Nandi Hills & Village – Bangalore Weekend Getaway

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For some reason, I assume that everyone who has lived or visited Bangalore must have been to Nandi Hills sometime or the other. But what I discovered to my surprise was the number of places to visit that are around the hills and Nandi village.

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Tank at Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple, Nandi Hills
Tank at Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple

Nandi Hills, Bangalore

A couple of weeks back on a lazy Sunday morning we (Me and two of my friends) decided to drive down to Nandi Hills for breakfast. We literally got up from the bed, brushed our teeth, and drove to the destination. As luck would have it, the destination had the perfect weather. Clouds were kissing the hill on all sides. It was a pleasure to sit among the clouds and have piping hot noodles. Since the weather was too good, we decided to roam around a bit.

Arkavathy river

We discovered a small well-like structure, which is supposed to be the source or the starting point of river Arkavathy. You have to go around the hill and then go down a bit to reach this spot. The spot just has a walled tank, which presumably is very deep. And is surrounded by absolute greenery. You can sit on the thick walls of the tank. In fact, you can lie down, look at the sky, and feel to be in a different world altogether. From this spot, there are stairs that bring you back to the top of the hill.

Pradakshina Path or Circumambulatory Path at Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple
Pradakshina Path or Circumambulatory Path at Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple

Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple, Nandi village

As we got down the hills, we drove towards the Nandi village. This is the village that gives Nandi Hills its name. There is an ancient temple called Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple or Bhoganandishwara temple in this village. Apparently, it has been around for 1200+ years or so. From the outside, the temple does not look very huge. But once you enter the premises, you would suddenly be hit by the hugeness of the temple and its compound. The outside compound is surrounded by lined corridors.

There is a platform in front of the actual entrance of the temple, which apparently was used for dances during festivals. There are some wheels that are surrounding the platform which may belong to some chariot that was used during some time.

Shiva Temple

As you enter the temple you see a Shiva temple, with amazing carvings. A person there explained to us that the temple dates back to sometime in the 8th-9th century. And has the influence of various dynasties that ruled the area. The corridor around the Garbhagriha which is used to make a Parikrama around the temple, is amazingly well adorned with carvings. Though he could not give us much about the history of the temple. But this is what my internet research yielded:<

Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple in Nandi village constructed around 806 A.D. by Rathnavalli of the Bana Dynasty is in Dravidian style. Temple is known for its ancient Architecture. Sri. Arunachaleswara temple, nearby Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple built out of stone, is another example where one can find Ganga, Chola, and Hoysala styles of architecture.

Source of River Arkavathy at Nandi Hills
Source of River Arkavathy

It is a beautiful temple and one of the few temples which are very clean and well-maintained. There is a huge water tank on one side of the temple which is again covered on all four sides by pillared corridors, and doors on all four sides with ornate walls. Some of the structures will remind you of Hampi, especially the damaged ones.

Surprisingly, there were hardly any people in the temple. So the temple provided the perfect serenity that it is supposed to provide its visitors. We were told that there is a huge rush on Shivaratri. But most of the other times, there are not many visitors. And the fact that the temple is so huge probably makes the number of people present seem less. I would strongly recommend visiting this temple to anyone who is in or around Bangalore.

Silkworms breeding

As you drive a little ahead of the temple, you would reach Muddenahalli. You can also visit Sultanpet, which has another path leading to the top of the hills, with around 3000 steps. There is supposedly an ancient temple in Sultanpet, but we could not locate that. But what we did get to see was the breeding of silkworms, right on the streets of the village, which was quite interesting.

Rocky Hills Landscape en route
Rocky Hills Landscape en route

Tipu’s Fort

And as you drive back towards Bangalore, you would see Tipu’s fort on your left-hand side. Which is more like Hawa Mahal, or just a façade. As you enter the fort, there is the whole town of Devanahalli, bustling with people. My guess is that at some point in time, the fort must have been a walled city. And people lived in the city, which still continues. But the town would have grown way beyond the original limits of the fort walls. There are remnants of the fort here and there that you see if you drive around the town.

You can also drive to the Tipu’s birthplace, which is a small structure, with four pillars and a roof. When you look at the structure, you would wonder if this is really the place where the great Tipu Sultan was born, as there is no other old structure around that place. But then I guess there is no other evidence to think otherwise too.

You can cover all these places in less than a day….so do explore them sometimes…:-)

4 COMMENTS

  1. Just like you’ve said, i’ve been to Nandi Hills umpteen times, but never knew of this nandeeswara temple. It looks and sounds wonderful ! Your narrative makes me want to hit the road right away !

  2. Hi Anuji
    The narration and photos are pretty good. You have really done a good bit of work both in this / Ikkeri & Keladi. I happened to visit Ikkeri & keladi recently but failed to notice some of the details you narrated. May be because I had no much time to go through the details. I wish to do it next time around. Good effort keep it up

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