Bethamagala is a small town in Kolar District, about 5 miles
from KGF. It has a large man-made lake and is the underground source of the
Palar River. Bethamangalam as it was known earlier, was afavourite picnic
destination close to KGF. Hordes of
people from KGF would flock to KGF to spend the day in the serene and beautiful
surroundings of the Bethamangala Lake. Swimming, fishing and boating were the
added attractions. As children, it was our favourite picnic spot where the
School took us for picnics. The water works had a beautiful garden around it
and the youngsters loved swimming in the reservoir. However, this idyllic spot
was also the place for a number of tragic swimming accidents, and the water
works had many notices pasted all around warning people of the dangers.
The British Government had built the Water Works in
Bethamangalam in 1903 for filtered water to be supplied to the KGF Mines
through huge pipelines from here. The Bethamangalam
Lake was a popular spot for sailing, fishing.
and a beautiful picnic spot for the British population in KGF. A Sailing
Club was established here around 1905, and it had a good number of Britishers
and Europeans as members. A beautiful Club House was constructed, which had a well
stocked Bar, a reading room, a Billiards and Snooker Room as well as a Swimming
Pool. The Sailing Club had a fleet of canoes and Row boats, and served as a berth for private boats and
canoes also. 
The Bethamangalam Club House was later converted into the
Government Guest House.
.jpg)
Just before Bethamangala, there is a small temple town
called Kamasandra which is famous
for its Temple dedicated to the Lingam of Lord Shiva. It is called the Koti
Linga Temple as it has almost one crore
Lingas offered by devotees .
No comments:
Post a Comment