Beautiful Southern India.Weekend Getaways from Bangalore

I am a nature lover and I try to capture my memories in a low cost camera that I have.I am going to take you on a trip through the southern part of Indian sub continent.In this hub,I will cover places in and around Bangalore and then in my next hub move through three Indian states Karnataka.Tamilnadu and touch parts of Kerela.Kerela for your information is aslo nicknamed as God's Own Country and Bangalore IT capital of India.The IT part of bangalore is fine,but then there many places in and around bangalore for which you can plan a one day trip or a weekend trip.Lets start on the Bangalore-Mysore highway.The place that personally i like a lot is Sivansamudram.This waterfall on cauvery is the best after monsoons or during it when the quantity of water is more in th river so we have more water in the falls.There are 2 waterfalls Gaganchukki and Barachukki which are seperated by around 15 kms.There is a resort also if you would like to stay overnight.The resort is Georgia Sunshine resort.Rest I will leave on the photographs to speak for themselves.The next stop that I would make is at Srirangapatnam.This place has a lot of historical sinifigance and it's ruler Tipu Sultan is one of the greatest rulers of India.The town gets it is name from the temple of Sri Ranganath Swamy.You have a majestic Lord Vishnu idol in sleeping posture here.Then you have summer palace.The garden in the summer palace is called as dariya daulat bagh.Take a trip around Tipu's tomb and Sangam.Sangam is the place where 2 rivers join Cauvery.You can take a ride on a coracle.I really enjoyed that.Lets now start again on the highway and reach Mysore.Whenever I go to mysore,I first visit Ma Chamundeswari temple.The temple is one of the eight holiest shrines in southern India.It is at a height of 3300 (approx) feet from the sea level.My suggestion would be avioding this place during the dusshera time as there will be very long queues and you may not get a glimpse of devi chamundewari also.Entry is divided in special categories like free,10Rs and sepcial direct entry of 100 Rs.Do not forget to visist Nandi the bull temple on the way down from the temple.It really amazes me when I think how in the old days,people managed to get such a big stone out there and carve such beautiful statue of Nandi.The next stop would be Lalitha Mahal.From here we will go on to Mysore Palace.The palace is lit up very sunday at 7 and that is an incredible sight.The Palace in itself is very beautiful and very well maintained.You will go right into history when you walk through the compunds of the palace.The best time to visit is during the dussehra celebrations when the entire city comes to life and it is decorated in a grand way.The other 2 places that I would definetly suggest are phelomina church and Vrindavan Gardens(No one should skip this place).Now I will come back to bangalore.If you just want to take your car out and show your kids some wild life,have a go at the Bannerghata National park.If you want a comfortable bus ride then you can take the red volvos with number 365.Take a Grand Safari ride,it will cost you around 125 rs.Keep your camera handy if you want to take pics of some animals.There is a butterfly park also.In case you want to spend a night in the nature,you have Jungle lodges and resorts operating inside the park.Near to the place where I stay in bangalore is the ragiguda temple that personally I like very much.And coming back to nature,give a try to reach Nandi hills early in the morning and you will feel like you are in heaven...the clouds will be touching your feet and crossing over.Try to catch a glimpse of Sun rise or Sun set in the Nandi Hills.Plan your trip accordingly so that you reach there during these times.The next place that I will touch will be a weekend trip from Bangalore.It is Bheemeswari.All of us would have heard of the Mahaseer Fish.If you manage to catch one Mahaseer that will be an exprience of lifetime.Even if you do not manage to do that there are many other adventure sports that are offered by different resorts in the area.Even a walk along the river in the jungle will make you feel very close to nature.The next trip we make will again be a weekend getaway.Waynad is a hill station and is actually in Kerela.Start from bangalore on friday night and it takes you around 7 hrs to reach there.There are many resorts in and around Waynad,you have to do an advance booking.The hills are very beautiful and the Junlges are really really deep.You can also try the ayurvedic message offered in most of the resorts or at the ayurvedic centre.Try Kerela style meals.Also keep an eye open when the vehicle passes by the Bandipur National park,you may see many wild animals. There are manyOther places of interest in bangalore though not mayb be 100% connected to nature but connected to history or are places where you can enjoy the beautiful city are Lalbagh, Bull temple,Vidhan Soudha,Government Museum,Lord Siva at Kempfort,M.G Road,Bangalore Palace and Isckon temple