Hoysala Temples - Second Day

 

 

Today, I was going to pay a visit to the famous Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebeeidu. This place was around 17 kms away.

The good thing about this place was a parking spot for the bike. As I parked my bike, I was approached by a man selling postcard photo book of the temple. I was not interested in buying it and moved away stating I will check later. A polite way of saying No. More on this later.

I was stopped by the security and informed that eatables were not allowed and my packet of chocolates that I keep handy were taken away. 

As one enters the temple complex, there are two routes on the left and right that one can take. The left one will take you to the main temple and the right one would take one along the ruins of the foundation of what stood their earlier, followed by a dilapidated temple. As one walks along the ruins there are idols that are in a good condition are worth to admire for their beauty.

One could only imagine how the temple complex would have been in its glory days. As one walks along they are encountered by a man made lake overlooked by palm trees. The area is surrounded by greenery and as one walks further along the lake there is an open space which was filled with students who were probably on a picnic or study tour.

A bahubali jain statue stands tall in the midst of it. There is also a museum which has all the idols/statues laying in the open area and inside too.  All of them have a story to tell, how much one understands or try to understand is left to one's understanding.

Sometimes it feels awe to be in the presence of such ancient items to be there, see them and know that they somehow managed to survive and make their presence felt.

The  Hoysaleswara temple was ransacked and attacked twice by Muslim rulers and yet it managed to survive to see what is left today. The restoration of the temple is done in such a way that no one would believe that it was attacked at all.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Its a twin temple dedicated to Hoysaleswara and Shantaleswara, the Shiv lingam named after the masculine and feminine aspects of Shiva.

The architecture of the temple is similar to the earlier ones I saw but the design and the story telling that follows has new tales to tell. The interior of the temple do mesmerizes one with its soapstone sculptures and showcasing the artistry and detailing of that era. 

The temple also has two Nandi shrines on the outside. I took sometime and sat near one of the Nandi idol for sometime to dwell on the beauty of this place. 

I stepped inside the temple and it spoke of its story of its era through the work and sculpting of the artisans who worked on making every inch of the temple speak for itself. The soap stone sculptures hypnotizes one with its detailing and intricate designs. Both of the shiv lings are similar placed and makes its presence felt.

I sat outside on the seating area near the entrance of the temple, spend some time and left.

Leaving was not that easy as I thought it would be. The guy selling the postcard photo book of the temple got behind me in buying one. We went back and forth and I had a look at them and they were really nice to keep. So I bargained on the price and got 2 books for Rs. 100. Not sure if this provides him a sustainable living but one has to do what they have to for survival.

My next stop was the Ancient Sri 1008 Bhagawan Shantinatha Digambara Jaina Basadi which was not very far from the  Hoysaleswara Temple

I had to check with the guard sitting outside that it was indeed the place as there was no one around except me. 

I entered the place and it was quiet and peaceful. The three temples inside are dedicated to Jain Tirthankars Parshvanatha, Shantinatha and Adinatha. This was also build in the 12th century. The architecture of these temple were simple and different from what what we saw of the Hoysala temples. There are two huge statues of the tirthankars and one relatively small compared to others. There is also a step well called Hulikere Kalyani.

As one stepped into these temples, there was hardly any light inside except for the afternoon sunlight falling inside and a light bulb near the idol. Efforts could have been made to keep the place lit up.

I wandered around and then moved towards the third and last temple of the day, the Shri Kedareshwara Swamy Temple.

The temple was also at short distance and at a dead end road. This also had hardly any people around except for 2-3 boys sitting on a bench. 

The temple was constructed by Hoysala King Veera Ballala II (r. 1173–1220 CE) and his Queen Ketaladevi. It carried the same design as with the rest of the temples. The temple doors were closed so one could not enter inside but the exterior walls had their stories to tell.

 I wandered around and found a place to sit and introspect on the civilization that existed and managed to survived in terms of its temples and other creations that tells its tale. 

After spending sometime, it was time to leave and call it a day. 

Hoysala Temples - First Day

One of the things that I prefer to have is to have a breakfast option during my hotel stays. This one did not came with that option but certainly had a restaurant to eat. 

First stop was going to be 29 kms away from my hotel. The temple that I was visiting was in Javagal. Kind of reminded of our former fast bowler Javagal Srinath who also hails from Karnataka. He was not born here though.

It was the month of Dec 2024 and still the rain would drizzle now and then. The road was covered with greenery on both sides. Nature is best experienced during the rains. 

I reached my first temple for the day, the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Temple. The temple entrance is greeted by two beautiful small elephants. The temple is a trikuta (three shrines). 

When I reached there, a pooja was being conducted adjacent to the temple. As I entered inside the temple premises, the temple was relatively smaller in height compared to the ones that we often come across. There were hardly any people on this side of the temple. 

I find it strange that I do not even visit the local temples in my area and here I am fascinated by a temple hundreds of kms away that is said to built in the 13th century.

One of the fascinating part of the Hoysala architecture is the way the temple exterior is considered as a canvas for depicting the revered gods  Its almost like walking through art inside a museum. Every wall with gods and others depicted had a story to tell. 

The good thing was that they were in good condition, takes one back in time. The detailing and the intricacies of those sculptures were mesmerizing. I entered inside the temple, it was dimly lit and I was the only one inside. There were three statues i.e., of  Lakshminarasimha, Sridhara and Venugopala on all the three directions. 

The foundation of the temple had the circular lathe-turned pillars and is so fine that it felt almost machine cut. Its a wonder how the know-how of this work has been lost on us.

Paying my respect to the gods and admiring the inner sanctum, I exited the temple and moved to the next hall where the pooja was being conducted. There was also a goddess idol shrine over there. Offered my prayers, stood for a while attending the pooja and made my exit from the temple. 

From there, I headed towards Sri Veeranarayana swamy temple in Belavadi which was around 30-32 kms away. It was again a secluded place with hardly any tourist/people around. 

The Hoysala architecture was evident here too. This temple is dedicated to Vishnu.  As one walks towards the main shrine, the walls of the temple adorned with beautiful carvings makes its presence felt. Even the ceiling had Vishnu playing the flute.  

I bumped into the priest who informed me not to take photos of the idols, something that I abide by.

The approach to the main deity' room was almost dark with hardly any lights. I said my prayers and decided to explore the exterior of the temple which was similar to the earlier one in terms of the sculpting carved.

From there I went to visit my last temple of the day, Ancient Hoysala Shri Doddagaddavalli Lakshmi Devi Temple. This place was another 30 kms away.

Its always a good practice that when one is away from the toll free highways and all, a biker should always choose the car mode to avoid any kind of surprises that good map might come up with in terms of best route.

I almost ended up in someone's house but thankfully there was a way out and I was able to reach this temple from a less traveled road trail. As I was parking my bike near the temple, it started raining, more of drizzle. As I was making my way to the temple, a couple also entered the temple premises.

This temple is said to be built in the 12th century by a wealthy merchant Kalhana Ravuta and his wife Sahaja Devi during the reign of the famous Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana.

The highlight for me in this temple was the two demon shaped sculptures outside the shrine of Kali goddess who was hidden behind the open top half closed doors, with the face of goddess carved above it.

There were few local villagers here along with the security women who were doing pooja for the lord Shiva deity. The couple who had entered before me were taking pictures and when I started taking them, I was told no photos still I managed a few but not enough for my liking.

The temple complex consisted of the main temple and the entrance hall which also had a seating arrangement. One could see the main temple with the Hoysala emblem on the top from the entrance hall. There were also small temples within the complex but there were no idols in it.  

After the pooja was over, prasadam was distributed which I took with me. It was still raining and I decided to find a space for myself in the entrance hall. The villagers too joined along with their kids and of course the security guard whom I hated for not allowing me take pictures inside the temple.

I had a good conversation with a little girl who could speak in English but not Hindi and the mother had no clue what we were talking about. I finished my prasadam but the rain did not look it was going to stop anytime soon.

After spending sometime, I decided it was time to make a move. Put on my rain gear and walked towards my bike to head back to my hotel. 

It was time to call it a day. 

 

 

Hoysala Temples - The Journey Begins

The day came when I knew this was going to be my last trip for the year 2024.

One thing about planning a trip is the dilemma of going through the flow or plan it to such an extent that you don't miss out on anything. Chances of going back again are always there but slim. 

I have always been a planner and when it comes to planning a trip, I ensure that I cover all the spots.

The good thing about traveling in India, you can visit most of the places within a week and come back, unless it remote and requires extensive travel like Ladakh.

I knew about the two temples that I wanted to visit. The Chennakesava Temple & Hoysaleshwara Temple. Apart from these two famous ones, there were others too in the surrounding areas that were also known for its beautiful construction and architecture.

The first thing that I had do was book the hotels. Since I was going there on my bike, the journey would have taken me two days to reach. My places of stay would be in Belagavi and Belur. One thumb rule that I follow is to avoid riding on the night.

All my travel plans were around the places Belur and Halebidu.

Traveling by bike was not my first option but I realized that as a solo traveler, I would end up spending more on transport than otherwise. Yes, there could have been a renting option of bike too, then again it can become a hassle to find one. It made better sense to use one's own vehicle and gives me a reason to ride too. 

Since I dont ride my bike often, I needed to check if I can pull this off. Long rides can have its impacts. Nothing gets you prepared than practice. My trip to Bhimashankar proved yes I can do this.

The bike was serviced, everything taken care of but it was at the last moment that I realized that I would need more than a tank bag for this trip and this certainly did not look good. On top of that my aux light got busted and when I went for replacement they wont fit. Now I had to ride with a bag on my shoulder, aux light busted but still working.  

Started my ride early in the morning, had over 450 km plus to cover. Google maps showed around 10 hrs to reach. We all know how accurate that is depending it does not misled you in some other direction. I knew this was going to take longer than that.

One of the fun parts about riding on the highways is the open roads and pure adrenaline rush, with winds gushing over you when one speeds up.  Taking halts at the roadside hotel and getting served the local food and enjoying the scenic beauty that nature has to offer.

I have to say this the Maharashtra roads are in pretty bad shape when compared to other states. I have been on this route earlier also and it was no different no matter how much time has passed. How difficult is it to provide decent roads? 

One thing that no one tells you how quickly the night makes it presence once the sun sets in. This certainly was not looking good for me. There I was on the highway which was pitch dark and trying to cover the last mile to reach my hotel. It did not help that I also found myself stuck with traffic and diversions.

The head lamp of my bike did not help the way it was supposed. I will talk about this in my later blog posts. The distance which was a few kms suddenly became longer that had me wondering if I am ever going to make it all. In the end I overcame everything and managed to reach my hotel.

Took a shower and had my dinner inside my room.  

Hotel Ramdev holds a lot memories for me as this was the place where we used to make our stay during our family trip to the native. Having a bournvita or complan drink here was my go to drink as a kid. This hotel even though in a tier-2 city is always running full. Fun fact, this hotel was featured in the Bombay to Goa movie.

I normally prefer to start early in the morning, but I decided to start a bit late. This was going to be another 400 plus km ride.

What I did not anticipate how good the roads were. I was in love. The road leading to my destination was pretty empty with not many vehicles plying on it. It was fun riding, taking halts to take pictures.

The roads went narrower as I moved from the highway to the state local roads and finally reached my hotel Mayura Velapuri. The room that I was allocated was more than spacious I ever had. The bathroom itself was a big room compared to the size we have in Mumbai flats.

Took a shower and stroll in the nearby area. Had dinner and went to sleep.

The temples were calling the next day.