Biligirirangana Hills
The Biligirirangana Hills, commonly called B R Hills, is a hill range situated in south-eastern Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu (Erode District) in South India. The area is called Biligiriranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or simply BRT Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Being at the confluence of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, the sanctuary is home to eco-systems that are unique to both the mountain ranges. The site was declared a Tiger Reserve in January 2011 by the Karnataka government, a few months after approval from India's National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Biligiri Rangana range of hills is picturesquely situated between the Cauvery & Kapila Rivers. The hills are in the Yelandur taluk of Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka and considered as bio-geographic bridge between the Western and the Eastern ghats. Biligiri Rangana hills is locally called as Biligiri Rangana Betta, "betta" means "hill" in Kannada. The sanctuary derives its name Biligiri (Kannada for white rock) from the white rock face that constitutes the major hill crowned with the temple of Lord Rangaswamy or from the white mist and the silver clouds that cover these hills for a greater part of the year.
The lower hills are covered with rich deciduous forests that are home to a large number of Asian Elephants and tigers in southern India. The forests have been famous for the Gaur, a large Asian bovid. There are about 26 species of mammals like sambhar, chital, the shy barking deer the rare four-horned antelope and 250 species of birds like the Paradise Flycatcher, Racquet Trailed Drongo and the Crested Hawk Eagle, to name a few.
Biligiri Ranga Swamy Temple:
The temple of Ranganatha is situated at the edge of a bare cliff overlooking the northern parts of the sanctuary. The deity is often referred to as Biligiriranga and is depicted in a unique standing position. The Ranganatha deity at this temple is possibly the only standing form of Ranganatha, attributed to Tipu Sultan's rechristening of a previous Venkatesha temple, when he visited these hills during a hunting expedition. This may have happened to attract patronage of the Sultan as he was supposed be a patron of Ranganatha. Other deities in the temple include those of Ranganayaki and several Alvars. An annual car festival is held during Vaishakha in the month of April. Every two years, the local Soliga tribe present a large pair of slippers measuring 1-foot (0.30 m) and 9 inches, to Ranganatha.
Source:
http://www.inmysore.com/biligiri-rangana-hills
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biligiriranga_Hills