Weekend Getaways Towards Chikkballapur-Doddaballapur

Rangasthala is an ancient temple of Lord Ranganatha. It depicts the architecture of Vijayanagar.

The temple is magnificient. The insides have been in ruins and have been renovated recently. That has reduced the beauty of the place. Nonetheless, it's a great place to go to for spending a day.

Directions: Go to Chikkaballapur beyond Devanhalli. The temple is closeby.

Nandi Hills has been a favourite picnic place for young enthusiasts on a weekend. From Bangalore, Nandi Hills is a mere 60 kilometers. Nandi Hills offers a surprise of breathtaking scenic beauty and excellent climatic condition. Situated in the Chikkaballapur Taluk of Kolar District in Karnataka, Nandi Hills, at the height of 4851 feet above sea level is, the most popular picnic spot.

Nandi hills was the summer haven of Tipu Sultan as well as the British and was also known as Nandi Durg (Nandi Fort) and Ananda Giri.

You can visit this place at any time of the year. Its best if you are on top of the hill before sunrise. The wind, fog and clouds that blow towards you in the morning is just amazing.

What to see at Nandi Hills:

1. Tipu's Drop - the place from where Tippu Sultan made his prisoners fall
2. Tipu's Summer Residence - a beautiful palace on top of this hill. This palace is closed to the general public
3. Temples - there are temples dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha, Sri Ugra Narasimha and Sri Yoga Narasimha
4. Gavi Veerbhadra Swamy temple on top of the hill (The temple inside a big rock/cave)
5. Nehru Nilaya - where Jawaharlal Nehru used to stay, now a guest house of the horticulture department of India.
6. Rivers - the rivers Pennar, Palar and Arkavati originate from these hills. Most of the sources have dried up.
7. Brahmashram - it is said that Sage Ramakrishna Paramhamsa meditated here. Its a cool cave.
8. Muddenahalli - the home town of Sir M. Vishweshwarayya, the architect of modern Karnataka. Muddenahalli is just a few kilometres away from Nandi Hills. His house is now a museum.

How to reach Nandi Hills:

By Private vehicle:

 From Hebbal flyover take NH7 and take a left diversion (about 10km after passing by BIAL airport flyover) with a signboard in English "Nandi Hills 22 km". Around 7 km after the BIAL flyover towards Nandi hill across the highway, you can see a fort / birth place of Tippu Sultan.

By Bus: Buses are available from Bangalore central bus station (majestic) to Nandi Hills. In the morning and evening there are direct busses. The KSRTC bus to the top leaves at 8AM from platform 10. Returning direct busses from the Hills to Banglore leave at 2:30PM, 4:15PM and 5PM

Alternative: Go to Chikballapur and from there with a private bus to the Nandi Hills. The busses leave every half an hour and it takes about 2 hours to reach the hill. Take the bus to Chikballapur from platform 11. After about 1 hour you will reach Chikballapur

Food at Nandi Hills:

There are few restaurants on top of the hill and the food is of very good quality. There are a lot of restaurants and dhabas on NH7 and near the Airport too.

Where to stay at Nandi Hills:

If planning to stay at Nandi Hills, accommodation is easily available at the Nandi Hills. You may take your pick from hotel, cottage, tourist bungalow, Forest lodge, Guest House et al at the Nandi Hills

Para-Gliding at Nandi Hills:

For more adventurous folks, there is para-gliding carried out by private players on top of the Nandi Hills

Ghati Subramanya is one of the popular pilgrim centers located near Doddaballapur of Bangalore Rural district. Ghati Subrahmanya is located about 60 Kms from Bangalore.

Subramanya -  Subramanya is in the Snake roopa here.  While doing the samapthi of his avataara, Subramanya/Skanda took the vesha of snake, and asked the bhaktadigalu to worship in the form of a snake only..  That is why Subramanya is worshipped in the form of a snake.

The temple here is dedicated to Lord Subramanya and Lord Lakshmi Narasimha. It is believed that the idol of Shri subrahmanya is self originated. The uniqueness of the temple is, Sri Subrahmanya is facing east and Sri Lakshmi Narasimha is facing west in a single image. One can have darshan of Lord Narasimha through a mirror placed rear side.

Skandagiri Hills is located very near to Nandi Hills. 68 Kms from Bangalore towards Chikballapur. SkandaGiri Hills, also known as Kandavara betta or Karavara halli betta.

How to reach: To reach this Hills, you need to take Hyderabad highway from Bangalore. Reach Yelahanka proceed towards Hyderabad, travel some 40 kms (from Yelahanka) and you will reach Chikballapur town. From here you need to take a left turn to reach Papagni Math. Seek help from local people for exact directions. There's motorable road till Papagni Math, which is at the bottom of the Karavarahalli betta. You can park your vehicle here and start off. Its is around 65-70 kms from Majestic- So 90 minute would be ideal travel time from Bangalore city.

Alternative route: You'll see the hills from mainroad as you near Chikballapur town. So instead of going till Chikballapur city you make take a left turn somewhere, explore the land on your own, make your own road and reach the hill. There is a good grape garden on the way.

Best Season to go is Post rainy season to increase the chances of seeing that lovely clouds Such clouds/fogs can be felt in high altitude during post rainy season.

Best Time to start trekking is around 2 AM night, so that you can reach the peak of hill around 4.30 and its best time to wait to view the sunrise.  Take some guide if you start in night to show the route because night trekking there is possibility of missing the route.

Carry some water bottles and food stuffs, there are no shops near by. Over the top we can see some stalls of omelet and tea.

Permission should be taken from forest department before starting. Forest department office is just near the starting point.

Other places closeby:

You can plan for visiting Nandi hills. you can also visit Residence of Sir M.Visvesvaraya and his Museum, its just 2 Km from skandagiri Hills.