Hill-stations around Bangalore

Around 260 kms from Bangalore is a beautiful hill station called Kemmannugundi. It falls in Tarikere taluk of Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka. At 1434m above sea level, the place is also popularly known as Sri Krishnarajendra Hill Station. 

There are various gardens and mountains and also has beautiful valley views. You can enjoy the view of sunset from Raj Bhavan. The beautiful Kallathi or Kallathgiri falls is around 10km on the road to Tarikere from Kemmangundi. These falls are also known as Kalahasthi falls. There is also a beautiful temple here which is attributed to Vijayanagar empire times. This place is associated with Agastya, the Hindu sage.

Around 390 kms from Bangalore is a beautiful waterfall called Hidlumane falls which lies in Hosanagara Taluk in Shimoga. It is about 10 kms from a place called Nitturu, 45 kms from Hosanagara and is at the base of Kodachadri hill.

You will need to trek down the forest for 2 to 3 kms and you will witness a series of small and big falls. Like all other water-falls, you should visit during monsoons. As there won’t be any foodstores on the way, you should carry your own eatables.

BR Hills, also known as Biligiri Rangana Hills take their name from the famous Ranganatha Swamy Temple which sits at the edge of these hills. There is a dense forest and is at the border of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The hills is considered as bio-geographic bridge between Western and Eastern Ghats. These hills are situated at a distance of 90km from Mysore and 28 km from Yelandur. 

The forest around is called BRT Wildlife sanctuary and is declared as a Tiger Reserve. September to April is the best time to visit BR Hills. You can check our Champak tree, coffee estates. Also, it has got some lovely trekking trails, including the one that leads up to Honnamati, which is the highest point of the range. Behind the temple, there is a platform which will give you the best panoramic views. The nearest Railway station is at Chamarajanagar, which is about 40 kms from BR Hill. The place is 220 kms from Bangalore and 185 kms from Coimbatore.

Interesting places around Bangalore

Bangalore is in the middle of Western and Eastern Ghats and has lots of places around which are interesting and will interest youngsters and elders alike. 

There is a beautiful temple called KotiLingeswara, which is around 100 kms from Bangalore. The route has some beautiful rocky mountains on the way and you will really enjoy the scenery and beauty of the landscape. It has got a beautiful Shiva temple where there are close to around 1 crore Shiva lingas. 

All the lingas are beautifully installed around the grounds of the temple. When you visit the temple, you will feel overwhelmed to see so many lingas around you. Also, there is one huge Shiva Linga which is supposed to be the largest in the world. The place is very close to Kolar and Bangarpet. You can get down at Bangarpet railway station and take an auto or taxi from there.

Shravanabelagola is about 158 km from Bangalore and is located in the Hassan district of Karnataka. It is a pilgrimage destination for Jains.

There is a 57 feet statue of Gomateshwara or Bahubal, which is supposed to be the architectural wonder of the world. There are a lot of Jain temples around here. People throng this place to pray to get their wishes fulfilled.

Another interesting place which is around 130 km from Bangalore is Pandavapura, which is believed to be the place where Pandavas stayed during their exile. Pandava’s mother, Kunti liked the hillock a lot and it was one of her favourite haunts and is therefore called Kunti betta.

It is also believed that Bheema killed the monster Bhakasura and has got a large footprint of Bheema and the place is called Bheemanna Pada. These rocks are also called as the French rocks because the French had camped here to help Tipu Sultan’s army for a battle against British.

See the beauty of Bangalore palace

Bangalore Palace was built by the first Principal of Central High School in Bangalore, Rev. Garrett. Later, this property was bought from him by the Maharaja of Mysore, Chamarajendra Wadiyar. Currently, this property is owned by Mysore Royal family's present descendant, Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar. The palace is spread across 45,000 sq feet with a mix of Scottish Gothic and Tudor architecture. It houses battlements, foiled windows and turrets which resemble the Daria Daulat Palace of Srirangapatanam. The palace is constructed largely of wood and is famous for its paintings and carvings.

Bangalore Palace Attractions :

• Coat Of Arms: This was presented to Chamaraja Wadiyar by British. In the center of the Coat of Arms is the mythological two-headed bird Ganda Bherunda, which used to be the emblem of the Wadiyar’s. There is another mythological animal on the emblem, which has the head of an Elephant and Lion. This symbolizes power and royalty.
• A Chair to weigh Jockeys: A very unique weighing chair which weighs the jockeys and has a shape of horse-hoof legs. Every Wadiyar ruler has been a passionate fan of horse-racing. The chair is carved in shoe shape with a measuring stand on the right and weighing scale on the left.
• The courtyard has a bench and a fountain which was gifted by the King of Spain Don Alphonso.
  

The entrance fee to the palace is a little over-priced, for Indians, it is Rs. 175 and for foreign tourists, it is Rs. 350. If you wish to take photographs, you need to pay Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 if you wish to take videos.
Sunday is a holiday and visiting hours are between 10:00am till 6:00pm.
10 AM to 6 PM (Sunday Holiday).

Explore Mysore: The beautiful city of Karnataka: Part 2

The next day, we went to Chamundihills. Chamundi is only about 13 kms from Mysore and so we took a bus, route number 201 from the Mysore main bus stand till Chamundi. The bus took us via the Mysore zoo a well. The total travel time was only about 30 minutes and we thoroughly enjoyed the view on the way.  You can either go for free darshan or buy tickets for darshan. It depends upon the crowd. The temple is usually crowded during Tuesdays and Fridays. The Chamundeshwari Temple is supposed to be one among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas in India.

After visiting the temple, on our way back, we checked out the Mysore Zoo. Mysore zoo is very famous and has got a variety of animals and birds.

We walked for about 4 kms across the zoo and spent time with each animal. For people, who cannot walk, there is an option of battery operated buses as well. At the entrance of the zoo, stands the majestic giraffe. You can find lions, elephants, tigers, leopards, various types of apes and birds, bears, deer, hippo, rhino etc. The beautiful concept about Mysore zoo is that the animals can be adopted by people and the animal's living and maintenance expenses are paid off by the people who adopt.

There are still a lot of places to cover in Mysore. It is a lovely city and one should definitely explore.

Explore Mysore, the beautiful city of Karnataka: Part 1

On a visit to Mysore recently, we had a chance to see a variety of places, which would interest kids and seniors alike.

We boarded Shatabdi Express from Bangalore station at 11:00am and got down at Mysore station at 1:00pm. We checked into a hotel and immediately afterwards, took off on our journey.

We went to the Mysore palace first which is a magnificent palace built by Wodeyars in 14^th Century.

While you are doing the rounds of the Palace, you will go around the Audience Chamber, Royal wedding hall, Public Durbar, the Kusti Akada and the Armoury and the Kusti Akada. There are beautiful oil paintings which adorn the walls of the hall. Most of the paintings are done by Raja Ravi Verma. The palace grounds is quite huge and if you take a round around the palace on the shuttle, you will really enjoy it. There are elephant and camel rides also which the kids really enjoy. In the evenings, the palace is illuminated and the view is fabulous.

In the evening, we went to Brindavan Gardens. It is one of the oldest gardens to have lights, musical fountains etc. When the garden is illuminated in the evenings, it is a sight to behold.

The garden is built in the form of terrace. You can take route number 303 from the city bus-stand to reach Brindavan Gardens. It is the cheapest and the best way to travel.

Bring out the foodie in you, check out about Bangalore food.

Being a foodie, I love to explore new types of food and the restaurants. Bangalore has got a cosmopolitan crowd and as such, it has got a variety of restaurants and cuisines to choose from.

If you like to eat typical South-Indian food, you can check out MTR Restaurant, where you get unlimited food for just Rs. 190. And, the food is very tasty and authentic South-Indian. Starting from juice, Pooris, Dosas and Bisi Bele Bath and Rasam rice, curd rice to sweets like jalebis, payasam and ice-creams, the food is worth the money spent. Another option could be Adigas where you get the best vadas and coffee. I love Bangalore's special Akki Roti which you get in most of the restaurants. Made of Rice flour, onions, it has got a very distinct and nice taste.

For Dosas, you can check out Vidyarthi Bhawan where you get lovely Dosas. Hydereabadi Biryani House is supposed to be the best place for Biriyanis. While you can devour on Parathas at Lalitha's point, you can check out sweets at Adyar Anandha Bhawan. For awesome North-Indian food, you must definitely visit Chulha-Chowki Da Dhaaba. The ambience there is like those Punjabi Dhabas found up north. With Modas for sitting and low candle-lights for lighting, you get an ethereal feel. The food is cooked in typical North-Indian style and you will get the real taste of Punjab in the Daal Makhani and other vegetables.

Bangalore Food Items

Other than these famous restaurants, you also get a variety of street food. There is a famous Variety Dosa Corner near our house. The food outlet is set up in a big open auto-rickshaw. He has 3 dosa stones on which he makes dosas very swiftly. There are about 40 different dosa options and the prices are also quite reasonable. There are simple dosas like Masala dosa, Mysore Masala dosa and also exotic dosas like Schezwan Cheese baby corn dosa and also Chinese dosas. I have tried almost all varieties and they are all mouth-watering.

For people who love Momos, don't forget to check out the Tibetan market on Brigade Road where you get the best momos in Bangalore.

For more such options on food and to know more about other restaurants in Bangalore, please check out our site on Musetheplace.com

Awesome weather of Bangalore

Bangalore has a very temperate climate and gives a feel of a hill-station in terms of weather. Bangalore is placed at an altitude of 920m above sea level and that is the reason that it feels like heaven here.

Days are really pleasant and evenings are quite romantic. The summers are not very hot and winters are a little cold, so the weather is mild and relaxing.

The coldest months in Bangalore would be December and January, when the average temperature falls to about 15°C and the hottest month is April when the temperature hovers around 33 °C. So, neither too cold nor too hot. February and March are quite bright and warm because of the onset of Spring.

Monsoon starts in May and goes on till September. September is supposed to be the wettest month for Bangalore. 
 

October and November would be quite sunny during days and chilly after sunset.

As per me, October, November, February and March are the ideal months to visit Bangalore. But, for people living in Bangalore, the city is good throughout the year. :-)

The days are little warm but nights are mildly cold and you would need to have a blanket during the night.

Rains are part and parcel of Bangalore, they are most unexpected and pour anytime. People enjoy these rains and are used to living around the rains.

Bangalore is a beautiful city and its attractions can be enjoyed at any time of the year as the weather is never too harsh through the year.

Whenever you visit Bangalore, don't forget to bring on your woollens. Depending upon the season, you might need light or heavy woolens.

Bangaloreans are quite proud of their city's weather and I heard somebody who kept praising about this city.

Bangalore Climate

For more information on Bangalore's weather, please check out on our site.