I learnt about the grasslands from other blogs sometime back when I was casually browsing. After seeing a couple of pictures the bloggers posted, have been wanting to go there for sometime now.
Had an opportunity by chance today. As usual, the Missus and I just headed out for our routine (which is mostly window-shopping/mall-hopping and the nursery at Lalbagh thrown in occasionally), and as soon as we crossed the gates of our apartment, changed our minds and decided to go on a drive (something we had not done in the past few months).
Thally, off Hosur (also known as Little England) is our first-choice. But having gone there once too often meant that it had lost its usual lure.
Manchina Bele, Kanakapura road, Shivalli MTR and other places off Mysore road are the other regular spots. Wanting to go somewhere new, we headed out to Hesaraghatta. Usually, we do our ground-work before going out by checking the routes, eateries etc. An unplanned trip meant having to figure these out on the go as well.
Took the Nice road till Tumkur road and turned right towards the city. Took a left at Dasarahalli and kept straight passing chikka-banavara till we reached Hesaraghatta. Locals guided us to the lake. Nothing surprising there. No water. Just the vast expanse of land that formed the lake bed and a few people hanging around.
Passed through the "Indian Institute of Horticultural Research" as we tried finding the grasslands. Bought some seeds there, came out and got lost trying to find the elusive grasslands. While we were fiddling around with the Galaxy-S (seems to know when exactly to hang!) trying to google and use the maps, a couple of policemen on the bike passed us. The stationary car on the road-side tickled their "spidey-senses", and they turned back and came towards us and questioned us! Having satisfied themselves that we were not up to any mischief they pointed us towards some village saying that we might find the grasslands there and left!!
Not wanting to take any more risks we planned to return after stealing a quick glance at Nrityagram and Kuteera. After having driven some 4-5 kms towards Nrityagram, suddenly we noticed an open area to our right and we could not believe our eyes!!! It was the grasslands with its beautiful intersecting mud-path!! We parked the car, and took some quick snaps. BDA has started planting trees on one-side of the path, and this has caused some heart-burn for bird-watchers. Related article here. It also points towards a lack of aesthetic sense on the department's part.
Sadly, a heavy downpour started and it meant we couldn't linger around any longer. We started our drive back home as happy as Columbus when he discovered America!
Not wanting to take the city route back, we took the longer route back via Nelamangala, and NICE road.
Some better pics of the place can be found here.
