The Nandi Hills

Nandidurg Hill, more commonly referred to as the Nandi Hills, is about 60km (~37 miles) north of Bangalore. They are these massive granite mounds that stick up out of the ground. The top of the main hill is 1500 feet above the surrounding terrain (4500 ft total elevation) which means that the views from the top are absolutely spectacular. The Nandi Hills is the source of the Penner, Ponnaiyar, and Palar rivers. Nandi Hills gets its name from an ancient Nandi temple situated on this hill. This temple has a thousand year old sculpture of Nandi (the bull upon which Shiva rides). An ancient lord Shiva and Parvati temple also adorns this hill. This used to be the summer retreat of Tipu Sultan.

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Sultan Fateh Ali Tipu (November 20, 1750, Devanahalli – May 4, 1799, Srirangapattana), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Indian Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 (the time of his father's death) until his own demise in 1799. He was the first son of Haidar Ali by his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-nissa. Tipu Sultan died defending the capital city of Srirangapattana against the British.

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Views of the surrounding countryside. It was late afternoon by the time we got here after visiting the Banyan tree, so I hope these photos aren't too dark.








The temple with the millenium-old Nandi sculpture.




The Shiva and Parvati temple.