Team : Deekshith, Shashi
Route : Bangalore --> Hasana --> Halebeedu --> Belur --> Shravanbelagola (~300km)
Transport : Bike
Date of journey : 25 Aug 2017
Long weekends are the best days of my life. Either I plan to go to my hometown or I try to explore something new. This time, me and my friend Shashi decided to visit the historic temples of Belur-Halebid, located in Hasan district.
We started our journey on a bike, at around 4pm in the evening. It took almost 4hrs to reach Hasan, on a well maintained NH75 highway. Thanks to Shashi's uncle and family, as we spend rest of the day in their house.
Next day, we hit the road early at 8am in the morning. We decided to visit Halebid, then Belur and if we are left with some time in the evening, we would visit Shravanabelagola on the way back to Bangalore.
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| On the way to Halebeedu |
Halebid:
Located at a distance of 32 Km from Hassan. Halebid was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It was previously called as Dwarasamudra. Halebid literally means ruined city. This name is given because this city was ruined two times by Bahmani Sultanate.
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| Halebeedu Temple |
We took help of a local guide to understand the history of Halebid.
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| Statue of Hoysala - Sala killing the lion |
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| Statue of Lady holding mirror |
The main attraction of Halebis is Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples, one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture built in the 12th century. The Hoysaleswara temple was built during this time by Ketamala and attributed to Vishnuvardhana, the Hoysala ruler. It enshrines Hoysaleswara and Shantaleswara, named after the temple builder Vishnuvardhana Hoysala and his wife, Queen Shantala.
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| A random click |
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| Around the temple |
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| On the roof |
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| Pillars inside the main temple |
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| Old Kannada inscription |
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| Carving of Elephants |
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| View of the temple from the garden |
Belur:
Located at a distance of 17 Km from Halebid. Belur was once the capital of Hoysala empire. The main attraction of Belur is Chennakeshava temple, built by king Vishnuvardhana in 1117 AD in memory of his victory against Cholas in Talkad. The temple is dedicated to Lord Chennakeshava.
Legend has it that it took 103 years to complete and Veera Ballala II, the grandson of Vishnuvardhana completed the task.
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| Belur Temple Arch |
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| Chennakeshwara Temple |
Shravanabelagola :
Shravanabelagola is famous for the monolithic of Bahubali or Gommateshwara. This statue is about the king, who renounced his kingdom and spent the rest of his life meditating till he attained Nirvana.
The statue was built by Chamundaraya (a poet and minister belonging to the Western Ganga Dynasty) during 10th century AD. The statue stands at a height of 60 feet on top of the hill.
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| Steps leading to Bahubali temple |
At the Shravanabelagola hill, every 12 years devotees celebrate the “Mahamastakabhisheka festival”. Devotees Sprinkle 1008 vessels of water from the top of the statue. After the sprinkling of water, the bathing of the statue is done with a tons of sugarcane juice, milk, and the paste from the saffron flower and others. The process is continued with sprinkling the turmeric and sandalwood powders on the statue.
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| Bahubali |
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| Time for Selfie |
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| Scaling down |
This was certainly one of the best trip, I had in my life. I would recommend this to all my friends, to visit these places in Hasan. I am pretty sure, this would take you back to 12th century. :-)
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