Nandi Hills - Another Sunday Well Spent

Nandi Hills

Nandi Hill is name of the place that is visited by Bangloreans quite often as it is just a jump away from Bangalore. It’s a place with very nice scenic beauty which is able to rejuvenate anyone almost in the way  a nice hill station does. Different stories of Nandi Hills are famous among locals but it is said that its present name is because of its shape which resembles to sitting NANDI. It is 4,851 ft above sea level. 

View from foot of the Nandi Hills

View from Top of Nandi Hills

It was a trip which was in my mind even before I landed in Bangalore. When I was in Delhi almost all of my friends who were staying in Bangalore or around it, kept on boasting about Nandi Hill’s scenic beauty. So when I heard that I had to go to Bangalore for joining, first thing that struck my mind was… Nandi Hill of course. Although I explored Nandi after around 10 months after stepping in Bangalore but I was very excited.

Road to Top of Nandi Hils

Curves on the Way

We (I & 5 of my friends) started our journey very early in the Sunday morning and left our rooms at 4:30 AM. Although it is not very far from Bangalore (around 70 km) on the way to Hyderabad National Highway (NH-7) also roads were silent and lonely at those early hours and the special time that I can check on my watch only when I am on a trip ;) and gate at Nandi Hill opens up at 6:00 AM.. I would suggest you to leave somewhat early if you want to see sun rise( which is not visible in monsoon) because vehicles get lined up one after another and if u will reach at 6AM or 5:45AM u would be very back in line.. resulting in delay and ultimately missing sunrise. Also if you are a regular early riser, if you are the one who doesn’t want to miss a incredible sunrise then its better to reach Nandi a day before and stay overnight in one of the guest house like Nehru House or Gandhi House which are Govt guest houses. Also Karnataka Tourism runs a restaurant(veg & non-veg both) named Mayura.

We all were enjoying as usual and some were trying to be dizzy but they ofcourse couldn’t :). We stopped at the diversion from main Bangalore-Hyderabad Expressway as there were many tea stalls and we all wanted tea at that time. Then we headed towards Nandi Hill and reached at gate at 5:45AM and as mentioned earlier were stuck before gate as a number of vehicles were already there. After 5 mins we all decided to got down and walk.. catching some early morning sight and scenery present there was beautiful making our morning awesome. Then finally our car crossed the GATE at 6:20AM.. we got in it and headed towards Nandi clicking the scenes as much as possible.

Vehicles started to move after 6:00AM

Main Gate of Fort

We reached at the main gate in around 20 mins after crossing a number of hilly turns.  There we had to pay an entry fee of Rs. 100 and bikers have to park bikes there only as bikes are not allowed after this main gate which seems to be a gate of Fort. Also if you want, you can go up by a flight of around 1175 steps from the foot of the hill to top. Immediately after entering this gate on left is Amritha Sarovar and Tipu’s Lodge. But at that time we skipped these places with hope that quite possible we might see some sight of rising sun(that we see very less in our lives ;) ). 

But here comes the main twist that it was so cloudy that day that there was no sun in the sky and as I have told earlier we were already too late. Too many people were already there and were waiting for just a glimpse of almighty Sun. But I have one favorite line of mine “if your friends are with you, you can enjoy at any place”. Instead of any place we were actually at the most favorite place of Bangaloreans. So we simply started to discovered the place. 

A view of Top of Nandi Hills

A ruined structure on Top

In vicinity of view point there is an ancient temple, Yoga Nandeeshwara, we entered in its premises, it was constructed on rocky surface which was making it unique in its own way, offered prayers to the deity and then in other complex there was small pond on Nandi Hill itself then went to the back of the temple. Here we could actually feel that we are at the top of the Nandi Hill… started to descend, encountered a lot of monkeys on the way, a lot of people were resting on the hillock.

Yoga Nandeeshwara Temple

Inside Temple.. rocky surface

Pond Inside Temple on Top of Nandi Hills

At last we reached to the Tipu’s Drop. It is said that from here Tipu’s prisoners were thrown to death. However from here we could see the spectacular view of the valley and were trying to identify the roads to come up. So many gun holes were there on the way in the wall of the fort. I was very impressed with one of the point in which 3 holes were together in different direction so that fire could be done in three directions back-to-back (I thought so :)).

Tipu's Drop

View From Tipu's Drop

Gun Hole in three direction

Descend towards Tipu's Drop

 

Basically it was looking like we were inside a fort on the top of the hill, entered through its Main Gate. This fort was considered as impregnable covering a very very vast area, having holes in the wall, having a place to throw prisioners, having a Sarovar etc.

Then was the origin of the Akrkavati River which was more looking like rain water has collected in between. Very honestly I couldn't see any origin of any river as mentioned in various sites. Eventually we entered the Childrens’ Park and did some photo shoot as usual ;). There were small tree houses catching everybody's attention passing through the area. Then we started to return back. 

A Flower on Top near Childrens' Park

We came back to that same gate through which we entered. Immediately before it was  Amritha Sarovar and Tipu Sultan's Lodge. Sarovar was good to see and we were feeling kind of peace there and then in the back of it is Tipu's Lodge. There was nothing much in Lodge, a dark and almost empty room (only room which was open) was there but let me tell it was extra ordinarily cold. By entering in that room only we realised that why it is known as Summer Retreat. All other rooms were locked so could not enter in them so after exploring that we started towards the Main Gate to descend.

Amritha Sarovar

Tipu Sultan Lodge

And ultimately we left the place at around 10:30AM. Just after reaching NH74, at that T-point only there are a number of good restaurants and dhabas. We decided to have breakfast there only as we were going to trek Skandagiri.. and there we would find nothing to eat. We had nice dosa, omlettes and idli and were ready to trek Skandagiri then.

Inside Main Gate View

Another View

Overall it was another trip that we enjoyed a lot with a little disappointment of not able to see sunrise but I think our timings were not perfect. But it was a much awaited trip that was followed by visit to Bhoganandishwara Temple and trekking on Skandagiri.

General Information with Day Plan:
Date of visiting : 20-Oct-2013 Sunday
Distance from Bangalore : approx 70 kms.
Entry Fee : For cars its Rs. 100 & for bikes its Rs. 40 for two persons but bikes should be parked outside the Gate of Fort.
Time to visit : 6AM - 6PM
Mode of travelling : By Car
Plan for the day : Bangalore->Nandi Hills->Bhoganandishwara Temple->Skandagiri->Bangalore
Days required : 1 Day is enough but you can spend a night for a beautiful sunrise view