I can call this one day trip as a journey in time machine towards 12th century. Last Saturday (20/12/2008) Murali, Chethan and I had been to some Hoysala temples around Mandya.
We stared from Koramangala at 7.30 AM and drove straight to Kamath for breakfast. After a filling breakfast we moved towards Mandya. We took a right turn towards Melukote after 1.5-2 kms from Mandya town. Melukote is around 35 kms from Mandya. In Melukote, we visited ‘Kalyani’ (huge man made pond, with steps on all sides and stone ‘mantapa’ built around that), Narasimha Swamy temple (an ancient temple, crowded and built on top of a hill), Cheluvanarayana swamy temple (ancient temple with lot of beautifully crafted stone pillars and sculptures) and ‘Raya Gopura’ (an uncompleted stone ‘Mantapa’ with beautiful carvings) in the same order. After visiting these places we went to ‘Sukha bhojana’ (‘Happy Meals’) which serves ‘Puliyogare’ and ‘Sakkare Pongal’ (sweet Pongal) . We immediately became fans of these dishes. Try not to miss this place.
After having lunch at Melukote, we drove towards Hosaholalu. From Melukote we need to go to K R Pete (25 kms) and Hosaholalu is 2-3 kms from K R Pete. There is a 12th century Hoysala temple (Lakshminanarayana), which is preserved well by ASI. There were no visitors when we reached there. This temple has beautiful carvings on the walls, similar to the carvings in Beluru and Halebidu. Took some photos and left to Govindanahalli (also called as Gavihalli).
Govindanahalli is 20 kms away from Hosaholalu. You have to come back to K R Pete and drive towards Kikkeri (ask locals for direction). Once you reach Kikkeri take left after the police station to go to Govindanahalli (5 Kms). Ask locals at Govindanahalli for the location of the temple. This Panchalingeshwara temple built in 12th century has five ‘Gopuras’. Even this place was free from visitors and we spent our own time in taking photographs of this time tested temple. Even this is well maintained by ASI. This temple has two beautiful Nandi idols.
After Govindanahalli, we came back to Kikkeri and asked locals for directions to the Brahmeshwara temple, amazingly none of them knew much about it. After multiple enquiries and a drive through narrow roads of the village we finally arrived at a temple on the banks of a river. It was around 5.30 PM and no one except us was around the temple. As we entered the compound, we were shocked to see the most beautiful and the most neglected temple we saw on that day. There is a Nandi Idol in front of this temple which is slightly smaller than its siblings in Beluru and Halebidu. This temple has beautiful carvings on its walls and there are a lot of stone pillars with various carvings.
It was around 6.30 PM when we left this place and drove towards Mandya (We could have drove to Chennaraya Pattana, but we wanted to skip the mad traffic after Peenya). At 8.15 we were in MacD waiting for our burgers. We reached Koramangala at 10 PM.
A beautiful day trip from Bangalore where we covered 4 ancient temples, drove nearly 400 kms, took a lot of photographs and had the experience of ‘travelling into the past’ in a time machine.
Lessons Learnt:
· All AA sized rechargeable batteries will not work for some cameras. MAh rating is important. (Chethan’s camera was sitting idle because of this)
· Adjusting shutter speed and aperture gives more DoF for landscapes.
· Sometimes Auto-Rickshaws drive on the right side at Melukote J
· Metering is important to get clear images (Thanks Murali)
Route taken:
Bangalore -> Mandya -> Melukote (~35 Kms. Take right towards Melukote after 2 kms from Mandya town. Watch for the sign boards.) -> K R Pete (25 Kms) -> Hosaholalu (3 Kms) -> K R Pete -> Kikkeri (20 Kms) -> Govindanahalli (5 kms) -> Kikkeri -> K R Pete -> Melukote -> Mandya -> Bangalore
Vehicle: Chethan’s Swift
Expenses: Approximately Rs 900 per head
Team: Myself, Chethan and Murali
We stared from Koramangala at 7.30 AM and drove straight to Kamath for breakfast. After a filling breakfast we moved towards Mandya. We took a right turn towards Melukote after 1.5-2 kms from Mandya town. Melukote is around 35 kms from Mandya. In Melukote, we visited ‘Kalyani’ (huge man made pond, with steps on all sides and stone ‘mantapa’ built around that), Narasimha Swamy temple (an ancient temple, crowded and built on top of a hill), Cheluvanarayana swamy temple (ancient temple with lot of beautifully crafted stone pillars and sculptures) and ‘Raya Gopura’ (an uncompleted stone ‘Mantapa’ with beautiful carvings) in the same order. After visiting these places we went to ‘Sukha bhojana’ (‘Happy Meals’) which serves ‘Puliyogare’ and ‘Sakkare Pongal’ (sweet Pongal) . We immediately became fans of these dishes. Try not to miss this place.
After having lunch at Melukote, we drove towards Hosaholalu. From Melukote we need to go to K R Pete (25 kms) and Hosaholalu is 2-3 kms from K R Pete. There is a 12th century Hoysala temple (Lakshminanarayana), which is preserved well by ASI. There were no visitors when we reached there. This temple has beautiful carvings on the walls, similar to the carvings in Beluru and Halebidu. Took some photos and left to Govindanahalli (also called as Gavihalli).
Govindanahalli is 20 kms away from Hosaholalu. You have to come back to K R Pete and drive towards Kikkeri (ask locals for direction). Once you reach Kikkeri take left after the police station to go to Govindanahalli (5 Kms). Ask locals at Govindanahalli for the location of the temple. This Panchalingeshwara temple built in 12th century has five ‘Gopuras’. Even this place was free from visitors and we spent our own time in taking photographs of this time tested temple. Even this is well maintained by ASI. This temple has two beautiful Nandi idols.
After Govindanahalli, we came back to Kikkeri and asked locals for directions to the Brahmeshwara temple, amazingly none of them knew much about it. After multiple enquiries and a drive through narrow roads of the village we finally arrived at a temple on the banks of a river. It was around 5.30 PM and no one except us was around the temple. As we entered the compound, we were shocked to see the most beautiful and the most neglected temple we saw on that day. There is a Nandi Idol in front of this temple which is slightly smaller than its siblings in Beluru and Halebidu. This temple has beautiful carvings on its walls and there are a lot of stone pillars with various carvings.
It was around 6.30 PM when we left this place and drove towards Mandya (We could have drove to Chennaraya Pattana, but we wanted to skip the mad traffic after Peenya). At 8.15 we were in MacD waiting for our burgers. We reached Koramangala at 10 PM.
A beautiful day trip from Bangalore where we covered 4 ancient temples, drove nearly 400 kms, took a lot of photographs and had the experience of ‘travelling into the past’ in a time machine.
Lessons Learnt:
· All AA sized rechargeable batteries will not work for some cameras. MAh rating is important. (Chethan’s camera was sitting idle because of this)
· Adjusting shutter speed and aperture gives more DoF for landscapes.
· Sometimes Auto-Rickshaws drive on the right side at Melukote J
· Metering is important to get clear images (Thanks Murali)
Route taken:
Bangalore -> Mandya -> Melukote (~35 Kms. Take right towards Melukote after 2 kms from Mandya town. Watch for the sign boards.) -> K R Pete (25 Kms) -> Hosaholalu (3 Kms) -> K R Pete -> Kikkeri (20 Kms) -> Govindanahalli (5 kms) -> Kikkeri -> K R Pete -> Melukote -> Mandya -> Bangalore
Vehicle: Chethan’s Swift
Expenses: Approximately Rs 900 per head
Team: Myself, Chethan and Murali
Photos: [Click here for more photos]
Kalyani at Melukote
Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple at Melukote
Cheluvanarayanaswamy Temple at Melukote
Cheluvanarayanaswamy Temple at Melukote
Raya Gopura at Melukote
Lakshminarayana Temple at Hosaholalu
Panchalingeshwara temple at Govindanahalli
Brahmeshwara temple at Kikkeri
Brahmeshwara temple at Kikkeri
Ourselves @ Govindanahalli
