Nandi Hills (Nandi Betta) is situated about 60 Kms from Bangalore and was my and my friends destination for the day. Till yesterday late evening we had not decided where we would be heading; then finally we settled on Nandi Hills. Here is how the things went…
Early morning at 8:00 am we reached Majestic Bus Terminus, and then moved over to the KSRTC bus stand Platform 10 from where we took the direct bus to Nandi Hills which leaves the terminus at 8:30. The bus goes via Doddabellapur and costs us Rs. 34/- per head. The journey was pleasant and we reached the bottom of the hills also known as the Nandi Hill Cross at around 10:30 where the driver stopped the bus for tea. After 10-15 mins, we were back on road for the last 8 kms of the journey which was completely uphill and reached the top at 11:00 am.
We then purchased the entrance tickets which were minimally priced at Rs 3/- per head. The first think you see as soon as you enter is the Amrit Sarovar which is a small tank, nothing much to see here, so we moved on.
Instead of taking the motor-able road to the top, we took the walking path situated to the left of the tank. This turned out to be a very good choice as we soon found our self walking along the fort walls which gave us some really amazing views of the land below.
As we continued we came to ‘Gandhi Nilaya’, the rest house where Gandhiji had stayed long long ago, though people are not allowed inside, the view which could be had from the garden area justified the choice for Gandiji’s stay here.
The next stop was at ‘Nehru Nilaya’, this has been nicely maintained; but again no entry inside the building. But it does provide some good photographic opportunities. There is also some seating and playing arrangements on the sides where we relaxed for sometime before moving ahead.
Moving ahead we went to ‘Yoginandishwara Temple’ and then moved on to have our lunch at ‘Hotel Ranjitha’ (only other alternative was ‘Hotel Mayur’).
After lunch we went to a spot called “Tipu’s Drop” right behind the temple, apparently because Tipu Sultan used to punish people by throwing people down from this place. The spot and the views it offered was just too breath taking. The spot which I am talking is somewhat blocked. But the other side it is completely open; though we were on the safer side and did not navigate our self to the very edge there were some fanatics who took them self to the very edge. We even saw two lovers sitting on the rocks at the very edge and one false move would have been the last anyone would have seen of them. The most amazing thing was that there were parents who wanted to take snaps of the kids aged around 3-5 years, who let them alone near the edge!!! Are people really this foolish or just too ignorant of the risks and the dangers involved; or are they under the influence of “Nothing can happen to us” syndrome.
After roaming around a bit more we headed back to the bus stop, and found one just arriving, that to a direct one to Bangalore. This time around the charge was Rs.43/- per head, since the bus route for this bus was to pass through Chikkabellapura, hence the total distance was 86kms. We left Nandi Hills at 4:15pm and reached KSRTC terminus exactly at 7:15 pm.
Overall the Nandi hills is a good spot for picnic and for a day away for the city life. And it is an inexpensive way to chill out, we incurred an expense of 150/- per head for the whole trip, around half was it for the food items which are quite expensive on the hill. Have a great time.
Facts:
- Nandi Hills is located 60 Kms from Bangalore.
- Direct bus to Nandi Hills is at 8:30 am from KSRTC bus stop platform number 10.
- The top of the hills is approx 4851 Feet (1479 Mtrs) above mean sea level.
- Places to visit: Gandhi Nilaya, Nehru Nilaya, Yoginandishwara Temple, Tipu’s Drop.
- Two hotels on the top (Ranjitha and Mayura)
Suggestions:
- It is better to take any food items which you want to eat from Bangalore itself, everything sold in the hills is priced around 30% above MRP, example Lays MRP Rs. 20/- is sold for Rs. 25/-, Ice cream MRP 18/- is sold at 25/- !!!
- Walk around and explore for the best experience.
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Very good article on nandi hills. Just loved the details in it. Actually i have seen numerous articles on Nandi Hills with all that you can enjoy in Nandi hills .. none of them mentioned the trip by bus & the bus timings etc. Since i donot have a vehicle my only option was to go by KSRTC bus.
You have made my Day. I will be going this Sunday (6th Jan 08)
Thanks a lot. Keep up the good work
Thanks Robinson…….do let us know how it went….and share your experiences with all…..
Hi Nithin,
Giving a late feedback. Anyway, we literaly followed your inputs (like took the bus @8.30, had a good stock of food etc.)
Only thing i would want to add is the journey return was very painful. The bus came from Doddabellapur, very long route. there was a 5 pm return bus which we should have taken. Otherwise the trip was really good.
There was a huge monkey menace, we had to have a stick in hand so that monkeys stay away from us.
The scene was very good. We spent more time behind Tipu’s summer palace, clicked a good number of spans there.
In all a good journey with limited budget.
I hope to go to Bandipur soon, hunting for similar suggestions
Hi Robinson,
Nice to hear that you had a good experience. And sorry about the return trip, when I went I was unaware of the 5:00pm bus, and since the 4:00 pm bus itself was so crowded, it would have been worse on the 5:00 pm. But I am not sure.
And have a great trip to Bandipur, give in your inputs once you have been there. I too may go there if viable.
you done good job, people who want to visit Nandi hills they can get the complete informaton for them. once again congrats
Hi All,
Apart from 8:30 do you have any buses directly from Mejestic if yes then please send me the details…what is the alternate means if i have to leave around…10AM in the morning…
@Prabhakar: I am not sure if there are any other direct buses….it is best to enquire at the bus stand…
@Prabhakar: I am not sure if there are any other direct buses….it is best to enquire at the bus stand…
@Prabhakar: I am not sure if there are any other direct buses….it is best to enquire at the bus stand…
Thanks a ton for a such a wonderful update, I will be heading this weekend only.
Hi.. one more update which i experienced was one should not go there single as single entry is not allowed, at least two persons should be available.
This information is really helpful, thanks a lot! This is the 1st time am heading in a bus to Nandi. Actually am taking two families out to Nandi and got lot of info here which i cudn’t locate elsewhere. Keep the good job going: )
@Vineet: Thanks for update and letting us know that single entry is not allowed.
@Asha: Thanks, do let us know how your trip goes on.
Thanks a lot, for giving the information about Nandi hills, I am very happy with all your messages, I just want to know wheather Lovers are alloved to Nandi hills & how many Liters of petrol for 2 whlr it takes from Hebbal to Nandi Hills, please reply
Good And Useful
George Joseph
@Bhagyalakshmi : Anyone is allowed as long as there are more than one person, regarding the number of liters of petrol required, you do the math, it is 60+ kms one way, so for a round trip on a bike i would assume you would require 3 liters.
@George : Thanks.
Sir
Very nice article on Nandi Hills. Your article helped us a lot. We went to Nandi Hills this sunday along with my in-laws by car. We reached the hills at 7am. Unfortunately there are so many steps my in-laws can not climb it they stayed back in the car at parking place. My self,My Husband ,daughter and car driver went on the top and saw only Sun rise .We enjoyed a lot by looking at sun rise.We immediately got down as my in-laws are in the car. Those who can walk on their own ,even though they are aged can go till top of the hill. My in-laws have enjoyed only ghat road 8kms enjoyment and snow fall. when we are there by that time it is raining little bit ,snow fall, cloudy. It is very nice place for a good weekend.
From there we started at 8.30am to Ghatti Subramanya temple.25kms from Nandi Hills. Villagers of Nandi hills showed a short cut route .In this short cut route we reached the temple within 16kms. But only thing is road is very bad. While going we have to ask villagers ghatti directions then they will guide us.
Here God is self originated and god is in a single image but gives darshan from east side as subramanya and west side as Narasimha swamy. We have to see the Lord Narasimha through a mirror which is placed rear side.
Thank you so much for your nice article and keep it up.We will definitely visit Nandi hills again as we could not see completely.