Spiritual Getaway Around Bangalore– Hike to Two Hill-top Temples

Today I will be taking you all on a divine journey of 2 temples on the hill-top barely 1.5 hours from Bangalore. You can plan this for a half day trip or even a full day trip if you want to carry packed food from home and spend quality time with your family. 

Shri Mahime Ranganatha Swamy Devasthana 

This temple is about 47 KM from Bangalore. We started off at 7 am in the morning along the Bangalore-Tumkur National Highway and post Nelamanagala toll we took a pit stop for breakfast. One must not miss the famous Tattle Idli when in Tumkur. So, we had this yummy breakfast for breakfast and next started driving straight on the Bangalore-Tumkur National Highway. After driving for some 20 minutes, we saw a signboard on the right side indicating us the road towards Mahimapura.  We took this right and from here we drove for another 1 KM to reach this temple. 

From the foot of the hills, you will see clear steps to climb uphill. Also, there are railings on the sides for support. So elderly people can climb easily and slowly by taking this support. 

As you start your climb, will see Anjaneya temple on your left side in the entrance itself.  But the main Mahime Ranganatha Swamy Temple is on the hilltop. We decided to visit this later and continued our climb. The climb is bit steep and there are total of 300 steps.

With less than 15-20 minutes we made it to the top. Temple was closed and the caretaker around told us that the priest usually comes at around 10 am in the morning. So, we couldn’t get details about this temple’s history or about the deity within.  

So, we took pictures from outside and went to the other side of the temple to capture panoramic views of the surrounding areas. 

From the backside of the temple, you can see the famous Shivgange hill of Tumkuru and lush green fields of the villages around. 

While returning we visited the Anjaneya temple at the bottom. 

We also saw a car chariot parked on the far end of the road. Looks like there will be Rathotsava (Car-Chariot festival) also during some special occasions. 

After clicking pictures we crossed the road and walked on the opposite side of the road. This is a perfect picnic spot to spend quality time with your family with trees offering good swing options with its long hanging branches along with good amount of shade for relaxation. But please be careful there are monkeys here waiting to grab stuffs from your bags.  

After relaxing here for a while, we headed towards our next stop. 

Shri Udwan Veerabhadra Swamy Devasthana, Hale Nijagala, Nelamangala

We came out of Mahimapura and drove around another 15-20 minutes on Bangalore-Tumkur National Highway. On the right you will find a signboard indicating to drive towards this temple. We took right and drove along this route which was very scenic. 

After driving for around 10-15 minutes alongside this road, we reached the base of this temple. There is ample space to park your vehicle at the base of this hillock. 

From here the journey to the top of the hill will take you through around 100 steps which anyone can climb easily. But please be careful there are lot of monkeys here. 

After 100 steps, you will reach the temple entrance. 

Here you can take off your footwear and first see a Nagadevata temple on the right side. 

Post climbing around 10 steps you will enter the main temple premises now. 

And the first look at this temple will give you a VOW feeling. You will find that most of this temple premise is residing inside a huge Monolith rock. 

On one side you will find the Veerabhadra temple, a huge cavern in the center and on the left side you will see steps to the Nandi temple. We thought of covering each of these places from one direction. 

We first went to Veerabhadra temple. 

Here you can see 3.6 feet tall Veerabhadra swamy carved out from the monolithic. There is a priest here and you get all the details of the temple. The statue has four arms that hold a sword, a bow, an arrow, and a shield. 

Once you come out of the temple, you can find a small mantapam right opposite to the temple with Nandi Idol residing inside.

After that we next went to the cavern where the priest told us that a Shivalinga is installed there. You need to watch your head here while walking as the height is little less. We went inside to see nice smiling Shiva Linga inside the cavern. 

Once you are out of the cavern, on your right side you can see a gate with steps directing you to take which can lead you to the temple on top. 

You need to watch out your steps and head since its little dark and very enclosed with slippery water and leaves. Once you are out of the cave, the steps are clearly marked till top. 

After taking few steps you will find some steps carved out from the monolith along with railings o both sides which will lead you to temple. 

And the panoramic views of the surroundings from this spot is truly enchanting. Inside the temple you will find Nandi Idol along with lot of moneys guarding him. So please take care of your belongings.

 We took darshan from outside, clicked pictures and started our descent back to the main temple. We sat in the temple premises  for sometime absorbing the view in front of us. Here we could get complete view of the cavern along with Nandi temple on top. 

We then started our descent back to parking lot, hopped onto our vehicles and headed back to Bangalore. 

One important note, please ensure you have heavy breakfast on the way or get packed food from home since after we took right from National Highway, we didn’t find any eat-outs in this route. You need to again drive back to the national highway only to look for good restaurants. Also, we could not find any restroom facilities around both the temple premises. 

There are lot of pilgrimage sites around Bangalore for a short weekend trip that will help you feel closer to almighty, connect with your inner self and enjoy your rendezvous with nature as well. So please make time to travel on a holy sojourn also at times which you never know might help you to connect to your spiritual self.