Attractions

• Tipu's fort and summer palace
• Tipu's Drop
• Horse Way and a secret passage
• Yoga Nandeeshwara temple
• Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple
• Gavi Veerabhadra Swamy cave temple
• Amruth Sarovar lake
• Palar river origin
• Arkavathy riven origin
• Brahmashram
• Muddenahalli

Nandi Hills

,   a popular hill station, is 4851 ft above sea level and is located close to the Bangalore International Airport. It is about 20 km from the National Highway (NH-7) just after Devanahalli. This hillock is situated about 60 km from Bangalore City and about 24 kms from Chikkaballapur town.

This hill is popularly known as Nandi Betta or Nandi Durga by the locals. During the Chola period, the hill was called Ananda Giri ( the Hill of Happiness). It is also believed to be named after Yoga Nandeeshwara who performed penance here. It could even originated from the fact that the hill when viewed from certain angles, resembles a sleeping bull, Nandi, the sacred abode of Lord Shiva.

During the Ganga period, the Chikkaballapur chieftains built a fort. Tipu Sultan, the great 18th century ruler of Mysore, strengthened it and also built a summer palace. The fort encloses an area of 97 acres of land. 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. A secret passage on the west, is believed to have helped the rulers to escape during unforseen attacks. During Tipu's reign, convicts were pushed down to death from a cliff point called Tipu's Drop. The strong fortress of Nandidurg was captured by the army of Lord Cornwallis in 1791, during the first war of British troops against Tipu Sultan. Later it became a summer retreat for British Raj officials. Sir Mark Cubbon built a summer residence called the Cubbon House, in 1834. Later Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru used to stay here; It has been renamed Nehru Nilaya and is now a guesthouse managed by the Horticultural Department of Karnataka.

Yoga Nandeeshwara temple on top of Nandi Hills, was built by the Cholas. There is a 1000 years old sculpture of Nandi, 2 Dwarapalakas, and a beautiful Kalyana Mantapa ( marriage hall). Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple is a 9th century temple in the base of the hill, in a village called Nandigram ( Nandi Village). The temple has 3 deities, and a Kalyani ( pond). The Banas, the Cholas, the Hoysalas and the Vijayanagar rulers extended the temple. Gavi Veerabdhadra Swamy temple is a cave temple on the way to the Sultanpet.

Amruth Sarovar is a crystal clear water lake constructed in 1932. Palar river origin is on the eastern side, while Arkavathy river origin is on the south western side of the hill. Brahmashram is a beautiful cave near Nandi Hills, where Ramakrishna Paramahansa is said to have meditated. Muddenahalli, 21 km from Nandi Hills, is the home town of the most renowned engineer and Dewan of the former Mysore state, Sir M. Visvesvaraya. His ancestral home and museum have lots of interesting artifacts belonging to the legendary engineer, visionary and architect.