Recharge your Batteries

Nandi hills is an ideal one day trip spot, where there is not much of a crowd during the weekdays. Ideal for honeymooners and lovers on weekdays. On weekends obviously depending on the intervening holidays there is bound to be crowd. One has to travel on NH 7 which is in various phases of construction and reach on the outskirts of the Devanhalli town and deviate into Nandi hills a distance of 63 kms from Bangalore. Ideal months to visit Nandi hills are during the rainy season. There is a nice Mayura restaurant perched on the hilltop giving you the fabulous viewpoint.

The road is winding towards the top, a pure ghat section around 9 kms, so please check you brakes before ascending. The scenic beauty may be distraction for a driver so it is better to drive slow, so that you are safe from incoming speeding vehicle downwards. There are number of accident spots, and we witnessed one of the sad accident just by chance and helped the youngsters to tide over their crisis. None of the onlookers really had the intention of helping them. One villager joined in to treat the badly bleeding youngsters. Accidents are inevitable enroute, so when you are drunk please avoid driving or make sure u don’t travel more than 30 km speed for god sake. I witnessed 3 IT ians meeting with accident, because road is slippery due to faulty construction. Govt would do good if high quality concrete roads are designed and constructed.


Nandi hills is credited to have been built by Tipu Sultan, which is unlikely as per my judgement, because there is no muslim edifice on the hill. It is mostly the palegars from Vijaynagar empire who have initiated the construction and later abandoned the place. However the entire beautification of the place was undertaken by the British. Mark cubbon who fell in love with the environs built a guest house for himself and other high ranking officers. It was an ideal orgy getaway for the British. To substantiate the fact there is a tourist guest house which can be booked from Lalbagh, Bangalore during summer months.

There is a old Yoganarasimha temple, KSTDC Mayura hotel, Ranjitha restaurant and the botanical gardens providing the ideal picnic spot. Tourists are advised not to litter the place. Please carry back the litter so that clean environ can be maintained.



On the other side of Nandi hills on the return one can come across the Nandi temple after which the hills are named. It is an old temple subject to mindless modernization. This temple belongs to the chola period, the architecture and sculpture has to be seen to believed. The busty apsaras and menakas, and various episodes from the epics are beautifully etched on the facade of the temple. The lawn is beautifully landscaped without many visitors. I only hope ASI has not blundered by allowing pooja in the temple and thereby providing a scope for vandalism of the temple. It is better to provide security 24 hours to protect the heritage. Enroute to Chickballapur one comes across cemetery of the British soldiers and their family buried.



The ultimate surprise present for heritage hunters in the form of old Veerabhadra temple, along with Shiva and Parvathi temple. The architecture is astounding. The premise seems to have been a flourishing bazaar outside the temple, many of the artifacts seems to have been stolen by the British. One should not miss this temple enroute to Chickaballapur, which can lead back to NH 7.


Couples who want privacy would be advised to spend time on Nandi Hills without any fear of persecution. Overall a trip to Nandi hills recharges ones batteries fully.

Beware of Monkey Menace : Ladies have to careful with regard to their PURSE and Handbag