My Ideas/Thoughts/Experiences

Participants:

1. Purushottom Suryarao
2. Myself

Date: 26th September, 2009

Bhoganandishwara Temple is perhaps the finest and the most ornate of the Dravidian temples. The whole temple consists of twin temples, Bhoganandishwara on the north while Arunachalaleshwara on the South. The temple was built by Ratnavali consort of the Bana King Bana Vidhyadhara at a record A.D.810.

Route Information:

Shani Temple: The temple is located at around 45 kms from Bangalore on NH7 towards Chikkaballapur. As you move towards the Chikkaballapur Taluk, you will find the temple on your right. The hotel Shanthi Sagar is located opposite to it besides a big banyan tree.

Bhoganandishwara Temple: Bhoganandishwara Temple is about 55 kms from Bangalore. Start towards Chikkaballapura on NH-7. After about 10 kms from the Airport crossing, turn towards left towards Nandi Hills. You will find a T junction (dead end), the left goes to Nandi Hills while the right goes towards Muddenahalli. Take the right here. After traveling almost 7 kms from there you will find the temple.

Participants:

1. K.Parthasarathy
2. Shrikant Gaikwad
3. Guru Prasad
4. Manivannan
5. Myself

Date: 6th September, 2009

The temple is dedicated to Lord Subrahmanya and Lord Lakshmi Narasimha. It is believed that the idol of 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. First time I went there, I was not able to make it out.

Route Information:

Ghati Subrahmanya – Ghati Subrahmanya is about 53 kms from Yelhanka, Bangalore. One needs to take the road towards Doddaballapur, and from Doddaballapur it is about 15kms. Just as you reach MakaliDurg railway station, take the road to the right. This will lead you to the temple.

MakaliDurg Fort – From the MakaliDurg Railway Station, to the base of the hill is exactly 2 kms. Walk on the railway track enjoying nature. On the left hand you will come across a temple of Lord Krishna. Cross the temple and take the road which will lead you to the fort. The climb to the top can be covered in 1 hr as informed by locals. In case you are more adventurous, climb straight towards the top. Be careful of snakes and thorny bushes.

Participants:

1. Shrikant Gaikwad
2. Myself

Date: 2nd August, 2009

Muthyala Maduvu which means Pearl Valley, is a picnic spot with a small waterfall. The attraction of the spot is the waterfalls which is formed by thin jets of water which gushes downs. The jets of water form a pond giving it the notion of pearls.

Route Information:

Pearl Valley is about 40 kms from Bangalore. It is in the periphery Bannerghatta National Park. One needs of take Bannerghatta Road and reach Bannerghatta National Park. Continue beyond and reach Anekal. Take a right turn at Anekal and after about 15 minutes drive you will reach the spot. At the top of the hill you can find a KSTDC hotel.

Participants:

1. Shrikant Gaikwad
2. Myself

Date: 19th July, 2009

Muthathi is a small river town, in a rural district of Karnataka, wherein you will find the Kaveri river running shallow and wide. The town is on the edge of the biggest forest range in India, which spreads across three states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala. In case you are lucky enough, you could see wild animals on the way. The huge Masheer game fish is also said to be found here. One needs to take permission from the forest officials in case one is planning to do a trek/night camp in the forest range.

Route Information:

Muthathi is around 100kms from Bangalore rounding to around 2 hrs journey in bike. One needs to hit the Kanakpura road from Bangalore, and drive straight to Kanakpura. Once when you reach Kanakpura circle, take the road to the right to Sathanur. Turn left at Sathanur. The road straight away leads to Muthathi. The drive would be through the hills and wilderness of Kaveri wildlife sanctuary.

Participants:

1. Shrikant Gaikwad
2. Myself

Date: 28th June, 2009

Janapada Loka is one of the folk cultural centre in the country and is a hub of Folk cultural activities in Karnataka. It is dedicated to preserve and promote folk art and culture in the state. The centre hosts a museum, an open air theater, a puppet theater, a community hall for conducting workshops etc. Agricultural hunting and fishing implements, weapons, ingenious household gadgets, masks, dolls and shadow puppets are the major items on display.

Route Information:

Janapada Loka- The museum is situated 53 kms on the Bangalore Mysore highway. The Kamat Restrurant restaurant is situated just besides it, on the right hand side, in case you are traveling from Bangalore.

Kanva Reservoir: Kanva reservoir is an artificial lake formed by damming of the river Kanva and is surrounded by wooded hills. The lake is about 70 kms from Bangalore and is about 12 kms from Janapada Loka. There is a sign board where you need to take a right turn just before an overbridge (first over bridge after Janapada Loka).

Participants:

1. K.Parthasarathy
2. Ishier Rahote
3. Guru Prasad
4. Manivannan
5. Myself

Date: 15th Feb, 2009

Gopalaswamy Betta (Himavad) is located in the Chamarajanagar district of the state of Karnataka and is the highest peak in the Bandipur National Park.Dense fog predominates and covers the hills round the year and thus gets the prefix Himavad (in the native language of Kannada) and the temple of Venugopalaswamy (Lord Krishna) gives the full name of Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta.

Route Information:

It is approximately 220 km from Bangalore, 75 km from Mysore on the Mysore Ooty road and 10 km away from Gundlupet. After Gundlupet, continue in the same Ooty-Mysore road towards Bandipur. Nearly 8Kms after Gundlupet, a place called Hangala is available. Take right turn at this place to proceed towards Gopalaswamy Betta. One can drive all along the way to the top of the hill. The forest department maintains a check post on the foot of the hill, wherein they collect entry fees.

Bangalore – Mysore – Gundlupet – Gopalaswamy Betta

Participants:

1. Dr. H. Krishnamurthy and Family
2. Mr. Ashok Rao and Family
3. Mr. Purushottom Suryarao and Family
4. Mr. H.S.Venkatraman and Family
5. Mr. P.C.Gautam
6. Myself

Date: 31st January, 2009

Nandi Hills, gets its name from an ancient Nandi temple situated on top of this hill. This temple has a thousand year old sculpture of Nandi. An ancient lord Shiva and Parvati temple also adorns this hill. The hill is also known as Nandidurg hill. The hill is about 1478m above sea level.

Route Information:

Nandi Hills is about 70 kms from Bangalore. Start towards Chikkaballapura on NH-7. After about 10 kms from the Airport crossing, turn towards left towards Nandi Hills. One can see a board showing the way.

Participants:

1. Aswin S.
2. Shrikant Gaikwad
3. Abdul K. Sharrif
4. Priya
5. Myself

Date: 3rd January, 2009

Skandagiri is one of the hill forts in the Nandi Hill ranges. This place is very near to Nandi Hills and Chikkaballapura. The dilapidated walls of the fort can also be seen today. It is surrounded by almost 6 walls of rings. The distance is about 70 kms from Bangalore.

Route Information:

There are two routes to Skandagiri:

1. From NH-7, turn towards Nandi Hills. At the base of Nandi Hills turn right (left goes to Nandi Hills) and proceed to Kalawara village via Muddenahalli.
2. From Chikkaballapura proceed directly to Kalawara village.
* Move towards Chikkaballapura. Follow the road until you find a Visweswaraih statue on to your Left.
* Take a left at this place and a right turn at the City Municipal Council a little further down. Later this shall directly lead to papagni Mutt, which is the basement of Skandagiri.

At Kalawara village ask for Omkara Jyoti Ashrama / Papagni Mutt. There is a Shiva temple near the base of the hill, where vehicles can be parked.

* Nandi to Kalawara to Papagni Mutt is 6 km.
* Chikaballapur to papagni Mutt is 3 km.