Belur Halebidu temples

These are two archaeological sites in India which is a treasure for an art lover of sculpture. These belongs to Hoysala kingdom which was ruling the area in 17th century. They built these temples which is still a reminder of the skills of the artisans and sculptors who sculpted the structure and is listed under UNESCO world heritage site.

I planned to visit these archaeological wonders when I was posted at Mysore. From Mysore it is hardly 2.00 hours by train and you can complete the visit in one day. For those from Bangalore there are tourist services by Karnataka Government and private tourist operators. I planned my trip by train which was going to Arsikere and the scheduled departure was at 7.20 a.m. I booked reservation tickets for this train and return by the evening train which was at 6.45 p.m. One has to book to Hassan Station which is the nearest rail head and one has to commute by bus or taxi. We reached Hassan by 9.00 a.m. Before proceeding we thought of proceeding to Hassanamba temple by which the place got the name. The distance is hardly 2 kms and we took a local bus and the conductor directed us to get down at a junction to proceed to the temple. On getting down we saw that there was an unusual crowd and all of them was proceeding to the temple. On enquiry we came to know that the temple is open for public only for 7 days every year and we were visiting the temple during that period. It is usually open in the month of October. The goddess Amba or Shakti is the deity of the temple. The temple remains closed for the entire year with a lamp made of clay filled with ghee and kept burning inside the closed temple for the whole year. The sanctorum is also stocked with rice and grains for a full year for the deity. Nobody is allowed entry during this period. When the temple is opened for public the lamp can be seen still burning and this is considered a miracle. We joined the queue which was quite long and it took more than 2 hours to enter the temple which we did and got a glimpse of the deity and the burning lamp.

We had our breakfast at a hotel at Hassan and proceeded to the state bus stand. We took a bus to Belur which took around 45 minutes to reach the destination. It was almost 12.30 p.m. and we thought of having our lunch at the local hotel there. There are private hotels and we saw KSTDC (Karnataka State Tourist Development Corporation) having their resort and a restaurant. We immediately went to their restaurant and had our lunch there. From there we proceeded on foot to the Belur temple. It is well maintained by ASI as it comes under the world heritage site.

Entrance Tower to Belur Temple

Temple and monolithic structure in granite

This is the main temple and on the right hand side of the temple one can see a huge stone pillar which is monolithic and of granite. It is indeed a marvel how the granite pillar was kept erect during those times when modern cranes and equipments were not there. This temple is carved with hindu gods and deities all around and the basement is sculpted with ornate carvings of elephants, flowers, floral designs which is quite exquisite and joy to watch. The following pics will be ample proof of what I have mentioned.

Grand entrance to Belur temple

Another view of temple frontage

Facade of Belur temple

Each pic is astounding for a connoisseur of art as these walls punched with artistic holes is made on stone slab which is a marvel.

Statue of Lord Narasimha killing King Hiranyakashpu

Brahma Lord Shiva Lord Vishnu Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi

These are the sculptures of hindu deities. The Lord Brahma is the god of creation, Lord Shiva is the god of annihilation, Lord Vishnu is the protector of the universe according to hindu legends.

Emblem of Hoysala Dynasty

This is the motif of Hoysala dynasty and can be found in all their temples and structures. It is commonly known as Sala with a tiger. The story behind this says that a tiger attacked the teacher and he directed his student Sala to protect the master which he did by killing that tiger with an iron rod.

Carvings on the outer wall of the temple

Each side of the wall is having different carvings and this is absolutely stupendous and a treat to watch. One shall get exhausted by clicking these as each side gives a surprise to the viewer who would like to take home these carvings for ones collection. The pics shown are not exhaustive and I though of venturing inside to see what is in store there.

Sculpture of Goddess Devi

Exquisite carvings of pillars inside the temple

Ornate carvings of pillars

One can find different patterns in each pillar and sculpted on a stone pillar without losing proportion and symmetry. The temple idol is prohibited from being photographed and hence taken by me.

Sculpture of Lord Shiva inside the temple

Carvings on the structure on the upper storey

Rear side view of the temple complex

Halebid temple

The Halebid temple is around 15 kms away from Belur. We finally completed our visit at Belur temple and proceeded to Halebid. It was around 2.30 p.m. There was a bus waiting at the bus stand and we left at around 2.45 p.m. The roads are not good and was having full of pot holes which was really a discomfort for a traveller. We reached there around 3.30 p.m. We had around 1.50 hours with us to finish the visit as we had to get back to Hassan for the return journey. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, a Hindu god and it also had the same stamp of Hoysala architecture.

Sculpture of Lord Krishna

Elephant scultpure

Dwarapalaka at the entrance (means guard at the entrance)

Mantapa of Nandi the bull

This structure houses the sculpture of a bull which is the gatekeeper of Lord Shiva. All Shiva temples will have a Bull sculpture at the entrance of the temple. The bull will be facing the Lord Shiva. The bull sculpture is a grand structure which I had caught on my camera to be shared.

Another statue of Nandi the Bull

Sculptures of Hindu Deities

Intricate carvings of the walls

By taking pics, I really take pride of having visited the site and have been able to share it to my readers. By 4.45 p.m we finished our visit and we had a coffee at KSTDC hotel just in front of the temple and immediately proceeded to the bus stand to catch our bus to Hassan. We finally reached Hassan railway station by 6.30 p.m. But to our surprise the train was late by almost 2 hours and we had to wait till 8.30 p.m. to catch our train to Mysore. We reached Mysore at 10.00 p.m. The station has a good restaurant just outside the gate by name Adhyar Ananda Bhavan which is a quality vegetarian restaurant. We had our night food there and proceeded to our place of stay. The trip was worthwhile and I shall recommend that it should not be missed at any cost.