Day 3: Sunday 23rd, August 2015
New day began with
discussions on which places to visit. Since major attractions of Chikkamagaluru
were already covered on previous day, we kept Halebidu and Sakleshpur on the
list but still uncertain if we need to extend the trip to another day covering
even Mudigere. Finally we decided to visit Halebidu (36 kms) - Hoysaleshwara
temple, Kedareshwara temple and Basadi Halli being main attractions here.
We had breakfast at 'Shri Vinayaka canteen' (500 m from our lodge) and coffee at 'Hotel Mayur' (as we
liked it very much the previous day :P) and left Chikkamagaluru at 9 am. Due to
poor road condition and road expansion work, it took us 1 hour and 15 minutes
to reach Halebidu.
6. Halebidu
Halebidu is the capital
of Hoysala’s earlier known as Dwarasamudra. After the battle against Delhi Sultans,
the Hoysalas forced to relinquish their beautiful capital. The town then nostalgically
referred to as ‘Halebid’ or the ‘Old City’. The Hoysalas built over 150 temples
in southern Karnataka out of which the temples at Halebidu, Belur and Somanathapura
considered one among the finest and outstanding.
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| Halebidu |
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| Halebidu Hoysala temple |
This is the
largest Hoysala temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple complex consists of
two identical temples namely Hoyaleswara and Shantaleswara named after King Vishnuvardhana
Hoysala and his Queen Shantala Devi. Each temple has its own array of Navranga
and Nandhi mandapas. Both the temples have a characteristic star shaped ground
plan and are set on a stone platform as seen in other Hoysala temples.
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| Hoysaleshwara & Shantaleshwara temple |
Monolithic Nandhi at Hoysaleswara temple being 7th largest Nandhi in India.
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| Nandhi at Hoysaleshwara temple |
Around the temple, you can see thousands of intricately carved sculptures depicting scenes from the mythological epics of Ramayana, Mahabharata, puranic legends, beasts and beauties on the walls. Temple guides are available here (fees - Rs. 250). After getting to know about Belur (Day 1) we were more curious to know about history of Halebidu hence opted for guide here too.
Our Guide - Mr.
Dharmesh, co-incidentally started off with same question “neevu Beluru nodi
bandra ?” (Did you people visit Beluru before coming here?) This time we could
very much relate every bit as the history of Belur and Hoysalas were still
fresh in our minds.
Dharmesh began by
explaining the 11 layers of carvings on the temple platform.
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| 11 layers of carvings |
‘Samudra manthan’ or Churning of the Ocean of Milk.
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| Depiction of Samudra manthan |
Typical star shaped
architecture of Hoysala temples.
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| Star shaped temple |
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| Nandhi at Shanthaleshwara temple |
Carvings of Hale Kannada Lipi (language) on temple walls.
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| Hale Kannada Lipi |
Most of the statues
here were damaged .Archaeologist tried to recover them but did not succeed.
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| An idol at Hoysaleshwara temple |
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| Dwarapala at Hoysaleshwara temple |
Main entrance for the king to enter the temple. On right is Lord Ganesha, Pooja would be
first performed here. On left is the Hoysala’s emblem symbolizes of bravery.
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| Entrance - Lord Ganesha( right) and Hoysala emblem (left) |
The imaginary animal ‘Makara’ on either side of Load Shiva.
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| 'Makara' - The imaginary animal |
Lord Ganesha’s weight on his tiny vehicle ‘Mushika’ (Mouse) shown by carving its mouth open and legs slightly deeper in the ground.
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| Lord Ganesha |
Lord Krishna carrying parvath, carved out of single stone.
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| Lord Krishna |
Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. Usually you will get see Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva in order together called as GOD – G for Generator (Brahma), O for Operator (Vishnu) and D for Destroyer (Shiva). Since this is Shiva’s temple, Lord Shiva is at the center.
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| Lord Brahma , Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu |
Lord Shiva dancing
inside demon Gajasura’s (Gaja means elephant) stomach.
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| Gajasuramardana Shiva |
Carvings show Arjuna’s arrows been multiplying in the battlefield.
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| Arjuna's arrow multiplying |
Dead elephants stacked one above the other in the battlefield.
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| Dead elephants stacked |
‘Chakaravyuha’ from
Mahabharata. Abhimanyu (son of Arjuna and Subhadra) had partial knowledge about
Chakaravyuha, as he knew how to penetrate but did not know how to exit from it
during the time of danger.
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| 'Chakaravyuha' from Mahabharata |
Lord Rama killing of Vali from behind the tree.
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| Lord Rama killing Vali |
Ten headed Ravana carrying Kailash parvath. The carvings depict that he is trying to kill himself with sword as he could not bear the weight of the parvath.
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| Ravana |
Lord Narasimha,
fourth avathar of Lord Vishnu killing rakshasa (a evil person) Hiranyakashipu.
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| Lord Narasimha killing Hiranyakashipu |
There were lots
more, Dharmesh took about one hour to explain Halebidu temple history and then
asked to visit Archaeological museum within the temple
Kedareshwara temple
This has beautiful
star shaped structure having about 180 images of god and goddess set under
ornate arches. There was no crowd here we just took couple of snaps and left
for Basadi Halli (Jain temple).
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| Kedareshwara temple |
Basadi Halli (Jain temple)
This temple is
dedicated to Jain Trithankar, Lord Parswanatha swamy being most important. The
temple is noted for its splendid sculptures and elaborate carvings. The twelve
pillars in the navranga are so finely polished that you can see your image
reflection in them.
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| Basdai Halli |
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| Mantapa at Basadi Halli |
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| Finely polished pillars of Navaranga |
Around 1 pm we finished visiting these places, just for riding
experience we headed towards Sakleshpur via Hassan. Near Byrapura (15kms from
Hassan) it rained very heavily, so decided to stop of lunch. It was too late to
go to Sakleshpur, so after lunch we simply took U-turn and headed back to
Bangalore. Taking couple of tea breaks at toll booths we entered Bangalore at
8.30 pm.
Chikkamagaluru – Halebidu
– Hassan –Byrapura – Bangalore – Total 295 kms ride for 3rd day.
If you can extend
your vacation for two more days then do plan for
- Chikkamagaluru
- Sakleshpur - Mangalore – Bangalore
- Chikkamagaluru
- Agumbe - Udupi - Mangalore - Sakleshpur - Bangalore
Things to carry:
- If you are
visiting Chikkamagaluru between June to August then carry rain coats or else
you will end up getting drenched like us :P.
- Spare clothes,
water bottles, medical kit, mobile chargers and sunglasses.
For bike trips- keep your luggage light, wear safety gears, helmet, jacket, follow lane discipline, do not over speed, take
breaks whenever necessary and enjoy the ride.
Credits:
1. Temple guides Mr.
Manjunath at Belur and Mr. Dharmesh at Halebidu for enlightening us with lot of
information about Hoysala temples.
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| Sagar, Prashanth, Myself, & Naresh (left to right) |
We were recalling the trip moments and then suddenly Sagar says “Machaa!!! next Hampi – Badami –Aihole plan madbeku !!!” :D :P
Thanks for reading
:)
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