A day out in Bangalore

All these times, me and my friends roamed places outside Bangalore and we never thought of exploring anything inside Bangalore. So, this time we decided to explore few places around Bangalore. My friend Shashi came up with few list of places in Bangalore to explore on weekend. After sorting the list, we decided to visit three new places which were unheard all these years - The Big banyan tree, Turahalli forest and Omkar hills.

We started our journey at 1:30PM from Domlur, Bangalore. Though the distance of travel to Big banyan tree is just 20km, the heavy traffic inside the city made us to take more than 1hr to reach our destination.

The Big Banyan tree :

The Big Banyan tree is a 400 year old tree and considered to be the 4th biggest banyan tree after world's biggest tree at Andra pradesh, Kolkata and Adyar tree at chennai.

The main tree had over the years spread out widely with several aerial roots. With thousands of such roots spread out, the tree covers a area of approximately 3 acres. Presently the crown of the tree has a circumference of about 120mts and the highest branch rises to about 95feet.

Big banyan tree

With my friend Shashi

Thinking in deep.....

After spending 30 minutes, we headed to visit the 2nd place of the day Turahalli forest.

Turahalli - The only surviving forest in Bangalore

The Turahalli Forest is located about 20 km from heart of the Bengaluru city. This place is locally known as Karishma Hills.

Initially I was surprised to hear a forest in Bangalore. Obviously, I was so excited to visit this forest in Bangalore. I couldn't believe my eyes, when I saw a dense forest, after reaching this place. During my conversation with one of the local person, he told  few wild animals like jackal, hare, mongoose can be spotted inside the forest. Unfortunately, we could not spot these animals anywhere in the forest, however we were just lucky enough to witness the  presence of peacocks and few birds from distance.

Forest sign board

The place was very calm and isolated from the city. The cold breeze, the calmness, breathtaking view made our day awesome.

Turahalli Forest

Inside the forest

We had snacks and tea in a nearby hotel and headed to visit the last place of the day, Omkar hill.

Omkar Hill :

Omkar Hills is an area in Rajarajeshwari nagar in south Bangalore. Situated at a height of 2800 ft above sea level, it is one of the highest points in Bangalore. It houses mainly two temples namely, Matsya Narayana Temple and Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Temple.

Dwadaasha jyothirlinga temple has 12 Jyotir lingas (Shiva linga) with each linga having separate tower over it. These lingas are taken from different states and are considered to be the most sacred in India. This is one of the few temples in Bangalore, constructed in North-Indian style.

Sri Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Temple

Front view of temple

1200 kg metal bronze bell. 

Behind the temple, there is an old banyan tree surrounded by statues representing various faiths/religions. The place is known as ‘Sarvadharma Samanvaya Peetha’,which means seat of equality for all religions. 

Sarvadharma Samanvaya Peetha

Statues depicting communal harmony

The giant stone clock is another attraction of this place. The clock is built by HMT, with each clock hand weighing approx., 40kg. 

Gaint Clock

The hill is also known for the beautiful view of the sunset. Unfortunately, we could not witness the sunset, as the sky was very cloudy in the evening.

View of the town from Omkar hill

These are few of the best places to hangout with friends/family, for a cool weekend trip in Bangalore.