Explore Bangalore Series- XXII - Muddenahalli

Does the name Muddenahalli ring something in your mind; probably not. I was not aware of the existence of this place till the time I landed up there almost accidentally, while we were searching for something else. Muddenahalli is a small village located about 60 Kms north of Bangalore, right next to the Nandi Village after Nandi Hills.

Muddenahalli is the village of Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya or Sir M. V. as he is fondly known as, one of the most well known personalities of Karnataka. This is the village he was born in and this is the village where he rests in peace today. There is a small park that is home to his mortal remains or his Samadhi. There is a small platform with a small statue of his, and a small plaque that reads his date of birth and date of death. The first thing that strikes you when you look at the plaque is that he lived for good 102 years. The memorial has the perfect backdrop of Nandi Hills. His house in the village has been converted into a museum which I could not visit as we reached almost an hour after it was closed. There is a gift shop also within the museum, but the state of the shop was not encouraging. The village is still a very small village, and it may have been a village of few houses in mid 19^th century when Sir M.V. was born.

You can visit this humble village whenever you decide to drive down to Nandi Hills. You reach the Nandi village and take a right turn towards Muddenahalli. You may have to take local help if you can not read Kannada. The village is also a base camp for the Skandagiri treks. There is an ancient temple also on the village, whose name I could not gather, but it has the traditional huge compound and a temple telling the tales of the times it has witnessed passing by.

If you happen to visit Nandi Hills in the evening, you can go to the top and see the new airport. For me it was a nostalgic sight as I could see those flights from my balcony till a few days back and now I have to drive all the way and climb a hill to do the same. But nonetheless it gives you a good semi-ariel view of the new Bangalore International Airport.

On your way to Nandi Hills and Muddenahalli, you can also venture into few villages and buy / pick up fresh fruits and vegetables. You can choose to pluck them yourselves too. We picked up a lot of fresh Guavas and Jackfruits. Another month or so, you should be able to pick up lots of grapes on this route.

This adds to the list of chance discoveries in my travel adventures…:-)