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Chickballapur Sight seeing

      At an altitude of 1468 m above sea level, is the Nandi Hills resort. What used to be the favorite summer getaway of Tipu Sultan, is now a popular picnic spot with its awesome fort, sprawling lawns and two ancient temples. A fantastic, awe-inspiring cliff fall of almost 2000 feet is known as Tipu's Drop, the views from which are simply stupendous. The rivers Pennar, Palar and Arkavati originate from these hills. A flight of 1.175 steps lead from the base of the hills to the top. The stone fortress on the hill is of special interest to students of history.Nandi Hills was popular with the British too who built bungalows and laid out gardens here. Today of course, it's a hot favourite among Bangaloreans who find this an ideal get-away for weekends. The 1478-m high Nandi Hills is the originating point of many rivers. And the forests surrounding the hills, abound with wild animals. Around the Nandi Hills are several smaller hills, which can be visited on foot.
Tipu's Drop: A 600 m high cliff face where according to legend, condemned prisoners were pushed to their death. On misty days when the wind wails in the trees, you can almost hear the blood-curdling screams of the prisoners as they met their gruesome end. But look down on a clear day and the view is inspiring.

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Skandagiri

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Bhoganandeeswara & Yoganandeeswara

    Nandi hills are a resort at a distance of about 60km north of  Bangalore. Here, are wo ancient temples, the Bhoganandeeswara temple at the foothills and the Yoganandeeswara hill temple. The ancient rulers of this region - the Banas built the Bhoganandeeswara temple in the 9th century. The Chola rulers of Tamilnadu built the hill temple.The Bhoganandeeswara temple in the foothills shows an assimilation of architectural styles of several dyanasties that ruled the area. The Banas, the Cholas, the Hoysalas and the Vijayanagar rulers made contributions to this temple.

The original shrine is attributed to the Bana queen Ratnavali. Later on, the Arunachaleswara shrine was added to the temple complex. The Cholas of the eleventh century added Nandi mandapas to the temple. The Hoysalas who came in later built an ornate Kalyana mandapam. The Vijayanagar rulers added shrines to Uma Maheswara , Girijaamba and Apita Kuchaambal (see Tiruvannamalai). Local chieftans added two more prakarams to the existing temples. Thus the temple now consists of three prakarams and a tank.The Yoganandeeswara hill temple is attributed to the Cholas of Tamilnadu. The Vijayanagar rulers added a shrine to Ambal and connected the two shrines with a corridor. The temple's carvings on pillars and doorways are noteworthy.

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Muddenahalli
The famous illustrious son of India Dr. Sir M. VISHWESHVARAYA who was both an Engineer and a Statesman. He was known for his impeccable manners, disciplined behaviour and meticulous work. His contributions to the national development in the filed of Economics, Industry, Irrigation, Agriculture and Education etc. are unparalleled. It is no surprise that the Govt. of India honoured him with the highest Civilian Title "Bharath Ratna". Sir M. Visvesvaraya was born on 15th September, 1861 at Muddenahalli, a small village in Chickballapur, Kolar District, Karnataka State. His father Srinivasa Sastry was a well-known student of sastras, astrologer and physician. Srinivas Sastry died when Visvesvaraya was only 15 years of age. After his father's death Visvesvaraya moved with his mother Venkatalakshamma to Bangalore where his maternal uncle H. Ramaiah lived. Before coming to Bangalore Visvesvaraya studied at the Chickballapur Middle and High School, where he completed his lower secondary courses.  and had his engineering education at Pune.

    Muddenahalli is the birth place of Sir M. Vishweshvaraya,  Diwan of the erstwhile princely Mysore State and Architect of modern industrial Karnataka.The house has now been turned into a museum.

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    Jakkalamadagu, Chitravathi, Rangasthala & Papagni are major and important visiting places of Chickballapur.The Jakkalamadagu water source situated 14 kms away from the town. This  water resources supports drinking water facility to the town. About 2 1/2 miles to the northeast of Chickballapur is a fine circular pond known as the Chitravathi, which is rising on the Harihareshwara hill to the west, is said to flow into this pond.It is therefore looked upon as a holy tirtha. The pond is popularly known as Halasamma's well, Halasamma being a Paleyagar princess. The Papagni situated about 3 kms from Chickballapur and this is one of the river which flows in the town. 

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