The first time I visited Chanundi Hills was in the year 2004. It was on our way back from college excursion. It was evening and we didn’t have clear memories since it was little dark in the evening. We took a picture near the statue( the one holding a snake in one hand and dagger in other) . Those were the days when camera phones or digital camera was not popular so we managed to take a picture or 2. Promised to return for our incomplete visit it took about 11 years? better late than never I guess.
This time I went with my wife and a friend on bikes. Remembering my college days and a tinge of nostalgia my expectations were high.
We expected it to be a place of natural beauty with very scenic and lots if trees and birds.
The direction was very easy and people were very cooperative. We began the climb and my wife and I was impressed with the wide beautifully made roads with split lanes in some parts to avoid accidents. Yet, we saw one accident on our way up but there was no fight or quarrel, the police came and sorted the matter efficiently.
We stopped at several points, looked for the best spot to view the city. There were some designated view points for the ariel view and my zoom lenses came in handy.
It was in early October so the wind was pleasant but the sun was piercing our skin. We slowly climbed up to the mountain and was greeted with a long traffic jam. Since we were in bike we found a easy pass towards a parking near the chamundi statue.
I am not a religious person, and I have my own philosophy.( not a matter of discussion here) so the sight was little depressing to me. The place looked quite commercial with shops selling all kind of things everywhere. Whereas I expected a natural beauty. We roamed around the place and found few temples that rose up in the sky with a marvellous contrast with the blue sky. There was a huge chariot and I was very impressed by its design and architecture.
We spent some time taking pictures and spending much if the time looking at the city layout beneath referring our gps location.
Though the top was quite barren the air was cool and There were people of all ages to worship and spend some time with their family. So if anyone is looking to enjoy nature, this might nit be a very accurate place to be however a visit will not pinch you.
On our way back we came across few roads where entry was restricted. We climbed down the road which off ourse was very nice and wide and I was using Airtel network to track, and the network was good enough.
Over and all this is more of a religious place than a break away from maddening crowd. And as I said it won’t pinch you to visit.