4 Days trip to Karnataka. Witness the might of Hoysala !!!

Every trip opens the door for another trip. My trip to Hampi brought me closer to Karnataka and its contribution towards Indian Architecture, Art, Music and War. Specially, Architecture.

The only portion about my schooling I regret is and the question which strikes me is, why these places of heritage are not taught to us in school. Why as a student we are not taken to these places.

Why when we talk about India, it is projected with a picture of Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a great structure no doubt, but when you compare it structures created before it, specially the Hoysala, Chalukya and Vijayanagar Dynasty Architecture, I feel we are not doing justice.

Most of my Kannada friends are not even aware about places like Hampi, Badami, Belur, Sringeri and so on.

As I said, my trip to Hampi brought me closer to Karnataka. It intrigued me to search for similar heritage sites.

Searching on Internet is sometimes that bogs me down. I am one of those types, who likes to listen. So I spoke to few locals at Hospet and Hampi, the best one would be the rick drivers.

One of them, Vishnu anna informed me about Badami, Belur, Halebeedu, Javagal in Hassana district of Karnataka. He also told me about Chennakesava Temple at Somnathpura. Belur also has a Chennakesava Temple.

So I decided to visit Halebeedu, Belur, Javagal and Belavadi Karre. All these are places are near to each other and one can use Hassana city as a common point to reach these places.

I had booked flight tickets to Bangalore which were cheap as I had booked it in advance, and then KSRTC bus to reach Hassana from Bangalore, which I paid Rs.309.

First day : Halebeedu is home to two great temple complex. Hoysaleshwar and Santaleshwar. You can find both Shaiva and Vaishnav school of thoughts in both of these megastructures.

On the top picture, the temple on the left side is dedicated to Sun. Surya Narayana Devsthana. The art on the wall will leave you stunned if your interest lies in Ancient Architecture and History. One can imagine the work involved in making the replicas of it.

The bus stand is right opposite these temples. I took the State transport bus for Belur.

The guide are informative. They charge you a minimal amount of Rs.300 negotiable. What I did was, I spoke to fellow other solo travelers like me and we paid Rs.300, Rs.100 each.

What a way to make new friends.

First Day : Belur : Chennakesava Temple

It is another masterpiece created by the Hoysalas, Vishnuvardhana to commemorate his victory over another southern dynasty(dont know the name).