Nandi Hills, Karnataka, India

The Nandi hills are a short drive of 2 hrs from Bangalore. It has a hill fort called Nandidurg, built by Tipu Sultan in the 18th century. While there are many stories regarding the origin of the name Nandi Hills, the locals believe that it got its name from a 1300-year-old Nandi Temple situated on the hill.

It was a pleasant experience trekking on the hill top to visit the places of interest. A guide is recommended for locating some of the off-beat places. The cool air and the scenic views makes it a great day trip from Bangalore.

The Nandi Hill is a monolithic rock that towers 1700 feet above the surrounding plains. Here you see me leaning against the ramparts of the Nandidurg fort built by Tipu Sultan.

A view of the surrounding farmlands. A lot of vineyards are located in this region.

A number of these shades have been built to to serve as viewing points. I sat under one of them for some time, and enjoyed the scenery and the cool winds blowing over the hills.

The outer wall of the fort. Note how the irregular blocks of stone have been fitted together without any mortar. This method of construction can be seen at many ancient sites across the world.

Ready for take off! This part of the fort used to have a secret pathway that led down to the plains. It was one of the escape routes.

The 1300-year-old shrine of Nandi, the bull-vahana of Lord Shiva. The locals believe that that the hill got its name from this shrine.

The body of Nandi is plastered with butter. That is because of a local belief that, if you make a wish to Nandi and it gets fulfilled within 48 days, then you must cover the body of Nandi with 3 kgs of butter! Looks like a lot of wishes have been getting answered...

This is supposed to be the source of the Penna River, which runs for nearly 600 kms before draining into the Bay of Bengal. Could not see any water, though, probably because it hadn't rained in these parts for nearly 5-6 months.

An old Banyan tree with a small local shrine. It felt nice to take some rest under the cool shade of this tree after a long trek in the sun.

An old temple on the top of the hill dedicated to Lord Shiva. Although much of the temple has been renovated, the grand stone pillars remind us of days long gone by.

A lot of monkeys on the hill top. This one made off with an ice-cream cone from a little girl. My guide told me that that the monkeys here have become addicted to junk food - soft drinks, chips, ice-cream. If you offer them a plate of healthy, nourishing dal-rice they will throw the plate away! 

An old step-well inside the fort called Amrita Sarovar, formed by perennial streams. This used to be one of the primary sources of waters to the residents.

The arched-entrance to the fort area. Took this snap while leaving the fort in our car. The drive up and down the hill has a few hairpin bends, so a little bit of driving experience would be helpful to negotiate the turns.