We were really in awe!
It was all a sudden plan. My friend called me the night before and said he wanted a weekend getaway to somewhere not too far. Even I thought it's high time I needed break from work. I went to his home straight from my office.
Next day morning we started early though it was tough for us sleepyheads. A sip of coffee, jackets on, cameras set and fully charged, very basic gears, got inside the car, turned the keys and the engine said LET'S GO!😎
We found this place from some article and had our eyes set firm on it. Mandaragiri Hill or Basadi Betta is not too far from K.R. Puram, from his house, and a ride early morning was too good especially when you are accompanied by slight drizzle all the way till Dabaspete. Few kilometers straight from Dabaspete and turn right - your destination will be on the left! as the gps nav voice assistant says.
The moment you reach the place, there are exactly three things that will catch your eyes. A very tall statue, a beautiful structure designed like peacock features topped on it, and a hillock. All three of them adds positive vibes to the otherwise serene place.
And now for people who wants to know what this place is about, I'll give you a gist of it. Basadi Betta, as how it is popularly known among the locals is one of the important pilgrim centers for Jainism in Karnataka. When you hear the word pilgrim center this place stands out from most of its kind. Such a deep quietude is something you can't relate to. The basadi, as how the Jain shrines or temples are referred in Karnataka, has a statue of Jain Theerthankara, Chandrathara which is installed on Shri Mukha Mantapa at the base. And adjacent to it you see a Pinchi shaped Gurumandir which is first of its kind in Jain History. Standing 81 ft tall it is declared as a Unique World Record. This Mandir is dedicted to Digambar Jain. And then there is this small hillock with more than 400 steps carved well out of it called Mandaragiri hill. Once you reach the top of it, you find 4 temples out of which 2 are from 12th century and two from 14th century.
Climbing 400+ steps was the fun and at the same time the tough part. I even had recorded a time lapse video of this in my cell phone but unfortunately I don't find it now :( Once we reached the top of it we met the temple security. He asked us to remove our shoes and visit the temples. Although we couldn't decode a single word he was saying, we could easily understand what he meant from his gestures. There were 4 very small ancient temples which we just circumambulated and got out. I shouldn't leave out the fact that there were numerous paintings on the walls that encloses the temple. But none were found to be that old as the temple. Seeing us taking pictures he requested us to click one of his. And then there was this picture of his with a wide broad smile.
Once we got out and walked to the other side of hill or temple, whichever way we call it, the beauty in its own tranquility was simply breath taking. And to espy something like this... is absolutely amazing!
And a pond nearby...
For all the people in Bangalore, what better place could you think about for a short getaway from the noisy, dusty and busy city life.