We had seen and heard references to a 1300 year old temple in the Nandi village near Nandi Hills. But, in spite having made innumerable trips to Nandi hills, we had never got around to exploring this. This time however, we were determined to make it to the Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple .
The weekend trip to Nandi hills was set up nicely with the monsoons hitting Bangalore with heavy rains on Friday. So, when we started from Bangalore on Saturday at 7:30 AM , it was pleasant all along the way. We reached the hills by 9 AM and were welcomed by chilly winds. This time again, like the last time, we were pleasantly surprised by some new additions to the place. The new additions were a number of new view points (See picture below).
We spent a couple of hours inhaling the fresh air, paid a visit to the temple atop the hill and then headed down and got on our way to the Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple. The temple is about 7-8 km from the base of Nandi hills. When you start back from the base of the hills towards Bangalore, at Karahalli, instead of turning right (for Bangalore), continue straight for a few kilometers to reach the temple.
The temple complex was much bigger than we had expected, with large, well maintained lawns on both sides of the walk way.
There were a few huge stone wheels at the entrance, possibly part of a chariot in the past!
The section right after you enter is the main temple area with the sanctum. The main temple deity is Shiva Parvati and Nandi (Shiva's mount or Vahana)
Apart from the main gods, the temple houses a idol of Ganapati, in a unique form, Ugra Ganapati.
There was also a window with an interesting design which looked like creating a silhouette of Nataraja
To the right of the main temple, there is a structure similar to a Kalyana Mantapa (marriage hall).
Further right, is the temple lake (Kalyani), a huge structure with the hills in the background.
We heard that, thrice in a year, 1,00,000 lamps are lit in the temple. Our next visit would be on one of those days :)
The weekend trip to Nandi hills was set up nicely with the monsoons hitting Bangalore with heavy rains on Friday. So, when we started from Bangalore on Saturday at 7:30 AM , it was pleasant all along the way. We reached the hills by 9 AM and were welcomed by chilly winds. This time again, like the last time, we were pleasantly surprised by some new additions to the place. The new additions were a number of new view points (See picture below).
We spent a couple of hours inhaling the fresh air, paid a visit to the temple atop the hill and then headed down and got on our way to the Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple. The temple is about 7-8 km from the base of Nandi hills. When you start back from the base of the hills towards Bangalore, at Karahalli, instead of turning right (for Bangalore), continue straight for a few kilometers to reach the temple.
The temple complex was much bigger than we had expected, with large, well maintained lawns on both sides of the walk way.
There were a few huge stone wheels at the entrance, possibly part of a chariot in the past!
The section right after you enter is the main temple area with the sanctum. The main temple deity is Shiva Parvati and Nandi (Shiva's mount or Vahana)
Apart from the main gods, the temple houses a idol of Ganapati, in a unique form, Ugra Ganapati.
There was also a window with an interesting design which looked like creating a silhouette of Nataraja
To the right of the main temple, there is a structure similar to a Kalyana Mantapa (marriage hall).
Further right, is the temple lake (Kalyani), a huge structure with the hills in the background.
We heard that, thrice in a year, 1,00,000 lamps are lit in the temple. Our next visit would be on one of those days :)
