Temple in the Mist..

While in Bangalore (see the previous blog entry) we (Ninad, Manish, Amol and myself) went to see the close by hill station* of Nandi Hills.

I have been hearing about this place for a long time now - it's one of the best spots close to the city (some 45 kms. away from Bangalore) to watch birds!

But there's a lot more than birds to see here - To start off the weather and air is soo much better than in the city.. Then there is Tipu Sultan's impressive Fort (entrance to which is pictured above)

Though we started the day early we took for ever to get there..

We were at the main bus station (Majestic) in bangalore by 6 am but made the mistake of waiting for a direct bus to Nandi Hills - if there isn't a direct bus within half an hour of getting to the bus station it's best to take one to Chickballapur and then change, there are lots of buses and rickshaws from there to the top of Nandi hills. We unfortunately took some three and a half hours to get there having wasted a lot of time at Majestic!

But thanks to some tense fog we didn't have to worry about getting scorched by the noon sun!

In fact the weather was amazing and the fog only added to the mysticism related to this stunning landscape..

And at the summit of the hill were these amazing steps carved into the rock face leading up to one of the old temples.

Here's a few images of the temple itself:

Though extremely modest - the sequence and scale of the spaces in and around it is extremely interesting!

And to end a few images of the surrounding landscape..

(* - Hill station is a term used for a town usually at somewhat higher elevations. The term was used in colonial Asia, where towns have been founded by European colonial rulers up where temperatures are cooler, as refuges from the summer heat.)