Hessaraghatta

It was the weekend and "A" noticed instantly that I was getting ants in my pants. He suggested we take a short trip out of town to a place called Hessaraghatta, which is about 30 Km from Bangalore and is well known for its Indian classical dance village (or school) Nrityagram. Unfortunately, when we got there, the dance school was closed for a few months because the whole company is on tour. Note to self: always call before the start of a road trip.

Just opposite of the school is the Taj Kuteeram, a rustic and charming lodge, once owned by Nrityagram but has now been turned into a high-end hotel by the Taj.





Buildings are surrounded by trees and flowers.


Yoga building - depending on where you stand in this room, you can hear sounds in different tones.


Rooms at the Taj Kuteeram


About 3 km away, across a vast empty field (“A” called this The End of the World), is Our Native Village.





Our Native Village is entirely ecofriendly. The resort generates its own power using solar panels, harvests rainwater and reuses all its waste.


The "natural" pool at Our Native Village - combo of a swimming pool and a pond. The pond part of the pool naturally cleanse and filters the water. No chlorine added.


Rooms at Our Native Village. Paintings on the wall is done by local artists. In fact, everything in this resort is done by a local someone.


Every brick used to build this place is made of the soil that has been dug from the land below it. I think the whole concept of this place is very cool except there is a lack of design in everything, so the place looks a bit bare and a tad hospital-like.


They also offer bullock cart driving lessons, if you are a guest at the hotel.

It would’ve been nice to spend a night at the Taj Kuteeram and then a night at Our Native Village except I didn’t bring my toiletries so went back to Bangalore instead.