Bisle is a small village in the heart of south-western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's Western Ghats. The village is located in

Hassan District Hassan is one of the districts of Karnataka, 31 districts of Karnataka, India. The district headquarter is Hassan, Karnataka, Hassan. It was carved out from Mysore district in the year 1866, during the Commissioner's Rule of Mysore (1831-81). ...

Sakleshpur Sakleshpur, Sakleshpura or Sakleshapura is a hill station town and headquarters of Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Economy The town lies in the Malnad region on the hills of the biodiversity hotspot, the We ...

(Sakaleshpura)

Taluk 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 ...

It adjoins

Bisle Reserve Forest Bisle Reserve Forest is a reserve forest in westernmost Hassan district of Karnataka state, India. It is located in Hassan district's Sakleshpur taluk. Bisle village adjoins the forest to the east. It is contiguous with Kagneri Reserve Forest to ...

, which has some of India's most spectacular rain forests. Near to the forest check post, a unique place called Mankanahilli lake, where the water from two different sides reaches differect direction. One towards Bay of Bengal and the other side towards Arabian Sea.

Bisle Reserve Forest

Bisle Reserve Forest is a

reserve forest A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

east of Bisle village. It is contiguous with Kagneri Reserve Forest to the north, Bhagimalai Reserve Forest of

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east ...

district to the west, and

Kukke Subramanya Kukke Subramanya (IAST: ''Kukke Subrahmaṇya'') is a Hindu temple located in the village Subramanya, of Kadaba taluk (Earlier in Sullia taluk) in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, India. In this temple Kartikeya is worshipped as Subram ...

forest range to the southwest. To the south it merges with

Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the 21 Wildlife Sanctuaries in Karnataka, India. This sanctuary is located in Somwarpet taluk of the Kodagu district. It is home to rare and endangered birdlife. The Kadamakkal reserve forest is a part ...

Kodagu district Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

. Around 5 km from Bisle towards

there is beauty spot of Bisle called Bisle Betta or Bisle View Point. From here one can see the mountain ranges of 3 districts: Kumara Parvatha (1319 m) of

district, Pushpagiri (1712 m) and Dodda Betta (1119 m) of

and Patta Betta (1112 m) and Enni Kallu (900 m) of Hassan district. The highlight of this point is that the view has a valley, with Giri River separating the beauty point and these mountain ranges. The forest department has erected a shelter here to sit and enjoy the view. Though Bisle is given the status of reserve forest, the stretch from Kulkunda to Bisle gate is undisturbed by human activities except for the following constructions by forest department. * A check post & related residential hutments at Budi Choudi. * Three km ahead of Budi Choudi, a reception room on the roadside. * Down on the riverside of Addahole few Dormitories with a rope bridge. * An inspection bungalow at Addahole bridge. * A round sun shade at a view point and watch tower at the Bisle View Point. The reserve forest is part of the

North Western Ghats montane rain forests The North Western Ghats montane rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern Indian peninsula. It covers an area of , extending down the spine of the Western Ghauts range, from southernmost Gujarat through Damaon ...

ecoregion. The thick forest is home of king cobras, tigers (rarely seen), Sambar deer, peacocks, numerous species of birds, Spotted deer, brown fox and Mahasheer fish, not to mention a number of flora and fauna which can only be found in this region of Western Ghats. Elephants often criss cross this area and is an elephant corridor of Western ghats. One of the largest and rarest Indian mustelids

Nilgiri marten The Nilgiri marten (''Martes gwatkinsii'') is the only marten species native to southern India. It lives in the hills of the Nilgiris and parts of the Western Ghats. With only around a thousand members left it is listed as Vulnerable on the ...

(''Martes gwatkinsii'') were sighted recently in Bisle forest.

References

External links

'When it pours in a rainforest'
A travel story on Bisle Reserve Forest, published in The Times of India, Bangalore, 21 July 2001. * http://www.athreebook.com {{coord missing, Karnataka Villages in Hassan district