TRIP TO BIG BANAYAN TREE AND MANCHANABELE DAM

Date of Visiting- 28-Apr-2013 Sunday

Kind of Place-- Picnic can be enjoyed under Giant Banyan Tree and drenching in Manchebele Reservoir.. :)

Distance of tree from Bangalore=35Km, Dam from Tree= 9Km.
Days Required- 1 Day is enough.

No. of People involved - 2
How we went - By Bus (BMTC)

Plan for the day- Bangalore->Majestic->Doda Aalada Maara->Manchebele->BBT->Bangalore

View inside Big Banyan Tree Premise

Here starts a fun-filled Day

Intro:

Impossible to believe that it is a single tree

It was an awesome day full of fun and quite adventurous too. My roommate Pragati has got her joining location as Pune and she has planned to leave Bangalore on 2^nd May 2013.

But before that she wanted to explore(she realized it very soon ;)) Bangalore as much as possible, but was left with almost no time. So we decided to go to any place possible as we did not had any personal vehicle.

She had one exam on Sunday morning (28^th April), so I decide to proceed after that. We started out around 12:30PM when I left my room for Majestic. She was already there waiting for me and killing her time anyhow. By that time it was quite hot.

Majestic to Doda Aalada Mara:

After I reached Majestic, we enquired about the bus and some other details. Within 10 minutes we caught the bus from Platform no. 19 as we were already kinda late. As the bus proceeded towards Mysore road, we started to feel cool breeze as temperature was degrading slowly and after sometime temperature was quite good.

lovely roads

We were really very happy as bus was going with a good speed but Pragati was like somewhat worried that how we will return back but I just wanted to see that Big tree which is famous with name Dodda Aalada Maara (DAM) in local people. After sometime we got off from Mysore Road.. we have to take right from Rajarajeshwari Engineering College and from there a narrow road was there. And then we were able to see small villages of Bangalore and they were really very beautiful.. houses were really well constructed and have good designs. I was really surprised with the road condition as there was not a single pit even in such a outer area. Roads were narrow but definitely wanna mention that this kind of road we could not expect.. and also BMTC is running bus with such a good frequency in such outer areas.. heads off…

Astonished while realizing what am I watching:

Temple inside Big Banyan Premise

We reached at Big Banyan around 2:45PM.. and we literally jumped off from bus. I was astonished and could not believe on my eyes that what I am seeing is one tree only or is it a bunch of trees.. but then we entered in its premise.. I shud say premise as it is really a very very big area that you even can’t imagine and they have maintained it really well and constructed a boundary around it( to feel it u have to visit it).. just after the entry gate is a board on which basic details about this tree is written which says that it is the fourth biggest tree in World which is spread in a area that is around 3 acres.

Then we began to move ahead.. yes u can walk in between tree stems/branches as they have built a kind pavements in between them.. but it was really tought to believe on my eyes and my mind was not ready to accept that it is a one single tree only.. but after sometime I noticed that it was like.. its branches have been fallen off towards the ground and after reaching to it they have started growing again.. (honestly I don’t have words to describe what I saw)

DAM to Dam:

Then suddenly it started raining.. but it was very slow so we were enjoying it initially and then it turned to heavy rain.. we ran and took shelter. After sometime when it slowed down we came out and took bhutta.. it is always awesome to have hot bhutta in slow rain.. I always love it and this thing really made ma day.. then I decide to head towards Manchebele Dam which is around 9 kms from there but did not disclose it to Pragati as she was not aware about it as what exactly is there.. so we jus took the bus that was coming and ran and caught it.. in between we got wet somewhat but it was really grt..

When conductor of the bus knew that we were going to Dam.. he was also keen to know that were we going to catch fish.. but we told him that no.. we are going there just to have fun as this is our first visit.. and he was like surprised that only 2 gals can also do this kind of adventurous thing..

At Manchebele Dam:

Manchanebele Reservoir

As we were reaching there our excitement was growing.. till then Pragati has also known that we were going to some dam.. and as she loves water so she was even more excited than me. Then driver asked us to get off and we head towards the Dam.. just after we got down we were able to see such a scenic view.. we were in completely lap of nature and that’s only 30-35kms from Bangalore.. around walking after 200mtrs we were able to see a glimpse of Manchebelle Reservoir and that was Heights of surprise for me that bus has dropped us to such a close point and BMTC is really providing a very nice facility to mango people..

Then after some more steps we were able to see the bunch of people including families, boys and small groups who were enjoying in the cool water of reservoir. But till then my eyes were searching for only one thing.. as I was still unable to get any view of Manchebelle Dam.. although I was excited enough after seeing such a nice view of water and nature.. but still.. and then I decided to head towards the opposite direction of that crowd and then after walking some more we were ultimately find out that Dam and that time we were like Mission accomplished.

Manchanebele Dam

Back to BBT:

Tell me which is branch and which one is stem

giving a hard hit to brain-- that it is a single tree only

At that point there was no rush at all as people were enjoying water and were busy there.. and we rested there for sometime.. tried to catch that view of dam and water in our eyes and camera.. and around 4:30PM we decided to head back towards Big Banyan tree.. we came back to that point where bus dropped us and waited for around 15mins and came back to Banyan tree again..

Now we enjoyed there a lot.. there were lots of monkeys.. and tried to find out some place to eat but could not.. so plz whenever u plan to go there have some food with u.. as many families were enjoying picnic under that Banyan tree.. and it was cool enough to sit in between such a wide arms of such a giant tree.

To Banglore:

Then again we took bus and came back to Bangalore and this much is also in only Rs. 50/- as we have taken pass while going.. and it was really a wonderful day.. not planned but still much better than expectation and that tree deserves atleast one trip.. but I can go there any no. of times.

Other Plans:

If you love trekking than you can plan a trekking to Savandurga Hills that is around 14kms from Manchebelle Dam and then can come back to Dam itself and then in evening u can sit under tree.. as I am planning the same on any weekend.

Time to visit:

You can go to Big Banyan Tree any time of the year as it is really very cool under and around it but don’t forget to take some food items with you as u won’t be able to find any good restaurant here. But if you go in some cooler months then you can enjoy more at Dam and Tree and also trekking to Savandurga..

Food Availability:

Good Food is not available there.

How to go:

You can take BMTC buses as frequency is really very good and last bus at Dam is available at around 8:30PM, but if you have your own bike/car then that is also a very good option as roads are really well built.

Directions to reach there:

If you are coming from Silk Board side and have your own vehicle then its better to take Nice Ring Road and then take Mysore Road.. after take take right from Rajarajeshwari College.. and now u r on Doda Alada Mara Road.. J

Map:

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