Belur, Halebeedu & Somanathapura are probably the most famous hoysala temples in Karnataka. Fame brings bus loads of tourists and doesn’t not really give one the time and mind space required to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of these symphonies in stone. While these represent the best of what the Hoysala kings built, this is not all that has survived the ravages of time.
Over the last few months, I have been visiting various smaller but equally beautiful hoysala temples. Some these can easily be covered as part of the Belur & Halebeedu circuit while some of these can be done as stand alone road trips from Bangalore. One post with all the information might just be too much to digest and hence I plan to break this into multiple posts to do justice to these beautiful marvels of human spirit.
Twin Temples - Mosale
The twin temples display beautiful symmetry and not hard to locate. The ASI caretaker does a very good of explaining the details of the architecture and details engraved on the wall & ceilings.
Buchesvara Temple - Koravangala
The layout of the temple is unlike most Hindu temples,which have the main entrance facing the deity. You typically enter the temple complex and run into a ‘DwajaSthambha’ which aligns you to the direction of the sanctum sanctorum which isnt the case here! The entry into the temple doesn’t face the deity and the Sthambha is conspicuous by its absence.
Lakshmi temple - Doddagadavalli
The turnoff to the Doddagaddavali temple is quiet easy to locate – look out for a big hoarding on your left when coming from Hassan towards Belur indicating the turnoff.
Once again the ASI caretaker here ensures that he highlights all the salient points of the temple and the beauty of the architecture.
Do lookout for my next post with more details on other similar hoysala beauties hiding amidst the bylanes of rural karnataka. If I have managed to kindle your interest in hoysala acrhictecture and you are keen to explore them, do read more here
#hoysala #temples #daytrip #roadtrip #bangalore #karnataka #belur #halebeedu #discover #offthebeatentrack #symphonyinstone #architecture #ruins #history
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