Mullayanagiri Guide: Vehicle Pass, Steps, Timings and the Sarpadari Trek

Mullayanagiri is the highest point in Karnataka, listed at 1,925 m by Wikipedia and 1,930 m (about 6,330 ft) by most travel pages. It sits in the Baba Budan Giri range in Chikkamagaluru taluk, next to Seethalayyanagiri. The summit has a small temple to the sage Mullappa Swamy and a police radio relay station. Nothing else is up there: no food stalls, no reliable mobile signal, and often no view if cloud rolls in.

Two things changed in recent years and make older blog posts unreliable. First, since 1 September 2025 the district requires an advance online booking for vehicles on the Mullayanagiri, Seethalayanagiri, Baba Budan Dargah and Manikyadhara road. Second, the district has closed the hill to tourists on specific days, including 14 September 2026 for the Gauri-Ganesha festival. This page separates what two or more sources agree on from what only one source claims, and says so each time. For the wider trip, see our Chikmagalur trip guide and the Chikkamagaluru district guide.

From1 September 2025Bookdistrict tourism website, in advanceSlots6 am–12 noon, 1–6 pm

Deccan Herald reported on 29 August 2025 that online booking becomes mandatory from 1 September to regulate tourist inflow, with advance booking on the district website. The official portal is the tourism section of the Chikkamagaluru district website. The booking asks for your name, mobile number, date, vehicle number, vehicle type and slot, and the vehicle number must match at the checkpost. Pay online, then save the confirmation offline, because mobile data weakens beyond the Kaimara checkpost.

Treat these numbers as indicative. Deccan Herald lists the fees above; Daijiworld lists the caps; the two sources do not give the same level of detail, the category caps add up to more than the 600 per slot the district is reported to have set, and one operator page reads the cap as 600 vehicles a day rather than per slot. The portal shows the exact amount before you pay, so trust the portal over any blog, including this one. Daijiworld also reports that the limits apply to guests staying at nearby homestays and resorts, so book the pass even if your stay is on the hill.

Weekends, long weekends and festival days are when slots sell out. If you are travelling in a group, a local yellow-board taxi or jeep from Chikkamagaluru uses the taxi quota and saves you the pass booking for your own vehicle; one source puts a local 4×4 at ₹2,500 to ₹3,500 round trip including Baba Budangiri, which we treat as a rough guide to confirm with the driver.

When the hill is closed

Closures are part of planning here. In July 2024 a three-day ban was reported because heavy rain had weakened sections of the road, with local residents, emergency vehicles and police exempt. On 14 September 2026 the district restricted tourist entry for one day for the Gauri-Ganesha festival, when devotees from some 40 villages visit Mullayanagiri, Seethalayyanagiri and nearby shrines; the Deputy Commissioner asked tourists to postpone trips, and Deccan Herald noted people with advance resort or homestay bookings would be permitted. Check the district website and your homestay the day before, especially in the monsoon and around Ganesha Chaturthi.

SummitShiva temple, caves belowFacilitiesnone at the topAllow1 to 2 hours on the hill

Accounts disagree on how far a private vehicle can go. The district site says driving to the peak is not possible and the last section is on foot from a halfway point. One driver describes a parking area just below the summit and a climb of about 400 stone steps; others put the count at 464 or 467 from the drop-off point, and an Indiahikes description of the descent route mentions about 250 steps. The honest summary is that the final climb is a stone staircase of a few hundred steps, short enough for most people but steep and exposed in wind. Take your time and rest on the landings.

At the top you find the small temple of Mullappa Swamy, which Wikipedia describes as a shrine and tomb, with caves a few feet below the summit that are not deep and whose old link to the sanctum has been blocked. One homestay guide says pooja is held twice a day, at opening and before closing. Dress modestly for the temple, keep your voice down, and carry your litter down; the 2024 closure notice also cited plastic and bottle litter. Drones need permission, according to one source, so leave yours at home.

Neighbouring stops on the same road

Seethalayyanagiri, with a temple at a lower point on the same ridge, sits about 7 to 8 km below the summit in one driver’s account and has a small car park. The pass route also covers the Inam Dattatreya Peeta (the Baba Budan dargah) and Manikyadhara waterfall, which makes a half-day loop if the slots allow. Pair this with our Horanadu temple guide or the waterfalls in Karnataka page for the rest of the district.

Most sources recommend September to February; one homestay guide narrows the cloud-watching sweet spot to October to January. The monsoon is the most beautiful season in the district but the least dependable on this hill, as the July 2024 closure showed. Our Karnataka in monsoon and Karnataka in winter guides explain the trade-off, and the best time to visit Karnataka page covers the whole state.

A realistic sunrise plan

The first slot starts at 6 am, and the drive from Chikkamagaluru takes 45 to 60 minutes, so a town-based visitor reaches the top after sunrise for most of the year. Staying on the hill road or at a homestay near the base is the practical way to catch first light. Whether the checkpost lets vehicles through before 6 am is not confirmed by any source we found, so ask your host. As an estimate, leave town at about 5:15 am, reach the checkpost as it opens, and plan to be on the steps by 6:45 am. Check the sunrise time for your date.