Bored of routine work, traffic jams? Here is a chance to get away from all these.

Calm, peace, cool breeze, fresh non-polluted air, no honking vehicles. For a person who stay in Bangalore or a similar city, its heaven. Markonahalli dam (lets call it as MD) is a perfect picnic place for a family or a group of friends.

Distance: 93 KMs from Bangalore

About:
MD was built in 1930s Sir M. Visveswaraiah. Constructed across river Shimsha, the dam serves as a water source for almost 4000 villages for agriculture. Shimsha is a sub-river of Kaveri and one of the three rivers which flow in Tumkur district. The dam has an automatic siphon system, very first to be of that kind in Asia – thanks to the great Sir MV. When the water inflow increases and water level reaches 88ft, extra water goes out of the dam unmanned. There is no need of any person to be present to open the gates. Main reason to implement this system is, if water increases by another 4 ft, the famuous temple of Sri Siddalingeshwara in Yediyur will drown.

How to get there:
Bangalore to Nelamangala – NH 4 – 28 KMs – turn left to NH48
Nelamangala to Kunigal – NH48 – 44 KMs – continue in NH48
Kunigal to KSTDC restaurant – NH48 – 16 KMs – turn left to a small road (2 KMs before Yediyur)
KSTDC restaurant to Dam – single lane road – 5 KMs

Food: Best option is to pack food from home. Or get it packed @ KSTDC hotel or Kunigal

Fuel: Lot of petrol bunks on the national highway.

To stay: There are no hotel/lodges avilable near dam. Alternate options – Kunigal/Yediyur.

When to go: Jan to Dec. After monsoon the dam will be full.

What to carry: Drinking water, Stuffs to pla outdoor games (viz Volleyball, Footballa etc), Camera (But don’t take the snaps of the dam – security reasons).

Other nearby places (less than 50KMs):
Yediyur – 2 KMs
Kunigal stud farm (Horse breeding farm, owned by Vijay Malya)
Kunigal lake (famous through the folk song ‘Moodal Kunigal kere’)
Deepambhudi lake – 26 KMs from Kunigal
Huliyurdurga – another picnic & small trek point – 22 KMs from Kunigal

And finally our house in Kunigal ;)

Yuhi chala chal raahi yuhi chala chal raahi
kitni haseen hain yeh duniya