hoyasala A Peep in to Hoyasala Heritage from Hyderabad

[Shekar]

I had visited the Belur Chennakeshava Temple of Hoyasala period twice earlier and thirst to see the mesmerizing sculptures will never end. 

 

When I did a search on Karnataka tourism websites and google, I found many more such heritage temples of Hoyasala era in Karnataka. I made a plan for a week to cover most of Hoyasala Heritage and Chikmagalur also. 

 

Initial plan was for self drive but total team went up to 10 and wanted to travel together, so we booked a 12 seater tempo traveler for the trip and total trip was reduced to 5 days. 

 

Day 1. Last week of September 2021. Last count of team was only 6. We started at 9.00 PM (Shamshabad ORR Exit) with two breaks of 1.30 Min (0.30 Min Dinner at Jadcherla) (1.00 Hr. driver allowed to sleep near Ananthapur) we reached Lepakshi x Road (Kodi Konda) by 6.00 in the morning. Went up to Bagepalli check post for paying entry tax and reached Haritha Lepakshi by 6.30 Hrs. We had booked 2 rooms in advance for fresh up. 

 

Day 2. Though our plan was not to visit Lepakshi temple, we went to visit it after fresh up. We allowed driver to sleep in our room and went by walk.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By 10.45 we checked out of the hotel. Had breakfast at Haritha only. Google showing Belur is at 240 Kms and time 5.30 Hrs. We thought of covering Belur temple in the evening as entire road is NH 69 & 73. Drive up to Hidupur was nice on newly laid road. But once we entered Karnataka, roads were bad. Road construction is going on and most of the culverts not completed. One diversion board took us no where and we had to travel through a small village and reach main road. 

 

We had lunch at MTRs Family Dhaba near Huliyar. Food and service were excellent. When we decided we will not reach Belur before sunset, we decided to visit two of Hoyasala temples on the way. Road after Huliyar is better. 

 

Reached Javagal a small village by 04.30 PM (native of Javagal Srinath, Cricketer). Sri Laxmi Narsimha temple is in the middle of the village. It is a Trikoota temple, built in 13th century. Main temple in middle is Narasimha and left and right are Venugopala and Sridhara (Vishnu). Beautiful sculptures can be seen all around the walls of the temple. A simple laxmi temple is on the left side of main temple. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We quickly reached Belavadi after 9 Kms. We were told that the village name in Mahabharatha time was Ekachatrapuram and demon Bhakasura was killed by Bheema to save the village. 

 

This temple is very big and it is also a trikoota temple built in 12th century. Main deity is Veeranarayana and other two are Yoga Narsimha and Venugopala. All the statues are very beautiful. Mirror finish lathe cut pillars in the long corridors (Mandapa) of the temple are so beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had pre booked 4 rooms for 5 days in Mayura Yagachi (KSTDC) near Yagachi Dam, out skirts of Beluru. We reached the hotel by 7.30 and called it a day. 

 

To be continued 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Shekar
Deleted extra photos