Visit to Shravanbelagola, Halebidu on 13 Jun, 2016

Started the 5 days tour with Shravanabelagola, Belur and Halebidu from Bengaluru with Vijaumama, Mami, Sadhana and myself by car. Other places visited were Dharamashala, Coorg, Mysore and Srirangpatanam. The iterneary was well planned, the climate was nice and the places were something which I wanted to visit since school days. 

Shravanabelagola The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue is one of the most important Tirthas(pilgrimage destinations) in Jainism. Chandragupta Maurya is said to have died here in 298 BCE after he became a Jain monk and assumed an ascetic life style. 

Stated stepping up the Vindyagiri Hill in around 12.00 pm under bright Sun somewhat tiring to reach the top. A place which I wanted to see when I had been to Bengaluru  in early 1990s but could see only local Bengluru and Mysore.

On the way from Bengluru to Shravanbelagula

A panaromic view of another hil from the Gomateshwara Hill

The pond in the middle of city

Kedareshwara Temple, Halebidu is a Hoysala era construction in the historically important town of Halebidu, in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India. The temple was constructed by Hoysala King Veera Ballala II (r. 1173–1220 A.D.) and his Queen Ketaladevi, and the main deity is Ishwara (another name for the Hindu god Shiva).

Hoysaleswara_Temple , also known the Halebidu temple, is a 12th-century Shiva Hindu temple.  Its construction started around 1121 and was complete in 1160. During the early 14th century, Halebidu was twice sacked and plundered by the Muslim armies of the Delhi Sultanate, 

The Hoysaleswara temple is a Shaivism tradition monument, yet reverentially includes many themes from Vaishnavism and Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, as well as images from Jainism.[9] The Hoysaleswara temple is a twin-temple dedicated to Hoysaleswara and Santaleswara Shiva lingas, named after the masculine and feminine aspects, both equal and joined at their transept. It has two Nandi shrines outside, where each seated Nandi face the respective Shiva linga inside. The temple includes a smaller sanctum for the Hindu Sun god Surya. It once had superstructure towers, but no longer and the temple looks flat. The temple faces east, though the monument is presently visited from the north side. Both the main temples and the Nandi shrines are based on a square plan. The temple was carved from soapstone. The artwork in Hoysaleswara temple is damaged but largely intact. Within a few kilometers of the temple are numerous ruins of Hoysala architecture. 

Chennakeshava Temple, Belur is a 12th-century Hindu temple commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE, on the banks of the Yagachi River in Belur also called Velapura, an early Hoysala Empire capital. The temple was built over three generations and took 103 years to finish.