Mes Secrets Inconnus

After a 2 day hiatus at the resort, we were rejuvenated and it was time to leave the beautiful place. En route we decided to visit Halebid and Belur

Halebid is around 37 km from Chikmagalur. We went along the Chikmagalur highway towards the Capital of Hoysala empire. While travelling towards Bangalore, you might be likely to miss the Halebid turn. There are Karanataka tourism boards at a lot of places before, but just when you have to take the turn, the signboard is actually in the opposite direction – so that people coming from Bangalore can see it, but not the ones from Chikmagalur. We had seen this while going to Chikmagalur and were on the lookout for the turn. But for others, I would like to mention that make a note of the signboard which mentions Halebid 37 kms. The left turn comes at around 22 kms from the signboard. From the turn, Halebid is 15 kms on the inside and the view towards the place is magnificent. The road has gulmohar trees on both sides. This time of the year they were all flowering with the petals falling on the road giving it a divine look. The temple is still incomplete but you would not notice this in front of the beautiful carvings.
This shrine is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is the largest of Hoysala temples. The construction of this temple was during the 1121 – 1207 AD period, and is very similar to the Belur temple. The temple complex consists of two identical temples with shivalinga and nandi mantaps facing the lord. The nandi mantaps have huge nandis carved equally beautifully. Outside the shrine are intricately carved figures from mythological epics – Ramayan, Mahabharata and puranic legends of beasts. The carvings on the outside consist of – elephants, Hoysala royal emblem of a man killing a tiger,lions, charging horsemen, epics sculptures and mythical beasts (from bottom up).
Outside the shrine, locals sell stone sculptures and panchdhatu handiwork. They try to con you by selling the crafts work at huge prices. Beware of these, even though you would agree that the people are doing so much work for these sitting in the sun and polishing the stone to give them the required shape, shelling out your hard earned money and being conned is still not agreeable. Hence for these people – small Ganapati stone idol – 20 Rs, medium Buddha head piece – 50 Rs, Sitting lamps medium size – 10 Rs. Panchadhatu murtis – 40 Rs each. If you can bargain and get for less, well good luck….