2nd April 2009, 03:01
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| 'Xing'ing around ! - An incomplete guide to Hoysala temples ;-) We did this very interesting trip over last weekend (28th, 29th & 30th March 09). The route map:  * Map not to scale. Total distance on the odo, from start to stop : 826kms. Background: Due to some commitments getting postponed, we suddenly had a 3 day weekend coming up (we had taken off on Monday 30th) and no plans on hand. A Belur-Halebid trip was long overdue anyway and this seemed to be a good opportunity to do it. While researching into the history and significance of the Belur-Halebid temples, I came across quite a few interesting websites, including the superb travelogue by our own TBHPian @akbaree @akbaree had recommended a book titled 'A complete guide to Hoysala Temples by Gerard Foekema' which is a good and comprehensive source of information on Hoysala temple architecture. Unfortunately I could not buy the book since it was out of stock in the shops I checked with. However, significant portions of the book are available via Google-books. [The maps and some sections are not available online] To quote from the book: Quote:
Slowly the route started to take shape. Of the places mentioned in the book, we dropped Amritapura & Basaralu since they would involve too much of a deviation from our route plan. [which is why my log is titled 'an incomplete guide to...'] 13 out of the 15 places from the book were penciled in. Also, there are several other places, which also have beautiful Hoysala temples, but are not mentioned in the book... added in a couple of those as well, ending up with a list of 17 places to be covered. The list of places we visited over the three days: Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Last edited by hotstuff : 2nd April 2009 at 03:06. | |
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2nd April 2009, 08:07
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2nd April 2009, 08:18
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2nd April 2009, 09:34
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2nd April 2009, 13:27
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2nd April 2009, 15:03
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2nd April 2009, 16:37
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3rd April 2009, 09:58
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| Thanks! @PraveenM @mjothi @akbaree @pjay_in @arindamray @kaushik_s - Thanks for your comments guys! I appreciate your feedback. Apologies for the delay in completing this log, caught up in a lot of office work... will complete this log over the weekend. Meanwhile, here are some interesting comparisions... I tried to take pics from similar angles: Belur temple gopuram, in 1895 - in 2009...  Somanathpur temple, in 1865 - in 2009...  Somanathpur temple, in 1865 - in 2009...  Somanathpur temple, in 1865 - in 2009...  Belur, in 1865 - in 2009...  Halebid temple, in 1856 - in 2009...  Halebid temple, in 1868 - in 2009...  Halebid temple, in 1865 - in 2009...  Halebid temple, in 1856 - in 2009...  * Old pics courtesy British Library - ASI. |
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3rd April 2009, 10:31
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3rd April 2009, 10:32
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| The comparision with the most drastic change... This is probably the comparision with the most drastic change. At first I could not believe that this is indeed the same temple, but on observing the scuptures and the positioning of several unique features, I found that this is indeed the Belur temple as it was in 1868. There was a gopurum on top, which collapsed / was taken down sometime later. The small 'add-on' shrine (seen in the center of the old photo) + the steps (in front of the add-on shrine) which were attached to the temple by someone after the Hoysala period were also taken out during some renovation exercise...  |
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3rd April 2009, 10:36
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3rd April 2009, 10:50
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| BHPian | Quote:
I may be wrong though. Foekama's book has couple of similar pictures of Belur and Halebidu temples that show indicative gopurams. I would try to scan and upload for reference. I hope it would not amount to copyright issues. Last edited by akbaree : 3rd April 2009 at 11:00. | |
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3rd April 2009, 11:15
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| Tower on temple... Quote:
Quote:
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5th April 2009, 21:58
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| Turuvekere & Aralaguppe... Who were the Hoysalas? In a chronological context, Karnataka was ruled over by the following kingdoms:
Quote:
Hoysala architecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia More than a 1000 temples were probably built during the Hoysala period. However only a few have survived relatively intact to this day. Some were just abandoned and disintegrated over the centuries; some were renovated and rebuilt to an extent that they no longer resemble their original design. Of the temples that survived, around 20 temples are recommended as 'must see' for anyone interested in Hoysala architecture. Our trip was planned to cover most of these temples... The planning: [1] First we listed down the places to cover and the temples to see at each place. [2] Charted out the places on a rough map to give us an idea of the order in which to cover these places. [3] We decided that our first night-halt would be at Halebidu and the second night-halt would be at Hassan. As you start seeing the pics, you might feel that many temples look quite similar... yes, they do. While the overall architecture might follow some standard patterns, what differentiate the temples are the carvings on the walls, the level of intricacy in the design etc. So each temple is different if you observe it from close quarters. Most of these temples either have guides, caretakers or priests who can walk you through the temples and explain the significance of each. The trip: We planned to make an early morning start, but both of us could wind-up only close to 11pm the previous evening and by the time packing is done and we fall asleep, it is around 2am. So, we wake up at 6.30am and finally start off at around 7.30am.  Saturday morning traffic was light and we reached Nelamangala without any trouble and took the right turn towards Kunigal. On our previous drive along this road ( http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-highways.html ) we had seen that there are some good hotels after Kunigal where we could stop for breakfast. I will not delve into the specifics of the route since the map should give you a good idea about the location of each place and we did a lot of 'stop-and-ask' throughout the trip to find our way around. Spotted this scenic archway along the way...  The route to Turuvekere, our first place to see...  Green...  TURUVEKERE We enter Turuvekere!  In Turuvekere we covered three temples, the Chennakesava temple, the Moole Shankara temple and the Gangadhareeshwara temple. Chennakesava temple...     Next we headed towards the Moole Shankara temple and found that it was locked. We asked around to see who had the key and were directed towards a nearby house. After enquiring about where we were from and our interest in the temple, they offered us some coffee and snacks and then just handed us the keys to the temple! The Moole Shankara temple...  Hmmm... This is the first time we unlocked a temple!   We spent some time here, locked the temple again, handed over the keys and proceeded towards the Gangadhareeshwara temple... The Nandi, which is around 7ft tall...  A unique 'Stone bell'! You can actually strike it with a stick and it sounds like a normal bell!   ARALAGUPPE After Turuvekere, we proceeded towards Aralaguppe, though we knew that it was somewhere around, we asked some locals to guide us and they mentioned the route options and suggested the best route that would be kind on the Xing...  One 'unique' experience I had at this temple was being stung on my hand by a wasp. Nothing serious though... The Keshava temple at Aralaguppe...          It was close to 2.00pm by the time we ready to leave from Aralaguppe, we would be driving through Tiptur on the way to our next destination, so lunch stop was at Tiptur. | |
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5th April 2009, 22:21
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| Arasikere, Haranahalli, Halebidu... ARASIKERE After a lunch break at Tiptur, we reached Arasikere at around 4.00pm and proceeded towards the 'Shivalaya'. This is a live temple on the outskirts of the town.     After spending around 45 mins at the Shivalaya, we headed out towards our next stop; Haranahalli, which is around 8 kms from Arasikere. HARANAHALLI We covered to temples here, the Lakshminarasimha temple and the Someshwara temple. The Someshwara temple...    The Lakshminarasimha temple...   Another locked temple, found the priest's house and got him back to open the temple for us...        It was quite late by the time we were ready to leave from Haranahalli, so we decided to drive to Halebidu, stay overnight there and track back towards Belavadi and Javagal the next day. [We drove through Javagal and passed the Belevadi diversion on our way to Halebidu.]  There are a few lodges in Halebidu and our first choice was the Mayura Santala guest-house which was recommended by @akbaree. Since this is right next to the Halebidu temple it would be really convenient. But this guest-house has just four rooms and may not be available easily. Luckily for us there was a four-bed family room available, which would cost us a little more, at Rs.400 for the night, it was still quite cheap and we took it. Ordered some simple food and shut down for the night... The guest house campus...  HALEBIDU We walked towards the Halebidu Hoysaleswara temple the next morning...           Autos waiting near the temple to whisk you around town...  Our next stop would be the Kedareshwara and the Jain temples which are a couple of kilometers away from the Hoysaleswara temple and then onward to Hulikere. |
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