Picnic time - Big Banyan Tree and Manchenbelle Reservoir

 Big Banyan Tree is one of the popular  one-day-trip picnic spot  for Bangaloreans & we decided to explore this place on Xmas day holiday.   We started from my house  at about 9AM , & followed the Mysor Road , starting from Corporation circle.   After crossing the Mysor Road-Nice road junction , keep going on Mysor express way . After about 5km , you need to take diversion to right side , to go to  Big Banyan Tree.  Just at the diversion , there is RajRajeshwari Dental College. (so you can mark that as landmark).  This road, after taking diversion , goes to  Big Banyan Tree .(It is about 8km , form this diversion) . By 11AM we reached Big Banyan Tree.
               

Big Banyan Tree  or "Dodda Alada Mara" as called in Kannada,  is very old single plant & as name suggests it is spread across huge area of 3 acres. Multiple roots of this tree , have resurfaced from many locations & they appear as separate tree.  So though you see multiple trees, technically it is single tree , isn't it Amazing ?
              Karnataka government has developed the place, with proper walking tracks , sit-out benches alongside the walking tracks, proper fencing covering whole area .  There is ample parking space for vehicles across this fencing.



     

  One can feel the freshness & cool, once you enter the spot , due to dense spread of the tree. No wonder , many families prefer to spend the day under the shadow of tree.  You can see many family groups enjoying the tiff-ins , brought from home.




















 

But be aware of Monkeys, they try to snatch the things from people.   There are couple of small Hotels available , nearby spot. We enjoyed their till about 1PM  & then headed towards  Manchenbelle dam.




Manchenbelle dam  is constructed on Arakavathy river, which originates from Nandi Hills , close to Bangalore. If you go further ahead from Big Banyan tree,  straight road goes to Manchenbelle dam. It is about 10km from the Banyan tree.  You need to take couple of diversions to reach the dam - left diversion at "chunchunkuppe" village & afterwards right diversion at "chikkanhalli" village.  As you approach the dam ,  ghat section starts. You can  stop in the ghat , & enjoy the beautiful view of the dam.  We tried to get to the edge of dam & enjou in water , but  I think access is prohibited due to frequent mishaps.


 

Anyway by now it 2PM, & we were already feeling hungry.  Just before ghat starts, there is small place at roadside where one can have rest & take food -brought from home.  It was perfect picnic feeling , as we sat under margosa tree ("Neem" tree) & enjoyed the home cooked meal. There is also small water source nearby.

After taking the meal , we started return journey to Bangalore , by "Big Banyan tree" road , at around 4PM.& reached home by 6PM.

Overall I would strongly recommend this place , for a rejuvenating picnic..!
       
       

                                                                                                                
               
                     
             
                           
       
           
   

Big Banyan Tree,Manchenbelle Reservoir,picnic.,

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Nandi Hills ...Weekend heaven for Bangloreans...

Nandi hills , a hill station , & perfect place for weekend outing,  was on our plan from many days since we relocated to B'lore.. so we decided to head to it on this Xmas.

          We had planned to stay overnight at the top in KSTDC hotel ,  as we wanted to enjoy famous sunrise view from nandi hills. So we started from B'lore around 9AM . From B'lore (Hebbal flyover) its about 52 km. You need to follow NH-7 road ,  & take left diversion after  Devanhaalli town.  After diversion,  simply follow the road till the T-section (comes after about ~20 kms from Devanhalli diversion.) & again take left diversion , which will lead you to Nanhi hills road.    After driving for another few Kms , you can easily spot a Chowk ,  from where the Ghat Section for Nandi Hills starts.

          For me it was 1st time to drive car in Ghat section  so I was quite cautious & at the same super excited to experience the cool breeze of hilly region.  The curves in this road are all numbered. You can see the numbers on each curve/turn.  You can manage easily , till turn no. 29.  But from 30 it gets really steep & And there are around 9/10 steep turns like this.  Do not forget to honk at every turn & make sure headlights are on , as  visibility is low due to fog .

Once you cross the hurdle of steep turns , you are there at Entrance of Nandi hillls , which is a big Arch like structure. Here you can purchase the entrance tickets & park your vehicle. Entrance ticket fee is nominal  For those , who come by CAR, have option of driving 1km further uphill & park at topmost point of Nandi Hills. (For bikers, you have to walk from here as bikes are not permitted after this point )
 
         As we had reserved KSTDC Hotel for staying overnight , we chose 1st option & drove till hotel at top. By the time we settled in hotel it was around 12 noon.   This  KSTDC run Hotel named as "Hotel Mayura Pine Top" is situated right next to the place , from where people enjoy sunrise.  So you get beautiful  view from Hotel.  Overall hotel rooms are ok, considering the moderate tariff.  You can book the hotel online from karnatakaholidays   There is another option of staying  in "Nehru House"  , which is situated exactly at centre of Nandi hills ."Nehru House" is run by  Horticulture Department of Karnataka Government. & to book rooms , you need to personally visit     Horticulture Department office , which situated at Lalbagh, Bangalore-560004

"Hotel Mayura Pine Top"

The KSTDC Hotel also has this small beautiful private Garden ,where only occupants of Hotel have access to go. 

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Nehru House

           The only place to get food  on Nandi hills , is the canteen of this KSTDC  hotel. After having lunch here , we started to explore the places. There is nice Temple , just besides hotel , which has small pond inside. It's nice to spend few minutes , sitting on stairs in front of  the pond.  We further went downwards towards the main entry of Nandi hills , & enroute we spotted the source of Arkavati river.  Rivers Pennar, Palar and Arkavati originate from these hills. But most of the sources are dried up.

Pennar River Origin

There is big beautiful lake "Amruth Sarovar" , very near to main entry. This lake brims with lucid water all the year round.

Amruth Sarovar

By now it was evening & we headed to Tipu's drop to enjoy sunset.  Tipu's drop , which is just besides KSTDC  hotel , is one of the man attraction on Nandi hills.  During Tippus reign, criminals were pushed down from this point to their death as punishment.  It is extremely steep fall.  There is large patch of rocks , at this place. So we sat their , enjoyed one of the most beautiful sunset.  Overall climate was fantastic , with chill wind of winter season , making the experience  more memorable...

Rocky patch near Tipu's drop

       After sunset  it was total dark , & except people who are staying overnight at hotlel , all people were heading  to leave Nandi hill.  As it is not allowed to roam around on Nandi Hills after Sunset. There are security guards & police who patrol the area.  Also people staying  in Hotel are also not supposed to ,come out & roam , as there are possibilities encountering of wild animal.    In KSTDC hotel , you need to order for dinner before 6pm. But we had missed that , as we did not know about it.  But they were kind enough to entertain our request for dinner , after 7pm.
 The  cool breeze ,shimmering sound of leaves of frees in surounding forest , the darkness , all this was thrilling & worth experiencing  by staying overnight

            Next day  we got up early , to catch the sight of  Sunrise ..its the famous one  ..Bangloreans start as early as 3AM , to reach Nandy hills & enjoy sunrise... For us, it was royal treatment , thanks to strategic location of   KSTDC  Hotel , we can  see the sunrise, literally from your bed in your room.   There was  already crowd gathered to witness the event ..

      After getting fresh  , we decided to detour the nandi hills , by walking on the outermost mud path of hill.   This is proper walking path , though it is narrow.  For this we again went down towards main entry gate &  saw Tipu's summer Palace. Its not in that much good condition , but its good to see.

 Tipu's summer Palace

             Beyound this Tipu's  Palace , if you go still down , you can spot Gavi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple which formed due to natural formation of huge boulders.   The trekking route of Nandi hills, which starts from nearby "Sultanpet" village , ends near this temple.

Gavi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple

          From Tipu's  Palace , we started  walking on the narrow  path on outermost  edge of hill .  It was nice experience in  misty morning of winter ,as you can see all the surrounding of Hill , as you walk & also you can visit other tourist spots .

The Ghat section Road  looks beautiful from top

           We could see source "Pennar" river , but it was dry too.  After that there is place called "Brahmashrama" - A serene place for the spiritual minded, & is built by huge natural boulders. It is said that Sage Ramakrishna meditated here. It was chilling cold inside this Brahmashrama.
          Just next to Brahmashrama , there is temple of  "Nellikayi Basavanna" . There is enormous statue of  Nandi  in fron of  gooseberry tree  ( Nellikai is the Kannada word for gooseberry fruit and owing to the gooseberry tree in front of the Basavanna (Nandi) its called the Nellikai Basavanna. This idol of Basava is 1300 ys old. The Nellikai Basavanna idol measures around 10 feet long and 6 feet height.)

Nellikayi Basavanna temple

               As the detour of nandi hills came to end , we found ourelf at the back side of our KSTDC hotel..   By now it was  9AM , so we had breakfast in hotel.  As we had still time to check-out  the rooms, we roamed in children area which is close to Hotel .The Horticulture department maintains a this  lovely garden for children to play games like the slides, merry-go-round, swings etc.

Adults too enjoying in children play area

Hut like structures in children play area

We checked out at 12 noon & started our return journey. Overall it was relaxing weekend .. with serenity & beauty of nature around..

Thanks for Reading...

P.S.
Enjoy my travel  reports on below links ...
Trek to Kumara Parvata 

Amruth Sarova,Hotel Mayura Pine Top,KSTDC Hotel,Nandi hills,Nehru House,Nellikayi Basavanna,sunrise,sunset,Tipu's drop,Tipu's summer Palace,

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