Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara...Nandi and Bhoganandeeshwara..Unforgettable moments with the besties :)

The trip to these places would have been incomplete without the company of the besties. We were planning to visit nandi hills by bikes from a long time. Unfortunately, time played gambling game with us giving us no chance to visit Nandi hills. But that could not completely succeed in stopping us from making this trip happen. We decided that zindagi na milegi dubara and planned the trip with my new car as a long drive treat for my pals :) We were thinking of other alternatives also. After reading about the Bhoganandeeshwara, we firmly believed that, visiting this place would be awesome and locked this option.

The trip was scheduled at 4AM so that we can reach Nandi hills to get the best view of the sunset. I woke up at 3AM and watsapped pals to get up and get ready soon. Also reminded them to call me before they start from their home to mine( so that I can sleep for max time till they reach). They reached my home on time and our best time started. We chatted nonstop about almost everything on this earth. Early morning drive was too good with nice patterns being seen on airport road made with the tail lamps of so many vehicles. We saw lot of people hiring the cars of their own choices from Zoomcar and trying their driving skills on this way. Along with roaring speeds of motor vehicles, we could also spot lot of enthusiastic cyclists who were on their way to Nandi. The roads were quiet until we started climbing up the destination. Once we reached about 70% uphill, we found that most of the Bangalore traffic was found in the same spot. Two wheelers were trying to go ahead of the queue. Even 4 wheelers tried to follow two wheelers ending up making the traffic conditions worse. We crawled and reached the parking spot just to see that sunrise had happened already. Here is the first glimpse we had as soon as we reached.

morning traffic at nandi

First glimpse of sunrise

The place was over crowded. All view points were completely occupied either by people or by monkeys. Apparently it looked like there were equal number of people and their ancestors. Since we visited this palce in April there was not much cloud, and the view was pretty normal, not up to the mark for which Nandi is famous for. We roamed around the place for better views and ofcourse to take pictures :) Here is how virtual eye found the place as.

View from tippu drop

This is how we got there, can spot few cyclists if we zoom

Sunrays captured

Crew who travelled to say Yeh Dosti Ham Nahi Chodenge

After the photo sessions, we had breakfast at the restaurant and started to Bhoganandeeshwara. Once we reach the basement, asked local people direction to reach Bhoganandeeshwara. On the way to bhoganandeeshwara, we can also find alternate way to reach nandi hills via stairs. The spot is known as a shooting spot, we arrived there hoping to see some actions. We were not let down by our expectations. We got to see the glimpse of that as well along with the glorious temple.

We were welcomed by the green carpet along with the dried out pond and huge Peepal tree. Here is how we were welcomed.

One can imagine the heat

Peepal tree

Stonework 

We then entered the main attraction, Bhoganandeeshwara temple. As soon as we entered the temple, I found that the architecture of the temple is similar to the one that is found in Lepakshi . I was so excited to take pictures of each and every pillar that was there in this temple. As mentioned above, there was some movie shooting going on. Hence the main pond was actually filled with water from external resources. I am sharing here the glory of this temple in form of pictures. To take pictures of this structure itself, I had tough time to capture all. Hats off to the sculptor who did it.

After watching the movie shoot for some time, we started to return to Bangalore. The police on duty there for security threatened us that he would snatch our camera if we found to take pictures of the shooting spot. We found it very tough to escape from him. Overall, enjoyed the trip thoroughly. After all, once you have nice place to visit, gems like people to hangout with the trip is guaranteed to be enjoyed.


Key take aways:
Overall distance covered : 160km (from my home -home)
If we go via airport road to Nandi hills, there is a toll of 65rp oneway, 120 round about. If we want to avoid toll, one can reach doddaballapur via rajanukunte and then reach nandi hills
KSRTC  buses also operate from 6am in the morning from Majestic
On the way one can find lot of villagers selling their agro products. One can buy if they want.
On the top of the hill, there is a restaurant which has recognition from KSTDC. Food is tasty. But a bit costlier.
Cycling enthusiastic people surely can start off their endeavour from this place.

Lepakshi - The beauty of 15th Century Architecture

This is my first travel blog. I always love travelling and I felt I should capture all the details about my travel. So, without second thoughts let me share the experience of The Lepakshi - Temple of Sri Veerabhadraswami.

It all started with the newly purchased car of mine :) I was searching for weekend gateway which is comfortable for drive. After going through all the famous places in and around mysore road, I decided to go for my partners long awaiting wish, an interesting place to visit - Lepakshi. The plan was to cover Ghati Subramanya, Vidurashwatha and Lepakshi. I browsed the maps to cover all these places. I found that approximately the distance to Lepkashi is around 130km from my home. Hoping to avoid the Bangalore traffic, I started from home at 8AM, delayed by an hour from the actual schedule. I crossed all the city limits and reached almost near BIAL, and stopped at Adyar Anand Bhavan for breakfast. I enquired few people over there about the best route to reach Lepakshi. As per the advise from one of the travellers, I took the path along Doddaballapura-Gouribidanuru-Hindupur-Lepkashi. Initially the plan was to reach Lepakshi via Chikkaballapura. However, the Doddaballapura road that got deviation infront of A2B was toll free, adding the additional waiting time for railway crossings. Otherwise road is good. We can find lot of villagers selling vegetables/fruits along the roadside. We took the ready to eat Jack-fruit from one of them. It added nice flavour to the long drive.

After waiting for couple of railway crossing near Rajanukunte and near Doddaballapur, we headed towards Gouribidanuru. Since time was running faster than the drive, we decided to visit Lepakshi first and then cover other two places while returning. The drive after Doddaballapura is simply amazing surrounded the view of majestic rocks, train and curvy path. The town Gouribidanur was very dusty since the main road was under repair. We took the road that goes towards Hindupur, since it was in good condition from Gouribidanuru to reach Lepakshi. Approximately by 12PM we were welcomed by the destination for the day, Lepakshi. The city entrace was occupied by most of vegetable vendors, expecting the lot of people from outstation to buy the better veggies at better price from them, a win-win for both customer and seller.

Warmly welcomed by the Mahanandi at Lepakshi. The majestic stone art was carved out in approximately around 15th centure AD. Here is the brief detail about the monolithic art as explained at the site.

After reading all the details about the majestic Nandi, obviously, we would be eager to see the giant right? Ok, here it is :)

After being astonished by seeing such a mammoth sculpture, we proceeded to visit Sri Veerabhadraswamy Temple, the center of attraction in Lepakshi. Here is the history about this famous temple.

After recollecting the memories of various kingdoms that ruled Karnataka/Andhra border, entered the temple eagerly to witness the beauty of ancient strongly built temple. The pillars of the main temple are too huge and are beautifully carved with the sculptures of dancers and gandharva kanyas. The ceiling of the monument is beautifully painted with natural colors. It takes lot of imagination even to guess the artistic talent of the sculptors. The carvings of elephant,lion and other animals along with combination of various types of musical instruments on the pillars will stand as a proof for the richness of the Kingdom which built it. I believe that pictures express better than words. So, let me allow the pictures to make few talk here :)

The stambhas

Dancing sculptures

Natural color painting

Artistic sculptures

sabha mantapa

Temples prakara

Picture says it all, dancing lion

Fine tuning of stambhas

I feel pictures have spoken a lot lot about the Lepakshi temples enormous beauty. After mesmerising about its construction, we headed towards Vidurashwatha. This place was quite known for the freedom fight struggle that happened in this place during Indian independence. Apart from that, the temple is quite normal. The temple here has a story to its glory. The couple who do not have kids for long time in their married life come here and do the offering to Nagaraja, which is believed to help them to expand their family. After visiting the temple, we had pure filtered water provided by Govt of Karnataka. Also we had cold badam flavored milk to keep our thirst under control.

Nagadevata temple

Believe me, after this temple, we were almost exhausted without having proper lunch. Somehow we made it to Ghati Subramanya also. After that we bought few fresshhhhhh vegetables on the way back home :)


Few points to note :

If you are planning to visit Lepakshi alone, you can go via Chickballapura which actually saves a lot of time, but costs 80rp for toll. But the way on Doddaballapura is lively with lot of scenery around. Also we will get the chance to get fresh fruits and vegetables from local vendor. There are hardly any good hotels to have food. It is better to carry packed food from Bangalore only. This will help you to keep your hunger at bay and stay energetic for sight seeing :)

Hope you enjoyed the narration. Any suggestions for improvement is welcome.