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.

Shravanabelagola temple visit

This time, our trip to Shravanabelagola, Halebidu and Belur was not just a weekend trip; it was coupled with a photographic workshop. In this blog post we will try to portray the details of our travel. However, if you are interested to know about the workshop, here is the link

  We really started early from Bangalore. It was around 4:30 AM when we hit the road. Till one and half hour, there was no ambient light. But the roads were clear. When we reached Shravanabelagola temple, it was around 8 O' clock in the morning. 

   Shravanabelgola is one of the major Jain shrines. However, apart from being religiously important, this holy temple does not fail to attract huge amount of tourists throughout the year. While we are on the topic, it's a good time to mention that once every twelve year, a special ceremony called "Mahamastakabhisheka" is held at this temple. During this time, the number of tourists multiply to around 100 folds.

  The temple is on a small hilltop which one has to cover on foot. There are around 600 steps up the hill. So getting up there was a nice morning exercise for us. However, there is an option of human-carried-chair. If someone has difficulty getting up stairs, he/she can opt for this. Parking is available just before the entrance to the temple. And you have to keep your shoes at a shoekeeper before entering. So if you like, you can keep the shoes in the car.

  Although the target was to get to the shot and see the cluster of temples on top, we had to stop during our walk up the hill; well offcourse, to catch our breath. But these couple of stops gave us one unexpected thing, a slowly changing perspective of the whole city around the temple. As you go up your view changes and you get a panoramic view of the city. And the view is really beautiful.

  There is one temple just opposite this main temple and that is also on another hilltop. When you climb up the steps, you get to see this temple more clearly.

  When on top, we quickly found some seats on a sidestep and relaxed for a couple of minutes. Now it was time to explore the actual temple.

  This first stop itself has a couple of temples. You actually have to go around them (from your right) to catch a small set of staircase(around 20 steps) to get up to the actual temple. When you are in this first landing, observe the scattered glass covering all around the stone that makes the floor. These are made by the government to cover the ancient scriptures which were carved on the rocks. 

  When you get to the summit of the hill, you get to see the figure of Gommateshwara. This figure stand on a lotus and is around 17 meters high. It was carved around 1000 years back.

  All around the temple there are several statues and carvings which were carved with precise accuracy. When you enter the main temple, you can directly see the statue of Gommateshwara. There are several ceremonies that continuously go on at this temple. You can soon find a man on the left corridor guarding a door behind him. If you approach him, he would graciously open the door which leads to a chamber where 24 different images are installed one after the other; all carved in stone. When you get out of this corridor, you basically get out on the opposite side of Gommateshwara statue. And the door keeper asks for some donation for this guided tour. You can donate anything you may please; we did not find much persuasion there.

  This morning visit of Shravanabelagola temple was really worthwhile. While coming down we took it slow again, enjoying the beauty of the surrounding. 

  While at the bottom of the hill, we quickly devoured coconut water from a nearby shopkeeper. It worked well filling up the water that we lost during this excursion. If you ever visit this temple, it is perhaps best to visit during early morning. Because the warm midday would really juice out your energy a lot.

  As we were done with this fantastic piece of art and holy shrine, we headed for our next stop, Halebeedu. Halebeedu is one of the finest temple of the Hoysala dynasty. It was constructed during the 1121 AD and 1207 AD. Its work of art is legendary. So more on that in our blog post on Halebeedu.

  Here are the snaps from our Shravanabelagola trip:

The human-carried chair that can take someone to the top of the hill.

The staircase to the top.

The temple on the next hilltop.

Thyagada kamba. The central pillar is hanging from the top.

Modern art. LOL.

Pillar at the main temple

Some Jain ritual going on at the main temple

A priest is bathing the small idol.

Gommateshwar.

Gommateshwar.

Gommateshwar

The bells at the main temple.

Tirthankara. A total 24 idols are there in this chamber.

The main temple

Wall painting.

Ancient inscriptions.

  

Lepakshi... the perfect blend of archaeology, history and art.

  Its been... well... couple of weeks since Soma was talking about Lepakshi. I suppose she had seen or read about this place somewhere and seemed quite impressed with the splendor of the place. But I kept on telling her that it would be a little hard on this poor soul to drive around 250 km until there is a little drizzle(if not a downpour) so that the heat subsides and the dust settles. 


   It was Friday afternoon and I was having a casual tea near the staircase of our office when I spotted few drops on the glass window. Before I could actually realize its source, it was washed away by a heavy downpour. Its just started raining in Bangalore. I rushed to my desk to call Soma... but the phone rang before I could make the call...


   "Raining, its raining... did you see?", she gushed.
   Somehow I was sure what was coming next. And she continued, "We must not miss Lepakshi this weekend".


   So, shall it be written, shall it be done.




Saturday, June 9, 2012... 7 O' clock in the morning:


Soma, Ankur and their good old sparky set off for the roads. 
The road-map was pretty simple since we already traveled one half of it when we visited Nandi Hills last year. The scene around this road is really really beautiful:

For Nandi hills, we took a left turn at nandi cross; this time we didn't take it. Rather we continued on NH7 until we found one toll plaza and then this banner:

   From this banner its around 16km to the Lepakshi village. Almost 8km of this road is good, and the rest is well... not so good. One landmark to remind you if you are on the correct road is this one:

  Before we hit the temple, there was this huge Nandi statue. The temple is around 200 mts from this statue.

The biggest monolithic statue of Nandi

The temple was build in the 16th century by the Vijayanagar kings.This is one of the very few temples dedicated to both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.


Legend about the place:
According to legends, the history of this place dates back to the Ramayanas. Among the many references of this place in the Ramayans, the most significant one the story related to the mythological bird Jatayu, who helped Rama in his battle with Ravana. When Ravana was taking away Sita in his flying chariot, the bird Jatayu stood in his way. Ravana had to injure the bird which fell on the ground.Rama while looking for Sita found Jatayu at this place. He healed Jatayu with his divine powers and as he said "Le Pakshi" (rise bird), Jatayu rose again.Since then this place is called Lepakshi.


Inside the temple of Veerabhadra there are numerous sculptures of Gods, mythological creatures and stories from the Ramayans.The inside of the temple is carved out of granite.


You can take a guide for a much better understanding of the architecture and history of this temple. There are also some shops outside the temple selling flowers, coconut etc. for the offering/pujas. 

Pillars with sculptures ~ This is probably Bhringi dancing 

Stories carved on the walls

The murals drawn on the entire ceiling of the temple are exceedingly beautiful though most of them have worn out. Several stories and time-frames are depicted in these murals like the marriage of Siva with Parvati, wars, architects of the temple praying before Siva, and many more...

Outside the temple of Veerabhadra is a huge courtyard that holds several other areas surrounding the temple. 


  We first encountered the seven headed serpent shading above the Shiva-linga (Nagalingeshvara). This statue has a huge stone behind it, on which there are depictions the bathing of the Shiva-linga by Sri(Spider), Kala(Serpent-king) and Hasthi(Elephant)... all sculpted on the rock. It also has a sculpture of Ganesha.

The seven headed serpent shading the Shiva linga

Ganesha with his ride

Bathing of the Shiva-linga by Sri(Spider), Kala(Serpent-king) and Hasthi(Elephant)

Lagalingeshwara statue in a different mood

  Within a few meters from this statue is a pier where, according to legends, the marriage of Siva with Parvati took place. This pier has several pillars full of sculptures. All of the sculptures are of Gods who came to bless the couple. Few of the pillars are broken and lay on the platform.

The pier where the marriage took place

The pillars with Gods sculpted on them

Himavat(left) blessing Siva-Parvati after their marriage

  The courtyard itself is made with hundreds of pillars with various sculptures on them. There are few chambers as well. If you look closely, you can see that the whole structure is standing on top a megalithic stone. 

The courtyard adjacent to the Veerabhadra temple

The other side of the courtyard as seen from a pillar

     We spent around 4 hours in Lepakshi temple. However, it still feels to be very less to savor every single nook and corner of this magnificent temple.


    We took the same road back to Bangalore. It took around 2 hours to get back home. I missed the morning news paper as we started early for the day. After getting fresh, I did a quick sweep of the news paper. The weather forecast read that Bangalore will soon see heavy rains in the coming days. 


   "More rain coming, they say", I updated Soma.
   "Oh more rain!", as if she remembered something all of a sudden, and she added "Did you know Hogenakkal is fantastic during the monsoon?"


   So, now that it is written... it must be done.




Lepakshi Summary:


Distance from Whitefield, Bangalore: Around 130 km
Route in short: Whitefield->Kadugodi->Hoskote->NH4->NH207->Devanahalli->NH7->Lepakshi
Tollgate on NH7: Car return toll is Rs. 95
Food at Lepakshi: Some shops with cold drink and ice cream etc. And a few shops selling usual snacks. Keep your food with you.
Time required to see the temple: Around 2-3 hours
Entrance fee: Nil
Parking fee: Rs. 20