Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills is around 58km from Bangalore. It is also known as Nandidurga, and was one of the summer retreats of Tipu Sultan. Nandi Hills was popular with the British too who built bungalows and laid out gardens here. Normally the climate here is cool. But preferred visiting season is October-December, as the hills will be foggy. And if you wanna beat the summer, you can still visit in March to May.

From bangalore, you can catch a bus to Nandi Hills. If you are taking your car, you will enjoy climbing the hill with few hairpin curves. Little care should be taken in driving and more importantly, plan to return back on the same day unless you have booked a lodge on top of hill.

Main attractions

• Amrit sarovar: It is the first place you see as you enter the main gate of Nandi hills. To me it seemed a ordinary pond where no activity can be performed. Nothing special about the lake. The spot attraction is just the greenary.

• Yoginandishwara Temple: Its an ancient temple dedicated to Bull Lord. There are other small temples also here. There is another temple inside, of Goddess Parvati. A temple of Ganesha and Hanuman are in Close vicinity to temple. The Temple is situated on a rocky terrain so avoid walking bare foot on a sunny day. Temple is not a great architectural marvel.

• Nehru Nilya: Situated in Lush Greenary this white colored monument can not be seen from inside. But an ideal place for some photography.

• Tipu’s drop: This is the place where Sultans used to punish the prisoners & criminals. This place is scariest of all the places. It is a steep around 1200 feet high.

(  posted by Raghu of http://placesaroundbangalore.blogspot.com/)