The temple on a hillock - Anandalingeshwara Temple

The temple on a hillock - Anandalingeshwara Temple

A hillock, clearly visible from the Hebbal flyover, had always tickled my curiosity as I crossed the flyover on my daily trips to office - especially since I could also see trees and greenery on its summit. Could it be a good place for birding ? Could it turn out to be the ideal place to capture the setting sun and great panoramic views of North Bangalore ?

Curiosity led to some googling - and I found out just this : The hillock was called Anandagiri, and there was a temple called the Anandalingeshwara Temple on top. Some more searching led to the Chola Temples in Bangalore Wiki page and the revelation that there was possibly a Chola temple in my backyard. I had to visit it soon and visit it I did. But the fact remained that there wasn't much about the temple or any pictures to be found on the Internet - certainly no one had blogged about it.

And thus was born the idea to create "The Unknown Bangalore" blog - to talk about the many places in Bangalore that have interesting stories behind them, but with very little Internet presence.

But back to Anandagiri and the Anandalingeshwara Temple... the first thing to mention about the hillock and the temple on top of it, is the accessibility. If you are thinking of driving upto the foot of the hillock in an air conditioned car, perish the thought. The roads leading upto to the hillock are so narrow, I found it difficult to maneuver a two-wheeler in parts. Hebbal 3rd Main is the main approach road from Bellary Road (if you are coming from Mekhri Circle towards Hebbal Flyover, crossover to the service road on the opposite side under the flyover near the Veterinary College, cross the Hebbal Police Station and turn right into 3rd Main) and you have to drive down 3rd Main Road until the deadend, then take a right and another one in front of the Ganesha temple, to reach the West Gate of the temple at the foothills.

Stone steps (a moderately easy climb) lead upto a modern structure. Could this be the Chola temple ? I walked into a spacious hall with three idols at one end and the navagraha idols at the other. The elaborately decorated Shiva lingam was flanked by a Ganesha idol on the left and the Goddess Ananda Bhavani on the right.

After I had paid my respects to the Gods and the priest had performed an archane on my request, I asked him about the origins of the temple. While the current structure is modern, the temple and idols existed three hundred years ago, he said. The deity is a powerful one and we have large crowds coming here on the ocassion of Shivarathri, he added. In response to my question as to what else there was to see on Anandagiri, he mentioned a cave and the Kalabhairaveshwara temple within. A short climb down the stairs leading to the East gate and there was the little cave ... with a fairly recently installed idol.

Just behind the main temple is this interesting rock painted to look like a kneeling elephant. The elephant seems to be prostrating to the deity, but is positioned behind it.

Trees are found in abundance - I suspect an early morning visit may lead to some good bird sightings as well.

After going around the temple, I then concentrated on the view.  And the views of North Bangalore from the summit are spectacular...

As are the sunset scenes - 

So, was I disappointed that it was not a Chola temple, after all ? (The Chola dynasty ended more than 700 years ago) Nope. I guess the person who created the Wiki page confused this with the temple on Nandi Hills (which was also called Ananda Giri at one point in time).  But the serenity of the temple, its location and the views are all great, and that makes this relatively unknown location worth a visit.