Halebeedu, Belur... the Hoysala Marvels

After visiting Shravanabelagola, the second phase of our photography workshop-plus-travel took us to Halebeedu followed by Belur. These two cities were the capitals of the Hoysalas during the Hoysala dynasty around thousand years back. Even now the works of art they showcase are some of the very best that can be found anywhere in the world.

  The Hoysalas ruled during the 11th and 14th century over some parts of Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Music and art were highly regarded by the Hoysala kings. The name Hoysala is derived from "Hoy Sala", which translates to "Strike Sala". Sala was the legendary head of this dynasty who defeated a tiger single handed and this act got immortalized by the name Hoysala.

  Halebeedu was the old capital city of the Hoysalas. During this period, it was called Dwarasamudra, after a huge artificial lake of the same name. The main shrile in this city is dedicated to lord Shiva. It was built during 11th to 12th century and took around a full century to complete. The temple depicts several Hindu mythological tales from Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puran. However, after the repeated invasion of Malik Kafur, Mohammad bin Gughlak and Sultan of Madura, the city was heavily damaged and many parts were destroyed. It was then the capital was shifted to Belur and Dwarasamudra was renamed Halebeedu or "The old capital".

  Belur, which is around 20 kilometer from Halebeedu, hosts several other shrines which has loads of art work. The main shrine is dedicated to lord Vishnu and was built by the king Vishnuvardhana, his grandson and his great grandson, and took around a century to complete. All the temples of Hoysalas are usually built on a platform. They are pretty near to human proportions unlike many other huge and behemoth monuments in India. The main temple depicts different Avatars or incarnations of lord Vishnu. The stone pillar at the center of the ground is carved from a single stone and stands on its own weight. The ground in front of the main temple also has one statue of Garuda, the celestial vehicle of lord Vishnu. They are all facing the main temple. 

  When we left Belur, it was almost sundown. It was a day filled with sights of work of art that astonished us beyond imagination. No doubt these places were once called the "Heaven on earth". Although both the temple at Halebeedu and Belur are superb in portraying art, the figures at lord Shiva shrine at Halebeedu were carved more profusely. 

  Some suggestions that might help: It is a good idea to hire a guide at Halebeedu who can explain the stories behind some of the important figures. You can also go for a temple guide booklet which comes at round Rs.40/- and is full of information. You need to leave your shoes at a stall to enter both the temples; so if you are travelling in a car, its better to leave your shoes in the car. There is no entry fee for either temple. However, in Belur, there is a fee if you want to take shots inside the temple.

  So after a very enjoyable and very very tiring day full of travel, talk, fun and photography, we bid adeu to the 15 people who joined for the workshop and headed for a hotel in Chikmagalur. Chikmagalur is around 40 Kilometers from Belur. Our next morning plan was to visit Bhadra wildlife sanctuary and go for a jungle safari. 

  Here are some of the photographs from the Belur-Halebeedu trip. Hope you will enjoy.

  You can find all these pictures and more in the Picassa Web Album here.

The Pillar at Halebeedu.

Statue of Sala and the temple. Halebeedu.

The temple as seen from the garden. Halebeedu.

Broken parts of the temple. Halebeedu.

The garden at Halebeedu.

Broken parts of the temple in the garden. Halebeedu.

The main temple. Halebeedu.

Back of the main temple. Halebeedu.

Wall art inside the main temple. Halebeedu.

Inside the main temple. Halebeedu.

Pillars inside the main temple. Halebeedu.

Nandi and lord Shive inside the main temple. Halebeedu.

Wall art. Halebeedu.

Depiction of Mahabharata. Halebeedu.

Wall art. Halebeedu.

One Nandi temple from the other. Halebeedu.

Nandi. Halebeedu.

Stone carving on the pavilion of the temple. Halebeedu.

Feet of the lady. Halebeedu.

Depiction from the Mahabharata where Arjuna targets the fish with his bow and arrow. Halebeedu.

Lord Vishnu. Halebeedu.

Depiction of the Ramayana. Halebeedu.

Depiction of war from the Mahabharata. Halebeedu.

Pillars at Belur.

Belur Vishnu temple, during dusk.

Depiction of Sala defeating a tiger single handedly. Belur.

Sculpture of Garuda praying. Belur.

Intricately carved sculpture of a dancer. Belur.

Garuda praying towards the Vishnu temple. Belur.

Bhadra wildlife sanctuary, all that meets the eye

After seeing the marvels in Halebidu and Belur, we headed for Chikmagalur. Chikmagalur is some 35 kilometres from Halebidu and the condition of the road is good. It was a 45 minute drive for me and Ankur and our Sparky(Chevrolet Spark). We got to see a beautiful sundown on our way and reached Chikmagalur at dusk.

  Since we did not book any hotels before coming so our first task was to hunt for hotels. We inquired a few hotels but they were all booked. Finally we got a hotel on MG Road. The room rate was Rs 500 and checkout time was 24 hours. The hotel, though decent, was not very good; there were either bedbugs or mosquitoes which did not allow me a good sleep.

  Hotels in Chikmagalur are inexpensive but the number of hotels is less. So it is always prudent to make prior booking. The next day morning was kept for the Bhadra wildlife safari.

  The wildlife safari in Bhadra is conducted by River Tern Lodge in their jeeps. There is no safari undertaken by the Government. There are two time slots when this safari can be taken; morning(6:30 AM) and evening(4:30 PM). It is a two hour safari starting from 6:30 am and 4:30 pm and they will take you along with other fellow passengers in the jeep into the jungle. No private vehicle is allowed.

  We decided to opt for the morning slot and for that we got up early at 4 AM the following day and started towards Jungle lodge resort in Lakkavalli. A part of the road passes through the mountain jungles. The road is proper and the hilly curves were not very steep; so driving was not very tough.

  It was almost 6:30 am when we reached River Tern Lodge. After booking tickets we boarded their jeep. Ticket prices are really very steep (RS 1250 per person). I just hoped that we could get to see some animals so the high price got justified.

  There were a total of six people in the jeep excluding the driver and a guide in the open roof jeep. The driver first went to the forest department office (on the way) to get permit. After that the jeep crossed the Bhadra river
and went inside the jungle. On the way, we were greeted by a few peahens and shortly thereafter by some colourful fowls.

In front of the forest rangers office, Bhadra.

Entry to the Bhadra Sancturary

Pheasants inside the Sanctuary

  Once we were inside the jungle we saw a spotted deer. Our interest was growing with every inch we were getting inside the jungle. Our guide spotted a few hornbills sitting on the high branches. We saw a few barking deers and on seeing humans, they ran inside the deep forest barking.

Spotted Deer

Female Sambar Deer

  Somewhere I had read that the barking sound from barking deer indicates that tiger is nearby. Since the deers barked while running into the jungle I fancied that a tiger must be near. But alas, there was no tiger. A few more metres inside the forest a fellow traveller spotted a langoor.

Langoor

  There are citronella trees in the jungle and very often we got the sweet smell of citronella while moving in the jeep. Next the driver took us to a lowland where there was also a waterbody. We saw many peacocks, peahens, cranes, few species of kingfishers, drongo, parakeets, bee-eaters, river terns and some more birds whose names I cannot recall. The guide told us that a tiger was spotted here some 15 days back.

Hornbill

Peacock and crane

Peacock and crane

Peacock

Crane

Pied Kingfisher. They were very far so couldn't get a closer shot

The landscape of one part inside the park

Dove

Don't know what's the name of this bird.

Kingfisher

Drongo

Cormorant

Paradise Flycatcher

River tern

Peacock

  We again started moving. This time the guide showed us giant wood spiders all resting in their cobwebs waiting for their prey. Some of the cobwebs were really really big about 6 to 10 metres in width. There were also plenty of gigantic golden silk orb weavers. We were taken to a small resting place inside the jungle where we were allowed to get down from the jeep. The guide spotted a red giant malabar squirrel but it swiftly ran away. So no snaps.

A typical view of the road inside the jungle

The rest house inside the jungle. You get a small halt here.

Giant wood spider

Silk orb weaver spider

Giant wood spider

Giant wood spider

  Now it was almost time to get back.The driver took a much shorter route to get out of the jungle. We did not find any animals while returning. We were happy to spot so many birds and insects but did not spot much animals.The cost we payed for the safari did not met our expectations. We spotted more animals in our Mudumalai trip and the expense was also much lesser.

  Once we were out of the jungle and near the Bhadra river we spotted several drongos and doves from very near. There were some more birds which I don't know by their names. Maybe if you know please help me identify.

Unknown bird

Unknown bird

  Overall the trip was okay but the price for the two hour safari was really high. We saw many birds and insects but our expectation of spotting some more animals were not met.

Bhadra river and dam

River tern lodge

River tern lodge

Wild safari jeep at River tern lodge