There is a hillock to the left at the junction of Devanahalli-Shidlaghatta soon after the Airport. I saw a Jain temple under construction over the hillock and just visited that silent place.
It was windy in the afternoon and not many people around, I was enjoying the silence. There were some couple of architects sculpting the marbles intricately marking designs with pencil. It was beautiful to see those white soft stones to get shapes of bells, pillars and idols.
I then left the place to follow the "anjaane raasta" :) I saw the signboard saying Nandi Hills 28Kms at a junction and so I took that deviation and drove for a couple of kms; no sooner the fuel came to reserve. :(
My bad, I should have had a look earlier before starting. I asked nearby rurals and oncoming cars about fuel station ahead/nearby or above Nandi hills. Answer was a NO! Everyone asked to go back to Devanahalli for refueling. Consoling myself that I wouldn't land up in any problems since I have 2+ litres in reserve and would definitely make it another 55+ kms. I started to drive till the base of Nandi Hills. Roads are very good - lengthy, straight and non bumpy. I found a silkworm rearing farm on the way and wanted to take some snaps of cocoons. I got into one of the farms with my camera and the owner came running to me as to see what I am doing standing next to chandrike (A bamboo tray used for sericulture). As I was photographing cocoons he was more interested to show me the whole of his farm. I was more eager to ask him about everything that I saw around. A 5th grade boy from neighborhood also started explaining me about procedures they follow. I visited the Mulberry plantation next to the farm which is used to feed the growing silkworms. Within the few minutes of our meeting the owner had explained the whole of silkworms life-cycle! When I went inside the room I saw lots of cocoons ready for harvest. He said that he would make a total of Rs.40000/- in one harvest and a single harvest would take a period of 28 days. He asked me of my profession and told that his son too is an engineer working at Bangalore. People in rural places are very happy to see someone coming from city to see what the agriculturists are really working on. I have experienced this a lot many times during my visits like this on biking and trekking. We as engineers, doctors and lawyers often neglect the backbone of our country. If you ask a urban lad of this generation as to where the grains, fruits and vegetables actually come from, they would answer either Namdhari's or Reliance fresh or some other supermarket!!
After bidding bye to the silkfarm owner Prakash and the neighborhood boy Manu, I left with a cocoon in my pocket for the memory of visiting this silkfarm. My bullet had already started showing symptoms of getting cold as she had drenched in rain and electricals of bike had gone to a toss! There was a electrical short in headlight switch which forced me to come back before sunset. On the way back I visited the Devanahalli fort and Tippu sultan's birth place which is on the way. It is a monument still standing. There was nothing much to see here. You can see an old venugopal swamy temple as soon as you enter the gates of fort. Driving back home I had Idli-Vada at some hotel around 6pm, a very late lunch indeed! :P
Above are some wonderful snaps taken from my camera.
Cheers!
Karthi
