Nandi Hills is a hill station of southern India, in the Chikkaballapur District of Karnataka state. It is 60km from Bangalore. It is 4851 ft above sea level. It is located in close proximity to the newly constructed Bangalore International Airport, the second largest in India. In addition, the hills are located about 20 km from the National Highway (NH-7) just after Devanahalli Town. Due to its location, Nandi Hills is rapidly developing and numerous commercial and residential ventures are underway in the region. The Central Government wants it to be a National tourist spot and wants to undertake it from the State Government.
It is the highest point in the whole of Karnataka.
Nandi Hills is the source of the Penner , Ponnaiyar and Palar rivers. Nandi Hills gets its name from an ancient Nandi temple situated on this hill. This temple has a thousand year old sculpture of Nandi. An ancient lord Shiva and Parvati temple also adorns this hill. Some people say that from the sky the hills look like a Nandi bull and hence the name Nandi Betta which means Nandi hills in the native language.
Nandidurg was traditionally held impregnable, and its storming by Cornwallis in 1791 was one of the most notable incidents of the first war against Tipu Sultan of Mysore. It was formerly a favourite resort for British Raj officials during the hot season. Francis built the summer residence here for Sir Mark Cubbon. There is a place called Tipu drop where prisoners were brought for execution; they were pushed from that spot.
The hills are now a popular tourist spot during summer. The state horticulture department maintains a garden for the tourists. The pressure of tourists on the environment here is great with a considerable problem of litter, noise and physical disturbance. There are a lot of monkey’s and dogs on top of the hill so tourists must be careful of their belongings which might be snatched and thrown away by the monkey’s.
