Written by: Raju Shanbhag
Nandi Hills
If you ever dreamt of coming face to face with a whirlwind breeze when you stand over rock solid cliff, spread tantalizingly over a steep hill, Nandi Hills beckons you for all the right reasons. Like most of the good hill stations in India, Nandi Hills, also called Nandi Durga, was discovered and developed by the British. Located 58 kilometers from Bangalore, Nandi Hills is well known for its breezy weather and sprawling greenery that stretches as far as your eyes can go.
Orientation
The hill is located 20 km away from the national highway after Devanahalli. This mighty hill, which is 4851 ft above the sea level, attracts lots of traffic on holidays and weekends.
Weather
If you escape the maddening traffic and polluted climate of Bangalore to reach Nandi Hills, you’ll feel that you have stepped into a giant sized refrigerator. Of course, you cannot be too wrong, because Nandi hills is always cooler than its surrounding places because of the greenery and its height.
Usually, Nandi hills will have people visiting it all around the year. But you are advised to avoid rainy seasons as the rocky cliff can get dangerously slippery and the road can get really unforgiving, unless you think this is how an adventure holiday should be!
Getting there / Route information
Buses
If you are game with the KSRTC travel, try the bus that leaves at morning 8.30 from platform no. 10 in Majestic. You will also get buses at other times and they are also available to return from Nandi Hill. Buses are also available from Chikkaballapur.
Other Vehicles
Depending on your purse and purpose, you can try various other vehicles right from two wheelers to plush four wheelers.
Road Quality
Although the national highway is good, roads will deteriorate a little once you take diversion.
Pictures of Nandi Hills
|
|
|
Major Attractions
Tipu’s Drop
The place where Tippu used to dropped his prisoners, is the modern day tourist attraction in Nandi Hills. No live demos though!
Tipu’s Summer Residence
Although this could have been a major tourist attraction, you can only view it from outside. The palace is closed for public.
Temples
There are temples dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha, Sri Ugra Narasimha and Sri Yoga Narasimha .
Brahmashram
This is the cave where Sage Ramakrishna Paramhamsa supposedly meditated.
Vital Tourist Information
Beware of your ancestors!
Nandi Hills is full of monkeys who have developed a special appetite for the food brought by the travelers. They know their strength lies in the numbers and that children are the easiest target to snatch things from. So, if you are planning to eat out in the gardens of the Nandi Hill, be prepared to share your food with these uninvited guests!
Hotels
There is a hotel run by the government on the top of the hill. The hotel always looks short of customers and you are free to let your imagination run wild and come up with the reasons for the same. There are plenty of tea shops and other small time vendors who sell branded chips, mineral water, snacks and chai/coffee. If you are looking to stay in Nandi hills to enjoy the night, you can either stay in the Travelers Bungalow or Hotel Mayura Pine Top, managed by KSTDC.
Superb article man! Yes, Nandi hills is a damn good picnic spot.. No matter how many times you visit, you wont get bored of it and that too if u r living in Bangalore!
I am in bangalore now, a trourist.
A casual search lead me to your site ! Quite informative i would say
What i really miss is a nice little easy direction map? In bangalore i hear that you can be taken for a ride by auto & taxi drivers, a nice little fare table would have been attractive
What all activities can i find in this place? I hear i can do microlight flying. is it true?
Thanks for the suggestions. We shall do the map stuff soon.
Activities you can do at Nandi hills are paragliding and trekking! Ozone India organizes the paraglidings. (Ozone India charges about Rs.1000 for a Tandem that’s 15 minutes) Contact Tel : + 91 – 80 – 2356 1871 / 72. Hope it helps!
Hey Raghu, Thx for the info and of course will be coming back for maps
I am missing the weather reports. In india i find it difficult to plan your trip for the destination weather….no crisp and concise information is avaliable.
Not sure if i am asking for too much…can we have a “www.polyvore.com” for travel in india ! i am greedy , i guess thatz okay
Ofcourse, its okay! Yes, Maps, weather and driving directions are in our list. Hey your polyvore.com idea is impressive! thanks.. I would invite you to join our forum (at letsgoplaces.in/forum/)
http://www.kango.com/
We visited Nandi Hills on 2nd Aug 2008 and it was great experience. Must see place very close to Bangalore.
I did an awesome tandem paragliding flight from Nandi hills with Narendra. His club , Xtacee paragliding club organise tandem flights from Oct-May.Their website is http://www.flynandi.com.
This one is good one, as I can plan it while in Bangalore on office work, a short trip.
To keep away monkeys, keep a small stick with you.
Bangalore Mountaineering Club (bmcindia.org) did some good work of cleaning plastic from Nandi hills they also conduct Paragilding there.
How do i upload pictures? I have some cool pictures of nandi hills