The Biligirirangana Hills or Biligirirangan Hills (as referred to in biology and geology) is a hill range situated in south-western
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
, at its border with
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
(Erode District) in
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
. The area is called Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or simply BRT Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a
protected reserve under the
Wildlife Protection Act of 1972
The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established scheduled pr ...
. Being close to the
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...
as well as the
Western Ghats, the sanctuary has floral and faunal associations with both regions. The site was declared a
tiger reserve
Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the Bengal tiger in its natural habitats, protectin ...
in January 2011 by the Karnataka government, a few months after approval from India's
National Tiger Conservation Authority
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was established in December 2005, following a recommendation of the Tiger Task Force, constituted by the Prime Minister of India for reorganised management of Project Tiger and the many Tiger Re ...
.
Location
![Ancient Biligiri Ranganatha Temple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Ancient_Biligiri_Ranganatha_Temple.jpg)
The hills are located at the north-west of the Western Ghats and the westernmost edge of the Eastern Ghats. Thus this area supports a diverse flora and fauna in view of the various habitat types present. A wildlife sanctuary of was created around the temple on 27 June 1974, and enlarged to on 14 January 1987. The sanctuary derives its name Biligiri (white hill in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
) from the white rock face that constitutes the major hill crowned with the temple of Lord Ranganathaswamy (Lord Vishnu) or from the white mist and the silver clouds that cover these hills for a greater part of the year. An annual festival of Lord Vishnu, held in the month of April, draws pilgrims from far and wide. Once in two years, the Soliga Tribals present a 1-foot and 9 inches slipper, made of skin, to the deity in Biligiriranga Hills.
The hills are in the Yelandur,
Kollegal
Kollegal is one of the major taluks in the Chamarajanagara District of Karnataka State in the south of India. It is also the largest taluk in Karnataka, Kollegal is well known for its silk industry which attracts traders from all over the stat ...
and Chamarajanagar
taluka
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
s of
Chamarajanagar District
Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is the southernmost district in the state of Karnataka, India. It was carved out of the original larger Mysore District in 1998. Chamarajanagar town is the headquarters of this district.
It is the third leas ...
of Karnataka. They are contiguous with hills in
Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is a protected area and tiger reserve in the Eastern Ghats in the Erode District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a tiger population of 83 individuals and a leopard population of 111 individuals according ...
in
Erode District of Tamil Nadu to the south. By road, they are about from
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
and from
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
. The road leading to the village on top of the hills may be approached either from
Yelandur
Yalandur is a taluk and town in Chamarajanagar district in southern Karnataka, India. It has historic and cultural importance in this region. Along with three other taluks, it was officially included into Chamarajanagar district when the distric ...
or
Chamarajanagar
Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is a town in the southern part of Karnataka, India. Named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile king of Mysore, previously known as 'Arikottara'. Chamarajanagara is the headquarters of Chamarajanagar distr ...
. Kyathadevara Gudi or K Gudi is located close to BR Hills, where safari is conducted.
Geography
The BR hills is starting point Eastern Ghats and contacts with border of 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 large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
.
The BR hills along with the
Male Mahadeshwara Hills
Male Mahadeshwara Betta (Kannada: ಮಲೆ ಮಹದೇಶ್ವರ (also ಮಾದೇಶ್ವರ))is a pilgrim town located in the Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district of southern Karnataka. It is situated at about 150 km from Mysuru a ...
(MM Hills) range forms a distinctly unusual ridge running north–south amidst the plains of Bangalore (~900 m), Mysore (~800 m) and
Krishnagiri
Krishnagiri () is a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and it serves as the administrative headquarters of Krishnagiri District formed in 2004. It is located at the bottom of Krishnadevaraya Hills, and the town is fully surrounded by hill ...
(~450 m). The peaks of these lofty ranges rise as high as 1800 m (BR hills 1400–1800 m; MM Hills 1000–1200 m). The highest hill is Kattari Betta, at 1800 metres. Various observations point to a possible biogeographic link between BR hills and
Nilgiri ranges.
Biogeographically
Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities of ...
, 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 / offshoot of Western Ghats constitutes a live bridge between the Eastern Ghats 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, ~35 km long north–south and ~15 km wide east–west, is spread over an area of 540 km
2 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
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
,
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
,
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
,
sholas
Sholas are the local name for patches of stunted tropical montane forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India, largely in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. These patches of shola forest are found ...
and
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
s.
The forests harbour close to 800
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of plants from various
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
and shows a close affinity to the Western Ghats.
Flora and fauna
The Biligiris are
Charnockite
Charnockite () is any orthopyroxene-bearing quartz-feldspar rock formed at high temperature and pressure, commonly found in granulite facies metamorphic regions, ''sensu stricto'' as an endmember of the charnockite series.
Charnockite series
The ...
hills, covered with
tropical dry broadleaf forest
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-roun ...
, part of the
South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests
The South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests is a tropical dry forest ecoregion in southern India. The ecoregion lies in the southernmost portion of the Deccan Plateau, and includes the southernmost portion of the Eastern Ghats.
The ecoregion ...
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
A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...
between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, linking the largest populations of Asian elephants and tigers in southern India.
![Asian Elephant panning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Asian_Elephant_panning.jpg)
The most conspicuous mammals in the BR Hills are the herds of wild
elephants
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...
. The BR hills is the only forest east of the main Western Ghats mountain ranges in the central southern
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
to harbor these pachyderms 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 (2017) survey has revealed the presence of 62
tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
in this sanctuary. The forests are well known for many
gaur
The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...
, the largest
bovine
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...
s. BR hills are a good place for viewing many other large and small animals. There are about 26 species of
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s recorded in the sanctuary.
The other mammals include
sambhar,
chital
The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...
, the shy
barking deer
Barking may refer to:
Places
* Barking, London, a town in East London, England
** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking
** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
which are quite common here and the rare
four-horned antelope
The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), or ''chousingha'', is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns (with a few exceptions, such as the Jacob sheep). ...
. Carnivores include tigers,
leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
s,
wild dogs
Wild Dogs is an American heavy metal band from Portland, Oregon, formed loosely in 1981 by original members Jeff Mark, Danny Kurth, Matt McCourt, and Pete Holmes. The band has since released six albums, three live albums and one DVD. Wild Dogs ...
, lesser
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
s and
sloth bear
The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...
s and among
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...
mammals two species of
primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
s and three species of
squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
s including the
giant flying squirrel
''Petaurista'' is a genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae. They are large to very large flying squirrels found in forests and other wooded habitats in southern and eastern Asia.
Like other flying squirrels, they are mostly nocturnal and able ...
are recorded. A recent (2017) survey of tigers by
DNA analysis
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
of
scat samples has revealed 62 tigers, although the number may be more. 254 species of birds recorded in the BR hills.
[Srinivasan, U. and Prashanth N.S. (2005): ''Additions to the Avifauna of the Biligirirangans''. Indian Birds. 1(5): 10]
These include the enigmatic southern population of the
white-naped tit, 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
''Microhyla sholigari'' is a species of microhylid frog endemic to southern India. It was described from the Biligirirangan Hills in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka and is named after the Soliga tribal people living in the forests in and ...
'', named after the
Soligas, an indigenous tribe that inhabit these hills.
Threats
Quarrying
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
in the fringes of the hills is rampant after the brief lull of activities during the time when the dreaded bandit
Veerappan
Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching o ...
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.
Gallery
Image:Brown fishing owl.jpg, Brown fish owl
The brown fish owl (''Ketupa zeylonensis'') is a fish owl species in the family known as typical owls, Strigidae. It is native from Turkey to South and Southeast Asia. Due its wide distribution it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...
, BRT Chamarajanagar
Image:Dark Blue Tiger butterflies at Biligiriranga temple wildlife sanctuary.jpg, Dark blue tiger butterflies, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Striped Tiger butterflies at Biligiriranga Wildlife Sanctuary.jpg, Striped tiger and common Indian crow butterflies, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Gaur and Chital deer grazing together at Biligiriranga wildlife sanctuary.jpg, Gaur (bison) chital herd, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Muntjac at Biligiriranga temple wildlife sanctuary.jpg, Common Indian muntjac or barking deer (male), BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Sambar Stag at Biligiriranga temple wildlife sanctuary.jpg, Sambar stag, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Sloth_bear_pair_behind_the_bushes_at_Biligiriranga_temple_wildlife_sanctuary.jpg, Sloth bear pair, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Spot-bellied eagle-owl at Biligiriranga temple wildlife sanctuary.jpg, Spot bellied eagle owl, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
Image:Purple Rumped sunbird at Biligiriranga temple wildlife sanctuary.jpg, Purple rumped sunbird, BRT WLS Chamarajanagar
References
External links
*
BR hills elephants encounter – LoapsATREEVivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra – A 25-year-old NGO dedicated to integrated tribal development in BR Hills
{{Tiger Reserves Of India
Mountains of Karnataka
Eastern Ghats
Mountains of the Western Ghats
Protected areas of Karnataka
Hill stations in Karnataka
Populated places in the Western Ghats
Geography of Chamarajanagar district
South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests
Tourist attractions in Chamarajanagar district