Nandi Hills: An impromptu visit to a hillock in the clouds

Booked an Ola outstation from Bangalore. Nandi Hills is roughly 70km from where we stay. We started at around 3.30 am. Weather was lovely. Bangalore roads without many cars is a rare sight in itself. We caught some sleep in the way.
The Gate for vehicles opens at around 5.30 am. Sun had still not risen from the sleep. We had to wait for some time, and we went on...

It took us another half an hour or more to reach Nandi Hills parking. It was a bit cold at that time of the day. We waited for some more time to get tickets, while having the classic pakora and chai.

Nandi hills is a small hill, and it won't take more than 3 hours if you don't plan to sit at one spot for too long.

Just as we entered the gates, we saw people going to the right, however we saw a small lodge to the left, which caught our attention.
It was Tipu Sultan's Lodge.

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We went in and explored it, and continued ascending uphill thereafter. We heard various birds, as we continued on to the wet mossy stairs..
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It was bright all around, and we lost all hope to witness the sunrise. Suddenly, I heard something like flowing water, and we rushed towards the left. Little did we know what we'll find..
It was a heavenly sight, if you know what life's being trapped in a big city like Bangalore.
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Unexpectedly, we saw the sun rise from behind the cliffs. We had reached the boundary and all we saw were clouds surrounding us, hovering over the valley beneath. We continued along the boundy for sometime, unlocking more cloudscapes..
In the way, we found two deep Wells that were known to
Then we entered the forests for a detour. We saw two deep Wells, which are known to be the origin of Arkavati and Palar rivers. As we proceeded, we reached Brahmashram, a small cave ashram on the hill. Outside, there was a small praying place dedicated to Nandi, the mythological bull.
Then we reached the complex of Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple. It had various monolithic stone structures, and viewpoint. It was a bit crowded but provided a scenic view of the valley.
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In-between, we strided on forest and rocky paths away from boundary, for plush greeneries.
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After this, we reached Tipu's drop which was just behind the temple. This high place is infamously known as the place from which accused were pushed off by Tipu Sultan's order. Sun was high and warm, so we quickly took recourse to the forest paths. We continued to find a nursery and artificial pond near the entrance. We exited in about 3 hours as we had estimated. We were told that light rains was the best time to visit the place, however in my experience it is better if terrain is dry, as there are some small climbs one can do easily if it's not moist.

This trip was rather unplanned one. We had planned to visit the places around Bangalore City center, however we cancelled the plan for Nandi hills at around 10pm the day before, and we we're not disappointed.
Highly recommended destination for a half day tour from Bangalore.