Bilgiri Hills
From Freepedia
The Biligiri Hills (White mountains in the Kannada language), also known as the Biligiri Rangan or Biligirirangan hills, are a range of hills in southern India. The Biligiris run east-west, connecting to the Western Ghats range on the west end, and ending at the Cauvery River to the east. The ridgeline forms the boundary between Chamarajanagar District of Karnataka state to the north, and Erode District of Tamil Nadu to the south. Peaks include Kattari Betta at 1816 meters.
The Biligiris are covered with 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. Other large mammals include gaur, sambar deer and chital deer, wild dogs, and leopards.
The forests of the Biligiris are part of the Sathyamangalam Territorial Forest Division. The Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple lies in Chamrajangar district, on the north slope of the Biligiris. A wildlife sanctuary of 322.4 km² was created around the temple on 27 June 1974, and enlarged to 539.52 km & sup2; on 14 January 1987. The temple and town associated with Biligirirangaswamy forms the major hub of human activity here. The Jungle Lodges at Kyatadevaragudi (or K. Gudi) is an eco-tourism venture run by the Karnataka Forest deparment. Coffee and teak plantations cover much of the lower slopes.
The range is home to the Soligas, who worship a massive Champak Michelia champaka tree called Dodda Sampige.
The book Going Back by Monica Jackson is an introduction to the area, written by the granddaughter of a Scottish coffee planter who brought coffee to these hills and daughter of the hunter naturalist Colonel Ralph Camroux Morris.
