Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills also called as Nandi Betta is located around 60 km from Bangalore City. This place carries a lot of History with it. The place is called Nandi Hills because the hills resemble that of a sleeping bull. This place is the most common weekend gateway for most of the Bangloreans.

I have been to Nandi hills a couple of times before but this time it was with a new set of friends I made in my office during a team building activity. I was a part of a very enthusiastic team called Southern bulls .

This time I would like to write more about my experience rather than a travelogue.

We all met at my friend's place at Sarjapur on 16th Sept, Friday evening. We had planned to start quite early at around 3.00 am so that we can see the sunrise, relax and chill and then move ahead to Avalabetta during the later part of the day.  Waking up early early morning on a weekend is a daunting task in itself, so we decided to stay awake throughout the night on Friday. Cracking jokes at each other, sharing interesting stories, we dint even notice how it was well past 3:00 am. At around 4:00 am we 8 people started in 2 cars. All through the way the drive was awesome. We stopped for tea at a street side vendor a little after crossing the airport toll gate.

We reached the foot hills of Nandi Hills at around 5:45 am. The gates were yet to be opened, so we sat down at the foot hills chatting and continuing our pranks and masti. There is a girl, whom we fondly call The Polar bear, who is always our target. The moment the gates were opened, we headed towards the 15 min journey to the top of the hill. Nandi Hills is 1479 mts above the sea level and the view on either sides is breathtaking! Finally we entrance arch on the hill top, parked the cars and took the entrance tickets. No wonder there was a lot of crowd since it was a weekend and monsoon had just stopped.

We roamed around the Nandi hills and we were enjoying the beauty around us. Few of us were busy posing for pictures and a patience testing the hobby photographers. I feel, no matter how hard we try, the nature's beauty cannot be captured in a camera, it can only be felt

After spending a couple of hours there we just sat on the rocks for a while.  The silence was calming and the breeze was soothing. The winds sprayed cold mist on our faces; this added spice to the already mesmerizing ambiance. Lost in our own spaces, we all were savoring the experience to the core.

P.C: Shravan Shenoy

We spent a bit more time at Nandi Hills than expected. We decided to ditch the plans of Avalabetta. We returned to the foothills and ate breakfast. On the way back to Bangalore, we stopped and visited a temple named Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple. The 9th century AD temple had some amazing carvings.

Nandi Hills never fails to mesmerize us no matter how many times we visit it !