Biligirirangan Hills
The
Biligirirangan Hills, 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 a
Wildlife Sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1973.
The hills are in the
Yelandur Taluk of
Chamarajanagar district of
Karnataka. The hills are contiguos with the
Satyamangalam range southwards, in the
Erode district of
Tamil Nadu. It is 90 km from
Mysore and 180 km from
Bangalore. It is connected by road, one from
Yelandur and the other 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 of the year.
The BR hills constitute a live link between the
Eastern Ghats and
Western Ghats facilitating an active exchange of gene pools between them. Thus this sanctuary serves as an important biological bridge for the biota of the entire Deccan plateau.
The BR hills along with the Male-Madeshwara (
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.
Biographically, BRT sanctuary is very uniquely located. Between 11° and 12° N along its north-south running chain. Western Ghats projects itself 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.
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 tempterautre (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 â€"
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.
The Biligiris are 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.
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,
barking deer 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.
Many new species are being discovered in these hills. A recently discovered species includes a microhylid frog
Microhyla sholigari.
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 Biligiri Ranga 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 Hayton 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 re-visited the places she grew up in and has written a book, 'Going back'. Among the many reputed guests that Col. Morris had, were the late Dr.
Salim Ali, who visited him during the Birds of
Mysore survey and the late 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.
The hills are famous for the temple of Lord
Ranganatha. The local form of the deity is called Biligiriranga and is depicted in a unique standing position. The Annual Car festival of the deity is famous in the region and attracts thousands of pilgrims from far and wide. The temple is situated on the 'white cliff' which gives the hill its name.
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.
Quarrying in the fringes of the hills is rampant after the brief lull of activities during the time when the dreaded bandit
Veerappan was on the run. After his death, the quarrying activities have taken off with renewed vigour with strong political backing.
The Forest department and the local NGOs were instrumental in banning disposal of plastic within the sanctuary.
Overgrazing, firewood collection etc. are other threats
*Ramesh, B. R. (1989)
Flora of BR Hills French Institute of Pondicherry*Somasundaram, H. N. and Kibe, R. V. (1990) Soliga â€" the Tribe and its Stride, Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra, BR Hills
*Monica Jackson (1994?)
Going back. Banyan Books.
*Srinivasa, T. S., S. Karthikeyan. and J. N. Prasad. (1997)
Faunal survey of the Biligirirangan Temple Wildlife Sanctuary. Merlin Nature Club, Bangalore.
*Ganeshaiah, K. N., R. Uma Shaanker and K. S. Bawa. (1998)
Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary: Natural history, biodiversity and conservation. ATREE and VGKK, Bangalore
*Aravind, N. A., D. Rao, and P. S. Madhusudan. (2001)
Additions to the Birds of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India. Zoos' Print Journal 16 (7): 541-547.
*Shyamal, L. (2003)
A short trip in the Biligirirangans. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 43(5): 66-67
*Islam, Z. and A. R. Rahmani. (2004)
Important Bird Areas in India: Priority areas for conservation. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, BirdLife International, UK and Oxford University Press ,Mumbai
*Nani, A., L. Shyamal, D. Rajkumar and U. Rajkumar (2004)
A checklist of the birds of the BRT Hills Wildlife Sanctuary.
*Srinivasan, U. and Prashanth N.S. (2005): Additions to the Avifauna of the Biligirirangans. Indian Birds. 1(5): 104*BR Hills page on Wildindiawiki
*[1] An enterprise based approach to conservation: the case of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple wildlife sanctuary
*[2] Sustainable harvest of medicinal plants: a case study of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary
*ATREE
