Nandi Heritage Ride
Nandi Habba is a one-day festival that celebrates the heritage and culture of Nandi Hills with a Heritage Walk, Nature Walk, and Cyclothon. This festival is designed to educate people on the richness of the history and the flora and fauna of the area.
4 MAR 2018
NANDI HABBA
BRIEF REPORT
About the Organisers
Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka****The Department of Tourism, Karnataka implements the Tourism Department’s decisions and undertaking overseas/ domestic promotion and publicity. It promotes the State, and its campaigns have finally made the world sit up and take notice of the ‘Many Worlds’ that make up this vibrant state.
United Way Bengaluru****United Way is engaged in nearly 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide. United Way Bengaluru is focused on creating community-based and community-led solutions that strengthen the building blocks for good quality of life: education, financial stability and health.
Namma Nimma Cycle Foundation****NNCF is a non-profit company in Bangalore with focus on promoting cycling, cycle sports and cycle culture. It is also building a public bicycle sharing platform for Karnataka. The aim of NNCF is to increase connectivity and create environmentally friendly modes of public transportation using bicycles. NNCF is also active in promoting heritage cycle tours and cycle tourism in Karnataka.
Introduction
Nandi Hills is home to thousands of birds, butterflies and other indigenous life forms, and over 100 varieties of plants, trees and creepers. It has a rich, captivating history; untouched hiking and adventurous trails and a proud community. Yet, all of this is largely unknown to people. Nandi Habba aims to use the transformational nature of the arts, culture and creativity to bring about positive change in individuals, communities, and the spaces around Nandi Hills.
Nandi Habba’s central objectives are to
● Create a different perspective of Nandi Hills – establish Nandi Hills as a heritage site
● Integrate the culture of art, the study of nature and ecology and the spirit of sports in the context of the Hills
● Develop broader and more diverse audiences for arts, nature and sports through
education
● Empower local communities
● VR Technology for promotion of tourism.
Marathon
Nandi Habba had different categories of runs to cater to different segments:
- 21K - Half-marathon for professional runners
- 10K run for amateur runners
- 5K run for local community participation.
Dr Sudhakar MLA of Chikkaballapur MLA Dr Sudhakar flagged of the 10K, 21K and 5k run in the morning. Around 800 runners participated in the run. Almost all the participants from these teams completed the run on time.
Participation by the Paramilitary Forces
Nandi Habba saw active participation from the various security organizations like Border Security Force (BSF), Madras Engineering Group (MEG), Indian Air Force and the Karnataka Police.
Karnataka Police Team in the backdrop of the hills.
Music and Running
Agni Team performed drum-beats for the runners both at the start and end of the run
Community Participation
Nandi Habba saw active participation of the community. People from various backgrounds and age groups participated in the run.
Timing Technology for Accurate Time Measurement
Marathon Timing systems were deployed for the nandi habba which involved
- Infrastructural setup and timing points
- Distribution of timing chips to participants
- Timekeeping during the race
- Processing and distributing results.
Support station enroute
Participation from Expats
Kids arena
During Nandi Habba around 20 kinds of traditional games were arranged by United way Bengaluru for children to participate.
Cycling Competitions - Amateur and Pro Elite Race
The Bicycle Race was conducted by Venkatesh, former National Champion and Director of several bicycle races in India. Around 75 cyclists participated in the Amateur Cyclothon and around 75 participated in the pro-cycling race. The pro-cycle race encircled the Nandi Hills four times before culminating on the top of the hills.
Sridhar Savanur National Champion won the Nandi Cycle Challenge. Alex Grewal - F**ormer Olympic Gold winner from USA was invited to distribute the prizes. Grewal became the first American to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Road Cycling at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.**
Yoga
Akshar Yoga conducted the morning yoga at the Bhoganandeswara temple, where some youth held a spectacular display of yoga.
Music
The versatile singer, Vasu Dixit originally from Mysuru is well-known for leading popular bands such as Swarathma and Vasu Dixit Collective. Vasu DIxit performed for the nandi habba and enthralled the audience.
Dance
Bharatanatyam performance was given by Padmaja and her team
Heritage Walks
The Heritage walks were conducted by the Nandi Valley Walks team Siddharth Raja. Around 25-30 participants attended the heritage walk.
An ancient fortress of Tipu Sultan, temples designed by the artistic Chola empire and more – this region is adorned with relics and monuments that celebrate a bygone era. Led by Siddharth Raja, these walks are themed around Cornwallis & Tipu: The Sultan & the British in Battle, Ancient Bhoganandishwara Temple – India’s Centuries Old Heritage Meets Modernity and Nandi Hills Summit: The Legacy of a Hill Fortress. These walks narrated history with a local flavour and emphasised on the micro-history of the Nandi Hills and how it interplays with large historical themes.
Nature Walks
Around 30 Nature lovers participated in the nature walk organized as part of Nandi Habba with Ullhas of Eco Edu.
The Nature Walks consisted on:
- Themed walks covering birds, trees and insects of Nandi Hills
- Sighting endemic birds (Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Shaheen Falcon, Black Eagle, Crimson-backed Sunbird, and more)
- Learning about different types of forests and ecosystems of Bangalore
- Understanding the symbiotic relations between creatures of the forest
- Motivating wildlife enthusiasts to include photography, nature writing, wildlife spotting etc into their interests
Local Community Involvement
Nandi Habba team had reached out to the grape farmers and also the agriculture department to enable a farmers flea market. The response from farmers was however wanting and this area will be worked on in the coming years. Sufficient time and resources and a community involvement plan has to be put in place to enable the local community to appreciate the initiative and participate.
Media reports
Online video report
1 News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSpTVpbegUM
News 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G48uJ1TjE_k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNHSYrVYflU
Times of India
Next steps
Nandi Habba brought together a team that was interested in various aspects of Nandi Hills. We look forward to work with the Karnataka Government in the following direction:
Organize events to maintain the cleanliness of the environment around the hills
Organize and enable digitization of heritage and nature archives
Make Nandi Hills a tourism destination by promoting it as:
- The adventure destination for runners, cyclists and hikers
- An eco-tourism destination - enable connectivity through railways on weekends. Arrange special buses to carry the cyclists to the base of the Nandi Hills along with the cycles.
Eco conservation
- Organize tree planting and lake conservation around Nandi Hills
Create awareness through bicycle rides about the rivers that originate at the base of Nandi Hills
Efficiently manage solid waste at Nandi Hills.
Sponsors and Partners
Discovery Village
Discovery Village provided breakfast for over 1000 runners and cyclists at Nandi Habba. Discovery village also sponsored around 1000 caps and 600 T-shirts for the special forces team who had come to Nandi Habba.
Acknowledgments
Annexure 1
Winners of the Half Marathon and the 10K running competition
Half Marathon(21Km) - Open
Men
| Position | BIB No. | Timings | Prize |
| 1 - | 2145 | 1:18:29 | ₹ 20,000 |
| 2 | 2018 | 1:19:54 | ₹ 15,000 |
| 3 | 2005 | 1:21:11 | ₹ 10,000 |
| 4 | 2006 | 1:22:10 | ₹ 8,000 |
| 5 | 2147 | 1:23:11 | ₹ 8,000 |
Women
| Position | BIB No. | Timings | Prize |
| 1 | 2202 | 1:34:52 | ₹ 20,000 |
| 2 | 2201 | 1:39:59 | ₹ 15,000 |
| 3 | 2204 | 1:47:19 | ₹ 10,000 |
| 4 | 2218 | 1:48:41 | ₹ 8,000 |
| 5 | 2221 | 1:50:31 | ₹ 8,000 |
Nandi 10KM Run - Open
Men
| Position | BIB No. | Timings | Prize |
| 1 | 1104 | 0:52:46 | ₹ 6,000 |
| 2 | 1115 | 0:53:09 | ₹ 5,000 |
| 3 | 1089 | 0:53:25 | ₹ 4,000 |
| 4 | 1101 | 0:54:47 | ₹ 3,000 |
| 5 | 1096 | 0:55:32 | ₹ 2,000 |
Women
| Position | BIB No. | Timings | Prize |
| 1 | 1163 | 1:06:51 | ₹ 6,000 |
| 2 | 1156 | 1:23:54 | ₹ 5,000 |
| 3 | 1191 | 1:27:25 | ₹ 4,000 |
| 4 | 1158 | 1:35:50 | ₹ 3,000 |
| 5 | 1190 | 1:39:54 | ₹ 2,000 |
Annexure 2
Winners of the Pro Cycling and Amatuer Cycling Competition
Pro race winners - 75KM
| Prize | Name | Timings | Prize Amount (RS) | BIB NO |
| I | Shridhar Savanur | 2:07:16 | 50000 | 2241 |
| II | Nagappa | 2:07:20 | 30000 | 2235 |
| III | Dilip Mane | 2:07:22 | 20000 | 2239 |
| IV | Lokesh | 2:07:23 | 10000 | 2232 |
| V | Kiran Kumar Raju | 2:07:32 | 8000 | 2246 |
| VI | Santosh | 2:07:39 | 5000 | 2238 |
| VII | Mallappa | 2:10:03 | 5000 | 2243 |
| VIII | Yalguresh | 2:10:32 | 5000 | 2237 |
| IX | 2:13:16 | 5000 | 2231 | |
| X | Asif | 2:14:58 | 5000 | 2234 |
Amateur Race - 40 KM Winners
| Prize | Name | Time | Prize Amount |
| I | Shaurya | 1:18:31 | ₹ 10,000 |
| II | Tejaswi | 1:24:30 | ₹ 7,000 |
| III | Kiran | 1:27:02 | ₹ 5,000 |
| IV | Srini | 1:32:12 | ₹ 3,000 |
| V | Anand | 1:36:24 | ₹ 2,000 |