Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta is a medium size hill situated in the core zone of Western Ghats, can be accessed by a small road through Hangala village of north part of the Bandipur National Park. Being a part of the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary, the hills are frequented by grazing wild elephants.

Himvad Gopalaswamy Betta is covered with mist for most parts of the year and hence the first part of the name is Himvad meaning mist and the presence of the ascetic ancient temple on the top of the hill dedicated to Gopalaswamy or Lord Krishna forms the second part of the name and the third part is contributed by the fact that it is a hill or Betta.

The Temple of Shri Himavad Gopalaswamy was built seven centuries ago is one of the famous temple with picturesque views and in times it was called as South Govardhanagiri and Kamalachala. The temple is at a height of 4770 feet from Sea level. Himavad Gopalaswamy temple took shape in the 14th century and is dedicated to Lord Gopalaswamy or Krishna installed by the rishi “Agasthya”. The Temple was built in the year 1315 of Hoysala Era and the temple is facing North. This temple was built by the King Chola Ballala during AD 1315. Later the Wodeyars of Mysore who were ardent devotees of Lord Venugopala displayed keen interest in maintaining the hill temple.