Hassan

Hassan the headquarters of the district known by the same name, is situated about 186 km from Bangalore. This city which has rail access from Mysore and Arsikere acts as the gateway to the historic cities Belur and Halebid. The ancient Siva temple Arsikere with a unique frontal polygonal Mandapa reflects the architecture and sculpture of the Hoysala. Belur at an elevation of about 775 m above sea level is yet another venue of scared monuments. The Chennakesva temple here, is again a masterpiece of the Hoysala kings. Doddagaddavalli has a temple dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, built in the 12th century by a merchant. Halebid which has also been the ancient capital of the Hoysala rulers is where the famous Siva Temple built by Vishnuvardhana in the 12th century , stands. This temple has some unique features. The Karadeswara Temple has all but not the image of presiding deity.

Arsikere
About 41 km from Hassan and 176 km from Bangalore, this commercial town abounds in coconut groves. The ancient temple dedicated to Lord Siva, known as Kattameswara and also Chandramouliswara Temple, reflects the grand architectural style of the Hoysalas with a specially designed polygonal’Mandapa’ or ‘Hall’ in the front. Near Arsikere, is Malekal Thirupathi where the beautiful temple is dedicated to ‘Lord Venkatramana’, the presiding deity of the temple at Thirumala, Andra Pradesh.

Belur
Situated at an altitude of 975 m above sea level, about 22 km from Bangalore and 40 km from Hassan, on the banks of the river Yagachi, Belur is sanctifies by the ancient temple dedicated to’Lord Chennakesava’ one of the varies forms of Lord Vishnu, built by the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhan in the year 1116 AD. The architecture, typical of the Hoysalas and the sculpture are spellbinding. There are three entrances to the temple, on the east, north and south. There are reliefs of various deities, human forms, demons, etc. at the entrances.

The excellence of architecture is evident from the grand statues of ‘Mandanikas’ and the 38 sturdy pillars which support them. Each Mandanika can be seen in a unique elegant posture such as dancing, playing, dressing etc. There are about 46 exquisitely carved pillars .The other ancient monuments here are the wonderful temples dedicated to Lord Ganesa, the Hindu endeavors, Goddess Durga, Goddess Saraswathi, Lord Vishnu, the protector of the universe with His consort Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Doddagaddavalli: Situated about 14 km from Hassan this sacred place is known for the famous temple dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. The unique feature of this temple is that there are five Garbhagrihas or ‘Sanctum Sanctorums’. The image of the Goddess here represents ‘Sakti Lakshmi’ and the temple is also known as Dakshina Kolapura.

Halebid
About 16 km from Belur towards the east and 30 km from Hassan, Halebid, the ancient capital of the Hoysala rulers is sanctifies by the Siva Temple built by the Hoysala king Bittiga. This king is said to have been reconverted to Hinduism and consercrated by ‘Sri Ramanuja’ one of the three eminent social reformers and religious heads of Hinduism. The ancient capital was called Dwarasamudra which is the present Halebid. Today the city stands as a backwater village.

The wonderful Siva temple which speaks volumes of the Hoysala architectural excellence was built by the rechristened king Vishnuvardhana in 1211 AD. The temple has two Garbhagrihas, they are known as Hoysaleswara and Shanthaleswara named after the king and the queen.

Though it had taken 80 long years of meticulous hard work, the temple remains incomplete in construction. Behind the sanctorum of Lord Hoysaleswara, there is a shrine dedicated to Lord Surya, with a two meter tall image and in front, which is the enormous statue of Lord Nandi. The walls with their extraordinary carvings.portray scenes firm ‘The Ramayana’, ‘The Mahabharatha’ and ‘The Bhagvath Geetha’.There is a museum in front of the temple architecture.

Karadeswara Temple
On the way to Hassan from Hoysaleswara Temple this is yet another Hoysala style temple dedicated to Lord Siva. It was built by King Veeravallara and his queen Abhinaba Kataladevi in the early 13th century. The ‘Dwarapalaka’ or the statues of the mighty gate keepers on the southern entrance are extraordinary.

Shravanabelgola
This picturesque region ideally wedged in between the two scenic hills Chandragiri and Indragiri, situared about 52 km from Hassan, 84 km and 86 km from Halebid and Belur, 115 km and 155 km from Mysore and Bangalore respectively. Shravanabelgola is framed for its Jain Temple.

Atop the hill Indragiri 3347 ft high, majestically stands the mammoth unclad statue of Gomatheswara or Bahubali. This monolithic statue the tallest of its kind, measures to 57 ft in height. The legend has it that the king Rishaba Nath abdicated his strone in his insatiable quest for spiritual knowledge and took to doing stern penance in the uninterrupted wilderness of the forests. Consequently a stiff tussle for power ensued between his two sons, the then princes of the state, Bahubali and Bharat and though the former emerged victorious he resolved to adhere to austerity, entrusting the rule to his brother. Then Bahubali went on ‘Vanaprastha for 1000 years.

King Rishaba Nath then became the first ‘Thirthankar’ of the Jains and Bahubali came to be known as ‘Gomatheswara’.Aristonemi, was the sculptor behind this marvelous monolith. There is a flight of uncovered steps greeted quite ofter by ‘Belgola’, leading to the statue. Dulis and chairs with bearers are available for the aged and disabled to get to the statue. ‘Mahamasthakabhisheka’ is a grand festival here which occues only once in 12 long years.During this ‘Abhisheka’ or ‘Reverential Bath’ the deity is bathed in a variety of sacred stuff such as ghee, milk, honey, curd, sandalwood paste besides 1008 pots of holy water. This festival came into practice in 1398.A five foot tall Tyagada Brahmadev Pillar can also be seen on the rocky incline of the hill.

Chandragiri which rises to about 3052 feet above sea level also has many a treasured monument. There are as many as 26 Jain Bastis and Muttus and other Jain shrines. There are also some important monuments such as Chandragupta Basti, Bandan and Akkana in the interior village of Shravanabelgola.