Nandi Hills, India
Encyclopedia
Nandi Hills or Nandidurg (Anglicised forms include Nandidrug and Nandydroog) is an ancient hill fortress of southern India, in the Chikkaballapur district
Chikkaballapur district
Chikballapur district is a newly created district in the state of Karnataka, India. It was carved out of the existing Kolar district by moving the taluks of Gauribidanur, Gudibanda, Bagepalli, Chikballapur, Sidlaghatta and Chintamani into the new district....

 of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

 state. It is located just 10 km from Chickballapur town and approximately 60 km from the city of Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

. The hills are nestled between the neighboring towns of Nandi, Muddenahalli
Muddenahalli
Muddenahalli is a centrally located town situated 7 km from Chikballapur and 1 km from Kanivenarayanapura in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State...

, and Kanivenarayanapura
Kanivenarayanapura
Kanivenarayanapura is a centrally located historical town situated 6 km from Chikballapur, 3 km from Nandi Town and 1 km from Muddenahalli in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State. It is adjacent to the birth place of the renowned Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, one of India's most...

. These are the sites of the upcoming $22 Billion, 12000 acres (48.6 km²) BIAL IT Investment Region, Sri Sathya Sai Baba Universities, the Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli
Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli
Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli, also known as IIT Muddenahalli, is an autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education that has been approved by the Government of India with construction set to be completed in 2012...

, and the Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology
Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology
Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology, also known as VIAT, is a premier advanced research institute being constructed in Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura, Karnataka, India. The research institute was proposed on Engineer's Day 2008 in Muddenahalli, the birthplace of legendary engineer, Sir...

. The hills are traditionally held as the origin of the Arkavathy river.

Etymology and Historical Temple

There are many stories about the origin of the name Nandi Hills. During the Chola period, Nandi Hills was called Ananda Giri meaning The Hill of Happiness. Another story is that Yoga Nandeeshwara performed penance here, and so it was named after him. Nandi is also commonly called Nandidurga (Fort) because of the fort build here by the ruler Tippu Sultan. It is also perhaps called Nandi Hills because the hill resembles a sleeping bull (Nandi).

Another theory holds that the hill gets its name from an ancient, 1200 year old Dravidian style Nandi temple situated on this hill. An ancient, lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

 and Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

 temple also adorns this hill. The Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple in Nandi village is one of the oldest temples in Karnataka dating back to the ninth century. The temple hewn out of rock consists of two complexes. While the first complex houses three deities, the second complex consists of a huge and majestic kalyani pond. The foundation of the temple was constructed by the Banas of ninth century. The Chola rulers of the 11th century constructed the roof of the temple. The marriage hall was built by the Hoysalas in the thirteenth century and a wall of the second complex was built by the Vijayanagar kings. Beautiful stone carvings are a popular tourist site and are a source of inspiration students of art and architecture.

Geography

It is 4851 ft (1,478.6 m) above sea level. It is located close to the newly constructed Bangalore International Airport, the second largest in India. In addition, the hills are located about 20 km from the National Highway (NH-7) just after Devanahalli Town. Due to its location, Nandi Hills is rapidly developing and numerous commercial and residential ventures are underway in the region.

The Bangalore amateur ham radio operators have a repeater set up on the Nandi Hills which increases the reach or transmission and reception (Repeater 145.700 (Rx) minus 600 (Tx) with callsign VU2RSB),

History

Nandidurg was traditionally held unimpregnable, and its storming
Siege of Nundydroog
The Siege of Nundydroog was conducted by British East India Company forces under the command of General Charles Cornwallis in October 1791, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. The fortress of Nundydroog, held by forces of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, was successfully stormed on 19 October...

 by the army of Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...

 on 19 October 1791 was one of the most notable incidents of the first war
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War was a war in South India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company and its allies, including the Mahratta Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad...

 against Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...

 of Mysore
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...

. A description of the siege is given in Browne's History of Scotland and the records of the 71st Highlanders.
It later became a retreat for British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 officials during the hot season. Francis Cunningham
Francis Cunningham
Francis Cunningham was an officer in the Madras Army, member of the Mysore Commission, and Literary Editor.Francis Cunningham was the son of the poet Allan Cunningham and the younger brother of Joseph Davey and Alexander Cunningham, who also spent most of their working lives in India.The brothers'...

 built the summer residence here for Sir Mark Cubbon
Mark Cubbon
Lieutenant-General Sir Mark Cubbon KCB was a British army officer with the East India Company who became the British Commissioner of Mysore state in 1834. He retained this office until 1860. He moved the capital from Mysore to Bangalore, helped reform the finances of Mysore, and created a...

.
The climate at the top of the hill made it particularly of interest to horticulturists. Several species of plant were introduced into an experimental garden. Firminger's manual notes that several species of Anona were grown at this garden and also notes the peculiarity of Hypericum mysorense:
The botanist Benjamin Heynes introduced potatoes for the first time in the neighbourhood of Bangalore near Nandi Hills through a Colonel Cuppage. He brought seeds from St. Helena and these grew well enough that they were supplied in Madras and preferred to those obtained from Bengal.

Development

Nandi Hills are currently undergoing a multi-crore development, including a one crore renovation of the Tipu Fort, via private-public partnership to transform the hills into a tourist hub. The Department of Horticulture is setting up a food court modeled after one in Singapore at a cost of nearly one crore at the hill station. Various varieties of vegetarian and continental food, beverages, bakery products, ice-creams and fresh fruit juices will be available. A 30 lakh music stage located on a three-and-a-half acre grove, which has hundreds of eucalyptus trees and rain trees, will conduct cultural programmes. Furthermore, the Horticulture department is developing 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) of pristine land in the Nandi Hills region with the creation of a large scale exotic botanical gardens. A state of the art Planetarium with an initial one crore investment is also being constructed. A Gondola Lift system will connect the peak of the Nandi Hill with the nearby Muddenahalli
Muddenahalli
Muddenahalli is a centrally located town situated 7 km from Chikballapur and 1 km from Kanivenarayanapura in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State...

.

Real estate in the Nandi Hills region is rapidly appreciating due to its location - it is close to the new Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli, the textile capital at Doddaballapur, as well as the Muddenahalli
Muddenahalli
Muddenahalli is a centrally located town situated 7 km from Chikballapur and 1 km from Kanivenarayanapura in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State...

-Kanivenarayanapura
Kanivenarayanapura
Kanivenarayanapura is a centrally located historical town situated 6 km from Chikballapur, 3 km from Nandi Town and 1 km from Muddenahalli in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State. It is adjacent to the birth place of the renowned Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, one of India's most...

 region. Further, with the upcoming IIT Muddenahalli, Sri VS University, and Sri Sathya Sai Baba University, the area is set to become an important educational hub.

Prestige Golfshire is a 1000 crore luxury real estate
Luxury real estate
Luxury real estate is the real estate market niche targeted at the highest socio-economic group of consumers. -Definition:The characteristics that define luxury real estate differ among countries...

 project over a sprawling 300 acres (1.2 km²) site at the base of Nandi Hills and features a PGA quality golf course and 5-star hotel. QVC Reality has received 100 million dollars of seed money from IL&FS Investment to build luxury mansions as part of the QVC Nandi Hills project.

Biodiversity

The vegetation of the hills is typical of high hills. Inside the fort at the summit, many of the large trees are planted exotics such as Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

and the undergrowth consists of Coffea arabica
Coffea arabica
Coffea arabica is a species of Coffea originally indigenous to the mountains of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, hence its name, and also from the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee"...

along with some native species. The forest acts as a substrate for cloud condensation and every morning the trees are covered in water. This allows for many moist forest species of plants and animals. The hills are very rich in birdlife making it a very popular location for birdwatchers and bird photographers. The evergreen forest patch on top of the hill being a favoured wintering location for many migrant species of warblers, flycatchers and thrushes. The forest patch is also home for a relict population of the Nilgiri Woodpigeon. A breeding pair of Shaheen Falcon
Shaheen Falcon
The Shaheen Falcon , also known as the Indian Peregrine Falcon, Black Shaheen, Indian Shaheen, or simply the Shaheen, is a non-migratory subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon found mainly on the Indian subcontinent and the nearby island of Sri Lanka.-Taxonomy:The taxon was formally described by Carl...

, the resident race of the Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

 is also often seen at the Nandi Hills. The Malabar Whistling Thrush
Malabar Whistling Thrush
The Malabar Whistling Thrush is a whistling thrush in the thrush family Turdidae. They are also known locally by the name of Whistling Schoolboy for the whistling calls that they make at dawn that have a very human quality...

, Uropeltid snakes and Pill millipede
Pill millipede
Pill millipedes make up two orders of millipedes, often grouped together into a single superorder, Oniscomorpha. The name Oniscomorpha refers to the resemblance of pill millipedes to certain woodlice, namely the pillbugs of the family Armadillidiidae, also called "potato bugs", "doodlebugs", or...

s which are otherwise known only from the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

 ranges are also found here.
The hill slopes are the home of the Yellow-throated Bulbul
Yellow-throated Bulbul
The Yellow-throated Bulbul is a species of bulbul endemic to southern peninsular India. They are found on scrub habitats on steep, rocky hills many of which are threatened by granite quarrying. It is confusable only with the White-browed Bulbul with which its range overlaps but is distinctively...

, a species endemic to the hills of peninsular India.

Tourism

The hills are now a popular tourist spot during summer. The state horticulture department maintains a garden for the tourists. The pressure of tourists on the environment here is great with a considerable problem of litter, noise and physical disturbance. Skanda giri is a nearby tourist place.
  1. Tipu's Drop - the famous place from where Tippu Sultan threw his condemned prisoners to death
  2. Tipu's Summer Palace and Fort - During the Ganga period, the Chikkaballapur chieftains built a fort. Tippu strengthened it further and also build a rest house. This used to be Tippus summer bungalow. It is not open to the general public.
  3. Horse Way - A stone doorway in the fort on the North-eastern side, is believed to have been the horse way for helping soldiers to climb the wall on horse back.
  4. Secret Escape Route - A secret passage on the west, is believed to have helped the Kings to escape during unforeseen attacks.
  5. Temples - there are temples dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha, Sri Ugra Narasimha and Sri Yoga Narasimha and you can see beautiful old temples.
  6. Gavi Veerbhadra Swamy temple: on top of the hill, on the way to the Sultanpet, from Tippus palace, natural formation of huge boulders has been transformed into a magnificent temple.
  7. Children's Playground - The Horticulture department maintains a lovely garden for children to play games like the slides, merry-go-round, swings etc.
  8. Nehru Nilaya - where Jawaharlal Nehru
    Jawaharlal Nehru
    Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...

     used to stay, now a guest house of the horticulture department of India.
  9. Gandhi House, where the Mahatma himself stayed, is under the management of DPAR (Protocol) Government of Karnataka and is reserved for the stay of important dignitaries.
  10. The Horticulture Department runs a vegetarian restaurant and the Karnataka Tourism Department runs a vegetarian / non-vegetarian restaurant "MAYURA".
  11. Rivers - the rivers Pennar, Palar and Arkavati originate from these hills. Most of the sources have dried up. Amruth Sarovar is a beautiful water lake that brims with lucid water all the year round.
  12. Brahmashram - it is said that Sage Ramakrishna meditated here. Its a cool cave. All Munis in the Ashram used to sit and Smoke Up together on the top of the hill beforing starting off their day and this tradition is followed by today's youngsters.
  13. Muddenahalli
    Muddenahalli
    Muddenahalli is a centrally located town situated 7 km from Chikballapur and 1 km from Kanivenarayanapura in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State...

    -Kanivenarayanapura
    Kanivenarayanapura
    Kanivenarayanapura is a centrally located historical town situated 6 km from Chikballapur, 3 km from Nandi Town and 1 km from Muddenahalli in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State. It is adjacent to the birth place of the renowned Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, one of India's most...

     - the home town of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the legendary architect of modern Karnataka. Along with Kanivenarayanapura
    Kanivenarayanapura
    Kanivenarayanapura is a centrally located historical town situated 6 km from Chikballapur, 3 km from Nandi Town and 1 km from Muddenahalli in Chikballapur District of Karnataka State. It is adjacent to the birth place of the renowned Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, one of India's most...

    , it is the site of the upcoming Sri Sathya Sai Baba University and College of Medicine, Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli
    Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli
    Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli, also known as IIT Muddenahalli, is an autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education that has been approved by the Government of India with construction set to be completed in 2012...

    , 600 crore Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology
    Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology
    Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology, also known as VIAT, is a premier advanced research institute being constructed in Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura, Karnataka, India. The research institute was proposed on Engineer's Day 2008 in Muddenahalli, the birthplace of legendary engineer, Sir...

    , and a 70 crore "Silk City".
  14. Paragliding - Nandi Hills is one of the unique place in Karnataka which offers paragliding activity, for more details you can contact Special Officer, Nandi Hills: Sri Mahantesh. Murgod Tele: 08156-250901
  15. Cycling/biking - Nandi Hills is cyclists paradise, a good ~400 meters of altitude gain in ~7kms of ride, The bikers/cyclists from Bangalore storm there on weekends and holidays. It's a very good hill training spot for them. You can try this out by hiring a bike from "velo in village".


Apart from these, there are other interesting places like Anjaneya temple, Nellikayi Basavanna, Antaragange, Baananthi Bande, Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple etc.

Source of rivers

Nandi Hills is the source of the Penner
Penner River
The Penner is a river of southern India. The Penner rises on the hill of Nandi Hills in Chikballapur District of Karnataka state, and runs north and east through the state of Andhra Pradesh to empty into the Bay of Bengal...

, Ponnaiyar
Ponnaiyar River
The Ponnaiyar is a river in southern India. It rises on the hill of Nandidrug in Kolar District of Karnataka state, and flows south and then east for through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, emptying into the Bay of Bengal at Cuddalore....

, Palar and Arkavathy
Arkavathy River
The Arkavati , is a large mountain river in Karnataka, India, originating at Nandi Hills of Chikkaballapura district. It is a tributary of the Kaveri, which it joins at Kanakapura, called Sangama in Kannada, after flowing through Kolar District and Bangalore Rural district...

rivers.

External links

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