Nandi Hills is one of the more popular day trip destinations from Bangalore. Though I had visited this a couple of times during my first stint in Bangalore, we had never made it here in the two and a half year since we moved back to the garden city. So when we were discussing places for a day trip the other day, we decided to visit Nandi Hills.

We hired a car from Zoomcar and drove down the Devenahalli highway. After a stop for a late breakfast soon after the airport exit, we arrived at Nandi Hills around noon. It was an overcast day and quite cool atop the hill, which made for a pleasant afternoon.

We visited the standard tourist places – the lookouts, Yoga Nandishwara temple, Tipu’s Drop and the Amrith Sarovar. The last was a pleasant surprise – a stepped pond surrounded by thick greenery with a walkway around it. Tipu’s ‘Summer Palace’ is also located here.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After a late lunch at the base of Nandi Hills, we went to pay respects to one of India’s greatest engineers – M Visvesaraya. Located at Muddenahalli village a few kilometres from Nandi Hills is the house where he was born and a neat, well maintained memorial. The house itself now contains a small museum dedicated to his life.

M Visvesaraya Memorial

M Visvesaraya Memorial – close up

Finally, on the way back, we stopped at what I consider an absolute must-visit while in Bangalore – the Bhoga Nandishwara temple. I have written about it earlier and delighted to say that the second visit was as memorable as the first.

It’s always been on my bucket list to visit the temple town of Kanchipuram, in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. For some reason or other, I could never make it to this town when I was living in Chennai and later Bangalore for about 4 years previously. So I was delighted when we finally made plans to visit Kanchipuram on our way back from Mahabalipuram.

We stayed in a hotel close to the city centre and walking distance to the Kanchi Kamakshi temple. On our way to the temple in the evening, we visited the Ulagalanda Perumal temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in his Vamana avatara with a large idol of the Lord that it over 30 feet high.

We then visited the Kamakshi Amman temple dedicated to Goddess Kamakshi. This is one of the most famous temples in Kanchipura and reportedly the only temple dedicated to the Goddess. It is a big temple with large gopurams that were well lit up.

Kamakshi Amman temple compound

Kamakshi Amman temple Gopuram

The next morning, I visited the Sri Pavala Vannar temple. This is a old temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. There were hardly anyone else the morning I visited and the ambience was serene and peaceful.

It is said that one must combine a visit to this temple with a visit to the Pachai Vannar temple located a few hundred metres away. So I visited this temple too and again had a peaceful visit with hardly any other devotees.

Pachai Vannar temple

Inside the Pachai Vannar temple

We then visited the Ekambaranathar temple. Dedicated to Lord Shiva and spread over an area of 25 acres, this is one of the largest temples in India. As with many of the old temples in South India, this one also had some incredible sculptures. We again had a very peaceful time at this temple.

On the way out of Kanchipuram, we visited the Kailasnathar temple. This is reportedly the oldest structure in Kanchipuram and was simply fascinating. One of the interesting aspects of this temple are the numerous small shrines built into the inner face of the high compound wall. The temple was closed when we visited in the afternoon, so we could only admire the intricate stone carvings all around the temple compound.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I recently visited Mahabalipuram, located on the East Coast, close to the city of Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. It was not my first visit there, but the first one was a quick overnight trip and memories were a bit hazy. This time around, I spent over 2 days there and visited quite a few interesting places.

The first place we visited was quite a unique attraction – a Seashell museum. This is the life’s efforts of a private collector, exhibited quite beautifully in a modern museum. The collection is stupendous, and really photos will not do justice to the place, but here are a few.

Entrance to Seashell museum

Around the Seashell museum

Entrance to Pearl Museum

The next day, we visited the Panch Rathas. It was a bright, sunny (and hot) day. We visited the place in the morning and were among the first visitors, so got to see the place at leisure and without much crowds. The place is very well maintained, with ample parking space, toilets, etc. Kudos to the authorities for doing so.

Panch Rathas

One of the 5 Rathas

Another view of the Panch Rathas

In the afternoon, we first visited the Lighthouse. On the way, we took in the utterly delightful Heritage Museum. With exhibits largely from the nearby lighthouse housed in a beautiful small house like structure with cool air conditioning, this would easily rank as one of the best small museums I have ever visited anywhere. An absolute must visit.

Heritage Museum and Lighthouse

Inside the Heritage Museum

Lighthouse

The whole process of visiting the Lighthouse was quite exciting, with the climb up a narrow, twisting staircase to walking around the narrow ledge with great views across all directions of the compass. Be warned though that it is not for the fainthearted!

We then visited the group of monuments centred around Arjuna’s Penance. The stone structures and sculptures are simply stunning. We ended our visit at Krishna’s Butter Ball. Located within well maintained, lush green lawns fringed by trees, this is a popular destination for local families.

Arjuna’s Penance

Rayar Gopuram

Krishna’s Butter Ball

Lawns around Krishna’s Butter Ball

On the third and final morning, we visited the beach located to the north of the Shore Temple. It is a working fishing village, with relatively clean sand and waters. The kids and I enjoyed splashing in the waves!

Beach

Shore Temple

The only slight disappointment was the food. I had expectations of finding a food scene similar to what one can find in Goa, or even Pondicherry, but was sorely disappointed. The food in the restaurants was uniformly mediocre as was the service. Maybe it was because I visited in the off-season. But all things considered, it is a great place to visit with family.