

People and culture

For hundred of years this region has been the home for the semi-nomadic Soliga tribe. The forest regions of Yelandur, Chamrajanagar and Kollegal, including the hilly tracts and foothills of Biligirirangan and Male Mahadeshwara in the southern part of Karnataka, are inhabited by nearly twenty thousand soliga tribal people. The Soligas inhabiting this range were nature worshippers originally, and revere a large Champaka tree (Michelia champaca), called Dodda Sampige in the local language. (See Soliga section for details)

Randolph C. Morris, a Scotsman brought coffee into the hills in the latter half of the 19th century. The estate he established at Honnametti was later continued by his son Col. Ralph Morris, a hunter-naturalist, who published prolifically about the Natural history of the hills in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. He left the hills after independence, and the estate is today privately owned. His daughter, Monica Jackson, revisited the places and wrote about her memories in the book Going back. Among the many reputed guests that Col. Morris had, were Dr. Salim Ali, who visited him during the Birds of Mysore survey and E P Gee, a naturalist. The estate still preserves the home of the Morrises. Not far from this estate is the Honnametti Kallu, a boulder which gives a metallic clang when struck with a rock. Soliga legend has it that the rock has gold within. Honnametti itself means 'golden footprint' and refers to a legend that the Lord Ranganatha leapt across the hills changing his shape at each step and leaving his footprint on the hills.

Biligirirangaswamy Temple

The hills are famous for the temple of Lord Ranganatha or Lord Venkatesha which is situated on the highest peak of the hill range, on the 'white cliff' which gives the hill its name. The local form of the deity is called Biligiriranga and is depicted in a unique standing position. The Annual Car festival of the deity held during “Vaishakha “in the month of April, is famous in the region and attracts thousands of pilgrims from far and wide., the ratha festival is celebrated at Biligiriranga Hills. The local tribes present a large pair of sleepers measuring 1 foot and 9 inches, made up of skin, to the Ranganathaswamy once in two years.

Anthropology

There have been numerous megalithic burial sites that have been discovered from within and in the immediate vicinity of the sanctuary, testifying to the presence of indigenous people in these regions for a long time.

There are two local NGOs which work for integrated tribal development and biodiversity conservation in the sanctuary.

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