[ukderebail]

Nice pictorial coverage of Halebid, i enjoyed it along with your snippets, which is like Nipat. I had the privilige of staying in the guest house opposite the Halebid temple, and spent the moonlit night enjoying the ancient monument. It was awesome. Though the temple was looted of its precious jewellry the artistic sculpture remains till date. Soon it should join the world heritage bandwagon

[hvkumar]

Pity that there are no good hotels & restaurants around Haleebidu.
Belavadi Temple is also a good combo with a Haleebidu trip.
roamingrao, that was a good alternative route (Bangalore - Arsikere - Banavara - Javagal - Halebid), great to know the road is good too.
F A U J I, are there good guides in Haleebidu too? Any names/ contact numbers?
The Temple opens & closes at what time?

[addyhemmige]

Super pictures Fauji sir!!! The travelogue is very detailed as are all your other travelogues. Thanks for refreshing my memory of Halebeedu. Even though I lived just a stone's throw away (by stone's throw, I mean 30 kms), it's been more than 4-5 years since I have been there.

@HVK, it is really a pity there are no good hotels anywhere around Helebeedu. The only place I knew was a run down Mayura restaurant and lodge which was run by KSTDC. I'm not sure if it still exists. This place had a huge garden. As kids, we used to visit Halebeedu very frequently on family outings and this place was the one where we used to have lunch. Just behind this hotel compound, there used to be a big field where broken sculptures, stones etc from the temples were dumped. Don't know what has happened to it now.

[srikrishna717]

Yet an other amazing Travelogue. Have visited these places many years ago and after seeing this want to go there again!
I was searching for the Shanta's sculpture looking in to the mirror, I guess it is in Belur ?

[junkishya]

Beautiful Snaps .. I visited Halebeedu and Belur 2 weeks ago and I was amazed with the sculptures !! SIMPLY AMAZING !!

Make sure that you take a guide for the tour. They are relatively inexpensive (Rs. 300) for the history that they tell you.

[Nonstop-driver]

Amazing sculptures and architecture! Thanks for sharing it with everyone. I hope I would be visiting it sometime.

One of the most amazing picture is the one

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...e-dsc_0476.jpg

I haven't anywhere else seen Shiva with 14 hands. Plus I see many other deities with multiple hands. Must be some connection with mythology!

[srikrishna717]

Originally Posted by srikrishna717

Yet an other amazing Travelogue. Have visited these places many years ago and after seeing this want to go there again!
I was searching for the Shanta's sculpture looking in to the mirror, I guess it is in Belur ?

I meant Shantala not Shanta

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by DieselDestiny

Beautiful pictures Poorna. Takes me back to the 4 years that I spent with the shilabalikas in Halebeedu and Belur.
Not sure if you took a guide around in the tour, it is worthwhile listening to the details on the sculptures and why they are located where there are. For instance, the rows of elephants that you see around the temple outer structure signify strong foundation, the horses of speed, the lions of strength and so on.
If I remember correctly, the jain monk you have showns is a foreigner wearing a gown.

Thanks Sandeep. We did not take guide as we have visited this place couple of times. The idea was to click pictures and we came back with much more than that. Yes, if you are first timer, a guide is strongly recommended.

Originally Posted by anand_hc

Nice photographs. I had been to Belur & Halebedu 2 months back. Your photos make me feel the one I had been to was a different place.

There is so much history & architecture at both these places.

Struggle & wonder at same time, why state government can not provide better roads to these architectural wonders. It's a shame.

Thanks Anand. Fortunately, we saw a newly laid black top from Belur road till Halebid. It is a smooth drive.

Originally Posted by ukderebail

Nice pictorial coverage of Halebid, i enjoyed it along with your snippets, which is like Nipat. I had the privilige of staying in the guest house opposite the Halebid temple, and spent the moonlit night enjoying the ancient monument. It was awesome. Though the temple was looted of its precious jewellry the artistic sculpture remains till date. Soon it should join the world heritage bandwagon

Thanks Umesh. You have given another idea to make a trip back to Halebid!!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Pity that there are no good hotels & restaurants around Haleebidu.
Belavadi Temple is also a good combo with a Haleebidu trip.
roamingrao, that was a good alternative route (Bangalore - Arsikere - Banavara - Javagal - Halebid), great to know the road is good too.
F A U J I, are there good guides in Haleebidu too? Any names/ contact numbers?
The Temple opens & closes at what time?

Thanks HVK. The temple opens at Dawn and closes at Dusk like all Archeological Survey of India monuments which means from 7 AM to 6.30 PM. There are ASI certified guides ate the entrance who are good. We did not take any.

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Super pictures Fauji sir!!! The travelogue is very detailed as are all your other travelogues. Thanks for refreshing my memory of Halebeedu. Even though I lived just a stone's throw away (by stone's throw, I mean 30 kms), it's been more than 4-5 years since I have been there.

@HVK, it is really a pity there are no good hotels anywhere around Helebeedu. The only place I knew was a run down Mayura restaurant and lodge which was run by KSTDC. I'm not sure if it still exists. This place had a huge garden. As kids, we used to visit Halebeedu very frequently on family outings and this place was the one where we used to have lunch. Just behind this hotel compound, there used to be a big field where broken sculptures, stones etc from the temples were dumped. Don't know what has happened to it now.

Thanks Addy. Mayura is still there. Not sure how good it is. The closest and nice place is Hoysala Village resort.

Originally Posted by srikrishna717

Yet an other amazing Travelogue. Have visited these places many years ago and after seeing this want to go there again!
I was searching for the Shanta's sculpture looking in to the mirror, I guess it is in Belur ?

Thanks Srikrishna. Yes, it is in Belur.

Originally Posted by junkishya

Beautiful Snaps .. I visited Halebeedu and Belur 2 weeks ago and I was amazed with the sculptures !! SIMPLY AMAZING !!

Make sure that you take a guide for the tour. They are relatively inexpensive (Rs. 300) for the history that they tell you.

Thanks. Yes, a guide is really worth.

Originally Posted by Nonstop-driver

Amazing sculptures and architecture! Thanks for sharing it with everyone. I hope I would be visiting it sometime.

One of the most amazing picture is the one



I haven't anywhere else seen Shiva with 14 hands. Plus I see many other deities with multiple hands. Must be some connection with mythology!

Thanks Nonstop-driver. There is another awesome sculpture in Badami which is a Nataraja with eighteen hands. Take a look at this

Originally Posted by srikrishna717

I meant Shantala not Shanta

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by Fauji

... There is another awesome sculpture in Badami which is a Nataraja with eighteen hands. Take a look at this

Attachment 1042275

WOW! - is all I can say. I've been tempted to find out more about this and have come across regular 4 armed Shiva, 8 armed Ishan form (Basohli School, Punjab) and 16 armed Svachchhanda Bhairava. Every form has one or the other story from mythology attached to it. Wonder what the Halebid and Badami Shiva are related to.