[mpksuhas]

13 - Dec - 2014

Located next in vicinity of famous Nandi hills in Bangalore are two tourist locations which are hardly visited by anyone.

First is Bhoganandishwara temple, an 810 AD temple, said to be the oldest in Karnataka. The second is birthplace of M.Visvesvaraya, Muddenahalli. His ancestral home now houses a museum.

We decide to visit both the locations and give Nandi hills a miss since off-late it has become too crowded.


We start around 06.00 AM from Marathahalli, Bangalore towards Hebbal. Route taken is Hebbal - NH 7 - Devenahalli.

Instead of taking left soon after Devanahalli towards Nandi hills, we proceed further north on NH 7. Just before start of Chikkaballapura bye-pass we take left towards Nandi village.

Road condition is descent till Nandi. From Nandi junction take a right and proceed for few hundred meters to reach Bhoganandishwara temple.



Bhoganandishwara Temple



Since there was couple of vehicles parked near main gate we proceeded towards side gates and parked there.

Temple was mostly empty.











Nandi hills is visible from the temple complex




We enjoy architecture of temple for a while and proceed towards the pond




The pond is beautifully designed





After spending sometime near the pond we start off when crowd starts to build up with time.

Our next destination is Muddenahalli. There are many signboards from NH 7 on-wards directing to Muddenahalli.



Muddenahalli

Muddenahalli is a nondescript village off Chikkabellapura - Dodabellapura, SH 74.

The village is birthplace of M.Visvesvaraya and his ancestroal home is now a museum which houses personal items including Bharath Ratna. On first floor of house a branch of State bank of Mysore, a bank founded by the man itself is located.


Apart from small patches, roads are in good condition and dotted with signboards.







Soon we reach turn off to the museum



There is sufficient space for parking near museum



Museum and tomb are located next to each other.



It is around 10.30 AM and we are early for museum. Museum opens at 11.00 AM and hence we have to wait for a while. The museum is taken care by a caretaker who doubles up a guide too.

Entry to museum is free. Photography is not allowed inside the museum.




After visiting the museum we proceed towards the tomb.



By 11.30 AM we start back to Bangalore, however hunger gets the better of us. We stop at a small restaurant en-route for a late breakfast.


Plane spotting

Food in tummy we decide to take NH 207 for way back and en-route stop over at backside of Bangalore International airport to spot airplanes.

For those who are not familar with this location, it is here on Google maps. From here you can get a good view of flights taking off / landing from BIAL. The view is better when flight takes this side of runway for landing, however we were not in luck and due to wind direction this side of runway was used for takeoff.




After spending sometime watching flights we return to Bangalore in time for lunch.

[mpksuhas]

Route direction

Onward journey -

Link




Temple to Muddenahalli -

Link




Return route -

Link




Epilogue

• Remember to take two way toll at NH 7 toll booth.
• There is a toilet complex next to temple entry gate.
• No restaurant facilities anywhere
• Keep an eye for speed limits, there is a permanent speed camera before airport turn off and also police with speed guns most of the time.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[ravib]

Very nice pics Suhas. Thanks for introducing this place to me.

Will add it to my TO-DO list

-Ravi

[Tushar]

Thanks for the share Suhas. Nice snaps & this should make for a nice and light weekend trip for when you're exhausted from the week. Got a friend moving to Bangalore soon, and he's already looking for spots to ride to .

[ampere]

The other thing you can try (since you started from Marthahalli) is to take 207. It makes the drive nicer compared to the airport traffic.

The temple is quite good. It has a big garden for kids to play. If one is in south Bangalore, a return via Doodaballapur/Nelamangala/NICE again makes for a good drive.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ravib

Thanks for introducing this place to me.

Originally Posted by Tushar

Nice snaps & this should make for a nice and light weekend trip for when you're exhausted from the week.

Thanks Ravi & Tushar.

Bangalore has quiet a few spots which can be considered as one day / half day spots. The only issue is with weekend crowd and traffic especially if you start late.

Originally Posted by ampere

The other thing you can try (since you started from Marthahalli) is to take 207. It makes the drive nicer compared to the airport traffic.

Exactly. Especially the traffic towards Hebbal is a mess most of the times as soon as you get off the elevated flyover.

We had taken NH 207 for return from Devanahalli, however for plane spotting we deviated to Mandur road from there.

[deehunk]

Nice write-up, the route from Chikkaballapura to Doddaballapura via Kuduvathi is a special one during full moon day, in the evening you can see the big moon between 2 hills (am referring to Nandi)

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

We had taken NH 207 for return from Devanahalli, however for plane spotting we deviated to Mandur road from there.

Can you share the road conditions in NH207 and the image you shared?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Can you share the road conditions in NH207 and the image you shared?

NH 207 condition is good. Its a 2 lane road with sparse traffic.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

NH 207 condition is good. Its a 2 lane road with sparse traffic.

Not sure on that any more. Its being 4-laned. Hence its quite possible that there may be deviations all over, especially between Devanahalli and Hoskote.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure on that any more. Its being 4-laned.

Thanks for the update. I was not aware of the widening work since its few months that I took this road.

[iVento]

Thanks Suhas. I knew about Muddenahalli but Bhoganandishwara Temple is new to me. Thanks for introducing it. Looks like the temple & surroundings are well maintained.
Beautiful snaps. Also, thanks for the practical tips.

Thanks