Incomplete Trip (Hesarghatta - Nrityagram & Taj -Kuteera)

I wanted to visit Nrityagram situated at Hesarghatta after seeing the pictures uploaded by my friend on Facebook but it was never happening as the plan was made and cancelled twice. Finally today we made happen but Incomplete !!!

Nrityagram is a dance school started by Odissi dancer Protima Gauri in 1990 and is located near Hesarghatta lake which is 30 km away from Bangalore . It is said that it is a place where nothing exists except dance.I was very excited to visit this place after reading about it and on seeing the pictures of the awesome view of the place. Taj Kuteera is a small resort right opposite to Nrityagram which is surrounded by lush green trees and peaceful ambiance.

Nrityagram - Pic Courtesy : Wikipedia 

Me along with my friend Basu met at RT Nagar and hit the Yeswanthpur road towards Hesarghatta. Although it was a public holiday and the time was around 8:30AM there was a fair amount of traffic making the ride totally unpleasant.As always my bike was deprived of petrol and  had to stop on Tumkur road to fill it up.After this we did not stop anywhere except for seeking directions but we rode at a very very slow pace :( 30-40 km/hr i know its horribly slow :D)and once we reached Hesarghatta we badly wanted to stop for breakfast but we hardly could find a decent place :( i was fainting :P . We were going going and going and finally stopped at a place which was a small eatery serving idlies at 10:00 AM:) yumm the breakfast was and the person was very humble as well and guided us to Nritygram as we had crossed the turn to Nrityagram and come 2 km ahead but no regrets as the breakfast was yum :)

Yummy Breakfast !

We rode back 2 km and took a left turn near the Bus stop of Hesarghatta (this is the major landmark, if you are coming from Bangalore it would be right turn from the bus stop) and after the left turn it was a very good ride although the roads were bad the air was fresh :) We passed through a Film Institute and also a crew which was shooting at a distance  and the place was called "Our Native Village" don't know for what reasons :P

Finally at 10:40 pm (yeah we road like crocodiles:P) we reached our destination "Nrityagram " "sigh" but the we had a surprise awaiting us : Nritygram is closed on Government Holidays :( ahhhhhrghhh..exactly this is what happens if you don't do your trip homework properly :( We tried all means to enter but in vain :(  Then all we had was "Taj-Kuteera" ! Taj-Kuteera is a very peaceful place and had descent crowd since it was a public holiday .This place has rooms , a cafe on open terrace ,a restaurant, a small artificial pond, few pets , greenary , a small open are for out door games , a light house kinda structure and a small party hall.Its perfect place for get togathers , re-unions,Corporate outings etc since it is a serene place which unwinds you from the huzzle buzzle of the city life !We had some fries,coffee and Iced tea only as we weren't hungry(also the menu gave a buzz on wallets :D) and left the place around 12:30 pm with a little disappointment of not being able to visit Nrityagram :(

Taj-Kuteera : Artificial Pond

Iced Tea - Taj Kuteera Dine - In

Taj Kuteera - Dine -In

Taj Kuteera - Me on Roof Top cafe :)

Taj Kuteera - Garden

Taj Kuteera - Light House (Kinda :P)

On our way back we were curious to go and peep into what exactly is happening at the shooting spot :D we went to see cranes , cameras , a large crowd and i guess it was some dance scene being shot however did not get to see any super star :P . We rode back on a fast pace and reached MG road at around 2:15 pm quiet disappointed but we were determined to visit the place again(with good planning :D).

Way Back from Taj Kuteera & Nrityagram

Shooting spot : can you see the far off buses etc thats the one :P

It was about 90 kms drive
Kammanahalli - RT Nagar - Yeshwanthpur - Tumkur Road - Hesarghatta -Tumkur Road - Yeshwanthpur - RT - Nagar -  MG Road.

It is a very safe place to visit but remember Nrityagram is closed on Public Holidays!!!
Beware of the ducks at Taj Kuteera because they are very ferocious and can bite !!!

Taj Kuteera : The notorious ducks !! They look so pious but are wild :/

Near by :
You have Hesarghatta lake put its dried up most of the time and all you can see is a good view.
Film Institute and if your are a fan of Kannada film stars and luck you may spot a super star :P
And Nothing else at all :)

Happy Dancing and Resorting :D

RAMNAGAR & KANVA RESERVOIR

Ramnagar Hills - have been to this place for three times and yet not bored of it even a bit !! Had known about this place from Joy(my colleague&friend at E&Y ) and went along with his friends for the first visit as well !

Ramnagar is located off Mysore road and apparently it is said that a part of the movie "SHOLAY" was shot there. It is about 45kms approx away from Bangalore towards mysore road.Its an awesome destination for the treckers i say ! Ramnagar Village has two attractions , one being the Ramnagar hills and the other is Janapada Loka ( Folk stuff like handicrafts& all portraying the typical Karnataka folk culture).

The Ramnagar Hills or Ramadevara Betta ( Lord Rama Hill) a.k.a the SHOLAY hills :D



View from Ramdevara Betta

It has 4 hills linked together of which i felt 3 are risky ( only for me but the expert trekkers can try their hands on ) and 1 i.e the ramadevara betta (the main hill) is easy to climb since there are steps(around 400) and after the steps we reached a flat land were the temple is situated which has many local devotees visiting.

I have climbed up the ramadevara betta through the stairs and had always been last one to reach the top :( im a bad sport ! The stairs to the Ramdevara betta leads to a temple and from there you can climb up further through carved like steps and a iron rod for support and this is almost 70 degrees inclined i guess ( i dint try this because getting down is very scary ). My friends have climbed up and said that they could get a real beautiful view of the surrounding landscapes and the huge grass makes it more amazing to just sit and enjoy the peacefull view.




Entrance to the main hill -Ramadevra Betta(Ramadevara hill)-approx 400 steps

The steps leads to the temple of Lord Rama

My dear Sis in the small mantap kind off structure opposite to the temple.

On the right of the temple .

The hill above the temple & the tiny object thingy visible on the hill in the pic is my friend Mr Basu :P

Carved steps to reach the top of the hill seen in the previous pic :) (its scary)

The TOP !!!  Awesomness :) That is Mr Basu again :)

In the first visit we trecked another hill just opposite to the main hill but it was very risky as it was full bushes,thorns etc and there was no paved way as such. However after we reached half the hill we were stopped by local people who were collecting honey from the huge honey bee hives in the hills so had to get back and i was glad becuase i was totally exhausted and almost dying :P

First Visit - The hill opposite to Rama temple. Was quite a difficult task to climb this hill.But the view was worth all of it :)

It is not a very isolated place as you can spot many local farmers grazing their goats on the way to the hill top. Also because of the Temple ,the place attracts a good number of tourists but yet it is not crowded at all !

Happy Me :)

Once you are done with all the climbing, trecking etc. only thing you would want is good food and this can be got from a near by restuarant named "KAMAT" (Bangaloreans should have been familiar of this name :)).However this kamat is much better compared to the ones within the city.I love the food here.

Now when the tummies are satisfied and you still have some time left before the sun sets then you can head to the scenic "KANVA Reservoir" which is further ahead to Kamat hotel on Mysore road.
(Any localite would help you find it)

The Kanva Reservoir is beautiful place during the sunset.You can drive down into the waters, park your car or bike and relax watching the sunset.The local fishermen can be found around and you can ask them for a boat ride but remember to nogiate before getting into or they might act fussy after the ride by asking unreasonable fare(we had a tough time on our last visit).

Super Cool right !!!

The First trip :)

Yea...i tried my hands on :) Rowing is fun :D



It was fun except for the fact that the boat was smelling of fish :(

I have seen families cooking food right there and having a gala time on weekends.
There are ways to reach all three sides of the lake and its pretty easyto spot as well.

Bidding Bye to the waters :)

Done with all then hit the Mysore road again and straight to the city :D If you are hungry there area a lot of food stops like CCD and all on the way back :)

INFO :

Route : Bangalore > Bidadi >Ramnagar Village > Kanwa Reservoir
Distance from Bangalore to Ramnagar Village   : 45 Kms approx
Distance from Ramnagar to Kanwa Reservoir    : 15 Kms approx
Distance from Ramnagar hills to Kamat  Hotel   : 5 kms approx


Happy Trekking !!!

MANCHINABELLE LAKE & BIG BANYAN TREE

It was August 5^th 2012 , a Sunday , not just any other Sunday but it was first Sunday of august month which means Friendship Day ! We friends just needed another excuse to catch up and have fun ! I am a very lazy person among my friends and so, the early morning day trips are always a mess :P (im sorry guys :D) . As usual I was late , naaa very late (my parents were out of town and had to do my work all by myselfLpoor me L). Rode to Koramangla along with Rohit and met our starving friend Sayantan Basu and it was almost 2.00 PM. We had fresh lime soda at his favourite Anda ka funda ( small eatery) and there the plan was made you see – The Backwaters of Manchinabelle & the Big Banyan Tree ! Basu din’t know name although he had been there earlier and so had no clue where i was going !! Since this place was to be reached through Mysore road we headed towards Kumaraswamy Layout and by then all of us were famished as the time was almost 2:30 and we dint have LUNCH :O .We stopped at JP Nagar had stomach full food in a Punjabi restaurant (It was good ).

At around 3: 00 we started off again towards mysore road i.e passing through Dayanand Sagar college and Rajarajeshwari Dental college. Once we crossed the dental college we took a right after the Ramohalli village (anybody would guide if you ask for Doddaalada Mara – i.e Big Banyan tree in kannada).We reached the Big Banyan Tree which had a descent crowd because of the Sunday . The crowd was mostly children along with parents and senior citizens and this single tree covers 3 acres (12,000 m²) and is one of the largest of its kind. It is said to be at least 400 years old. It seems, a few years back, the main root of the tree succumbed to natural disease, and thus the tree looks like many different trees now. You can read the importance or history of the tree on the board placed in the entrance. We din’t spend much time here as the place was all about the tree and there was not much to go around and see, so we clicked a few pictures (i am a photo lunatic – poser) and left the place. There were eatery carts who sold spiced kaccha (unripened) Mango slices, chats, fried peanuts , corn etc but since we had just filled our tummies we were in no mood for the snacks also i carried along a few cup cakes and had that on my mind :D





BIG BANYAN TREE - DODDALADA MARA

We rode again and the ride from there had a very scenic view with a lot of greenery around, far off hills, good roads and surprisingly we found a lot of nurseries with beautiful flowers of all kinds which were a treat to the eyes. After about 15 kms we took a left turn from the main road and after few minutes i saw this breathtaking view from nowhere, Wowieee ! Since Bangalore had a good amount of rainfall the lake was kind of full and the place around was very green ! The lake was surrounded by Savanadurga hills on 3 sides and dam on the other side. We rode a little ahead to hill top kind a place to have a good view of the place.







FIRST GLANCE OF MANCHINABELLE LAKE - AWESOME !

I could not satisfy myself by standing there hence wanted to get down the hill and reach the water place. But Mr Basu dint want us to do that so we stopped half way through and chose a perfect place to sit on rocks with legs floating in the air :D It was an awesome experience but we were disturbed by a bunch of educated civilised morons who came there to get drunk (the city pubs& resorts were not enough for them you see) and were acting like only they know what is real fun in life ( God save them –Amen ) We friends had our own fun by finishing up the cupcakes :D some more photo sessions and few minutes of silence to experience the peace that was resounding there. It was as if the clouds, the hills, the wind, the water, the sunlight actually were communicating to us , something unusual yet so calming!





VIEW OF THE LAKE FROM THE ROCKS WE SAT ON !





NEVER ENDING :)





WE - THE THREE !!!

That was not the end (picture abhi baaki hai :P) as i wanted go down the hill , by the lake, feel the water, the wet sand and so did i :D We walked down as there was a way but was pretty isolated and by then the sun was almost going down the hills making the water glitter. I could hear nothing but the sound of wind& water and stood there on the bank of the lake. Had to leave before it got dark as i said earlier it was pretty isolated place and buglars could come from no where :P .So we bid bye to the splendid view.





FINALLY, in the waters!!





THE PERFECT DUSK !

Walking up was tough task ha ! We rode back home in the same way peacefully as there was no much traffic J



INFO :

Distance from Bangalore to Manchinabelle lake – 38 kms approx
Distance from Big Banyan Tree to Manchinabelle lake– 15 km approx
Location – Mysore road
Route –Mysore road – Rajarajeswari dental college – ramohalli village-take a right-big banyan tree –15kms - Manchinabelle lake.
Suggestions:

There are'nt any restaurants or food stalls or not even chaat bandis, so carry your own food and water.

It is a not so popular place so beware of getting robbed (not safe enough because we saw two cops there)

Do not get into the lake to swim because its quite deep and also the people in charge at the dam do not allow if they notice.


LIVE IT UP !!!

Wanderer's Note !

Lets know why we are here and what this is all about ....

This blog is meant for those wanderers who cannot sit idle at their homes on weekends nor can waste their time in shopping malls or smoky pubs of the city ! This blog is meant for those who love to watch sun go down, camp on the river side, play footbal by the fields, climb up the hills, dirty thier shoes, have a drink on beaches, go long drives so on and so forth !I am one of those wanderers :) proud to be so !


Ok ! If you are a wanderer too then this blog gives you all the information that can make your weekends worthy enough to cherish and pump up for your next 5 slogging week days :D 
You can expect info for Day trips as well as night stay trips. I know most of you donot want to go driving for hours and drain out half a part of your weekend on travelling ( same with me ) so here you can find all those nature enriched places(mostly not crowded and popular) which does not require much of driving !


Being born in a very conservative family i was not encouraged to travel much ! But that was only untill i graduated :) i managed to go on day trips and explore in and around bangalore (Ofcourse i dint inform at home :P ). Im a big big big foodie and constantly crave for tasty food (hey, im not fat huh :D).Hence once a while you can find me writing about the food i eat ..bare with that :)
Also to add on to my madness , i got along with friends who are no less than me !

And then The Adventures of Wanderers began.....


If in case anybody wants to join the wanderers you are welcome :)
PS: only if you can stand extreme madness :D