JP Park, Mathikere, Bangalore

I wanted to visit this place from quite sometime. I had heard nice things about this place from people I know. It was a nice experience when I finally visited it with my niece, Sirisha this Sunday. I was able to click many pictures of Sirisha in this place. 

The Jayaprakash Narayan Park (JP Park) is located at the junction of Jalahalli and Mathikere. Developed at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore, the park boasts of 20,000 varieties of plant species, 60,000 flowering plants and shrubs and 5,000 medicinal herbs. Just like Lalbagh, a nursery would be functional soon. There is a rock garden in the park modelled after the one in Almatti. A musical fountain will be functional shortly.

The park has three grooves called Pavithra Vana, which will have mini grooves called Nakshatra vana, Rashi Vana and Navagraha Vana. Apparently, each star in the zodiac constellation has a particular plant/tree ascribed to it. The groove would have plants of every star, rashi, planted.

The park also has a 4.5-km jogging track, bamboo garden, palm garden, and play area for kids.

There are also a few acres devoted to a football court, volleyball ground, kabaddi ground and a 1,000-seater amphitheatre, though most of them are still in the making.

Main attractions in the park are the two water bodies of 15 and nine acres each. 

The bigger lake has already attracted migratory birds like pond heron, coot hen, little cormorant, moore hen, pelicans etc. I had sighted one bird in this place.

At present, the park is open to the public freely. But a minimal entry charge might be levied later based on the maintenance costs. Yes, there’s a separate parking area to accommodate 200 cars and 400 two-wheelers. And the entire park is a no smoking zone.Also eatables are not allowed inside the park. Timings: 5 am to 8.30 am and 5 pm to 8.30 pm.

Route Map  :-
From MG Road, take a right turn on any of the intersections and arrive at Cubbon Road which is parallel to MG Road
Continue on Cubbon Road past the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium, Minsk Square (Yeah, the one with the Flight prototye), General Post Office, and Hotel Capitol
Continue on Raj Bhavan road past the Governor's mansion
At the intersection, take a right turn onto Palace Road
At the intersection of the Highground Police station, turn left onto Sankey Road / Chowdaiah Road
Continue on Sankey Road / Chowdaiah Road past Golf Course, Le Meridien, Windsor Manor and Cauvery Theatre
Immediately after Cauvery Theatre, turn left onto Sankey Road
Continue on Sankey Road past Sankey tank and Chowdaiah Memorial Hall
At circle, continue on CV Raman Road and pass Indian Institute of Science.
Turn left onto MS Ramaiah Road towards Jalahalli / MS Ramaiah College / Mathikere
Arrive at Mathikere Bus-stop and follow the directions from Mathikere Bus stop below.

From Mathikere Bus stop
Ask anyone where JP Park is, and follow their instructions.
If after 5 minutes you have not found JP Park, Ask someone else, and follow their directions for the next five minutes.
Follow the above steps till you reach JP Park

From Mathikere Bus stop (Alternative set of instructions)
Going towards Gokula / BEL / Jalahalli on MS Ramaiah Road, immediately after passing Mathikere Bus stop, take a left turn onto Mohankumar Road.
After around 2 minutes, there is an intersection with a bus stop on the right side of the road.
Take a right turn at the intersection onto Srinivas Murthy Road
The Jayaprakash Narayan Park will be on your left.