Offbeat Architecture From The Hoysala Era

Hoysala Architecture Tour OffBeat (ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಗಳು)

Hassan district has a lot of great historical monuments of Hoysala era. Be it the world famous Belur, Halebidu group of temples or the lesser known Busceshvara temple, Lakshmi Temple, and Nageshwara and Channakeshava twin temples.

This tour covers the off beat temples of the Hoysala architecture as against the most popular Beluru and Halebidu tour which takes a full day.

Hassan is around 190kms from Bangalore and can be reached by car in around 3hours. There are lots of public transport buses from Bangalore to reach Hassan and it takes around 4hours. This itinerary will help you to visit the off-beat temples from Bangalore in a single day.

Itinerary Idea:

Start from Bangalore early around 5.30 - 6am and have breakfast enroute in either Kunigal or Yediyur. There are hotels like Swati, Vaibhav & Mayura which sever good vegetarian food.

Reach Shanti Grama (between Channarayapatna & Hassan).

Food Options are mentioned separately in individual places posts and also inline in this post.

NOTE for those using Public Transport :

If doing this tour by Public transport Autos are available from Shanti Grama to all these places and preferred instead of Hassan due to good road conditions.

Though the number of Autos are lower you could negotiate the price and reach do the tour since most of the visits return back to Shanti Grama.

For reaching the Lakshmi Devi Temple by public transport one can board the Belur bus and get down at Dodda Gaddaravalli or Basavapura and get an Auto to reach the temple or walk around 4kms to reach there.

The tour starts off from Shanti Grama as the places are 3 different directions from here. We suggest doing the architecture tour in the following order. This will allow for an extra place if time permits at the end of the tour.

• Sri Nageshwara & Sri Channakeshava TwinTemples @ Mosale
• Buscesvara Temple @ Koravangala
• Lakshmi Devi Temple @ Doddagaddavalli

Destination 1: Sri Nageshwara and Sri Channakeshava Twin Temples

Our first destination is the 800+ years old beautiful twin temples of Sri Nageshwara and Sri Channakeshava.

It lies in the village of Mosale Hosahalli around 15kms from Shanti Grama. The roads are not in very good condition and could take around 30minutes to reach the place.

Spend atleast an hour here to explore the beautiful carvings on both the temples.

Ideal time to spend is around 1 1/2 hours.

Once done head back to Shanti Grama which is the center for all our places and also because the road conditions are better from there. 

Destination 2: Busceshvara Temple

Our second destination is the beautiful 900 year old Busceshvara temple @ Koravangala.

It lies in the village of Koravangala around 16kms from Shanti Grama. The roads are very good for around 10kms and remaining 5kms are not so great.It could take around 30minutes to reach the place.

From Shanti Grama drive on SH 102 and lake the left turn after around 10kms towards Udduralli. Keep going straight for around 5kms and then take a right towards Koravangala.

Ask locals for directions to the Hoysala Temple of Busceshvara and they will guide towards the temple.

Spend around an hour here to explore the beautiful carvings of the temple.

Once done head back to Shanti Grama which is the center for all our places and also because the road conditions are better from there.

It is probably time for Lunch, head to Hassan city from Shanti Grama which is around 15minute drive. By now the time is around 2.30 - 3pm.

Destination 3: Lakshmi Devi Temple

Our third and final destination is the beautiful 800 year old Lakshmi Devi temple @ Doddagaddavalli.

It lies in the village of Dodda Gaddavalli (Also called Doddagaddaravalli) around 19kms from Hassan City. The roads are in excellent condition for 95% of the route and in decent condition for rest of it. It could take around 25minutes to reach the place.

Drive on the Belur Road from Hassan and wait for the board which says Dodda Gaddaravalli. Once there take a left turn and drive a further 4kms till you reach the temple.

Spend around an hour here to explore the beautiful Gopurams and Hoysala Architecture of the temple. The route is also quite lovely with Grasslands giving a country side experience.

Extras: Belur / Halebid

Now supposedly you are done here early and have time around 1 hour to spare before leaving back to Bangalore then head towards Belur or Halebid (that is a separate tour and needs 1 full day) to catch a glimpse of the splendid world famous Hoysala architecture place.

Head back to Bangalore via the same Highway having dinner en-route.

Try the tour to explore the amazing Hoysala architecture in a single day and promote the tourism to such places.