The name ethina buja in Kannada means ethina-Ox Buja-Shoulders, as the peak forms the shape of the ox’s shoulders. This place is at a distance of 300 kilo meter from Bangalore and close to Dharmastala the temple town worshiping the lord Manjunatha Swamy.

This peak lying in the core Western Ghats is one of the world heritage sites with all types of flora and fauna conserved as declared by UNESCO. This lies in the Charmadi Ghat section on Hassan Mangalore highway. Charmadi Ghats has thick and shallow forest surrounding with lots of History hidden in it.

The trek to ethina buja is exobritic as the path takes in to the Shiradi Ghats with steams and valleys extending into the mountain ranges giving the chance to sight the wildlife in it and also it is necessary to take prior permission from Forest Dept and also be guided as the forest are very thick and chances of getting lost is very high.

The trek to Ethina Buja starts from Sishila village, moving on from there ahead for 2 kms gives the starting point of the trek path in to the forest and then moving forward alongside for an hour in path gives you the sight of small stream of about 4ft deep filled with crystal clear fresh water for which a small wooden bridge is built and can be crossed by passing over the bridge or by walking in the water.

The water in the stream will gather more current and force during the monsoons as this area is prone to heavy rainfall hence the small bridge is built here for connectivity. For after crossing the stream you can find the first view of ethina buja hills in the distant forest.

After travelling for 1.5 kms from the stream you can find the small water fall where you can fill you bottles and from this place the main trek starts with the stepy cliff of mountain ranges and after hour plus long hike you can find the grass lands with tall grass up to 5ft height without any tress, this is the path where you need to be careful as you will be on the corner of the mountain side where on one side will be the stepy jungle where a slip or a fall is nothing other than end of life so walk carefully with 5ft distance between one and another and from this point.

You can view the Ethina Buja peak and also surrounding mountain peaks of Western Ghats like the Amedikalu Peak and the Ombathu Gudda and the distant Bisle Ghats surrounded by the Charmadi Ghats from this Ghat section belonging to Shiradi Ghat.

The final 1km of the trek is pretty exobritic as you need to limb the rock peak which is like the shoulder of the bull and this is ultimate as from the top you can see all the Ghat sections and peaks of Ombathu Gudda and perfect place to watch sunset and sunrise on the backyards of western Ghats.

Itinerary