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Hoysala Trail – The roads taken in 2008


A collage of all the Hoysala temples visited in 2008

The Hoysala trail was one of my best trips this year and it was done in two parts besides several other independent jaunts. My earliest tryst with the Hoysalas was probably as a kid when my parents and I had visited Belur and Halebeedu. A couple of years ago, I went to Belur again with my cousins and then Sharath and I took a day trip to Talakadu and Somnathpur, near Mysore.

At Mosale, another twin temples awaited us.

However the trip that got me interested was in January this year when I went with my uncle’s family to the coffee estate at Bikodu near Belur.We covered just about three places – Belur, Belavadi and Nuggehalli which blogged about extensively. What I saw and read excited me to probe more that led to the trail a couple of months later. As the series has hardly been blogged, Ive decided to post some pictures at least to give you an indication of the trail .

At Marle , where the twin temples of Keshava and Siddeshwara stand built during the time of Vishnuvardhan

My cousin, Lalitha and I embarked on this trail with just 3 full days in hand and an agenda to see at least 20 villages. We made Bikodu, near Belur our base and drove all around the belt, looking at maps, losing our way sometimes .We were indeed the objects of curiosity in most of these villages, especially among kids .Some of the temples were maintained so well by the ASI, some were in complete ruins, some were opened by the villagers, some we opened ourselves. We heard stories at some temples, but at most temples, no one had any information to share.

At Hullekere near Gandasi, where we opened the doors to this beautiful Keshava temple.

The villages that we visited included Anekere, Shantigram, Marle, Javagal, Chatachatahalli, Halebeedu, Basadihalli, Hulekere,Pushpagiri, Adagur, Kondajji, Dodagaddavalli,Mudugere, Hullekere, Arsikere ,Haranahalli, Koravangala ,Mosale and Angadi where it all began. Later on Sharath and I went to Arekere and Kaidala besides Somanathpur.

17 comments

  1. Vijay 27 December, 2008 at 12:11 Reply

    Hi lakshmi

    Stunning pictures and brilliant effort to showcase them. Each one is a marvel, you have an artist’s eyes and a writers language. splendid mix.

    rgds
    vj

  2. PN Subramanian 27 December, 2008 at 15:25 Reply

    The rich archaeological remain in the villages is simply mind bogging. I feel like resigning myself to one of those villages for the tranquility they afford. Clubbing the photographs together has pained me a little. Thank you.

  3. indicaspecies 28 December, 2008 at 02:31 Reply

    Wow, that’s quite a journey! With so many trips, I’m not surprised that you have not been able to get around to blogging about your Hoysala Trail in detail.

    The gist and the collage of photographs here itself if impressive. All the best for 2009.

  4. ceedy 29 December, 2008 at 04:51 Reply

    Since its a compilation of a interesting trip I am going to ask a few questions (hope it is not long for you)
    – Are these temples/complexes archived. Means are there any drawing of the same available?
    – Is there any conservation group that oversees this heritage?
    – Besides you being curious is there a way to be aware of these places?

    the reason I ask this is that if this does not exist – it can be a great exercise for local architectural schools to get involved – I had done similar trips and documented them….

    thanks for the trips to the inner INDIA…:)

  5. Kamini 1 January, 2009 at 01:10 Reply

    I loved all your heritage trail travel accounts, but like you, the Chola trail was what spoke to my heart. The photo collages are just stunning!
    Wishing you, your family, and all your readers a very happy new year

    Kamini.

  6. Lakshmi 2 January, 2009 at 13:04 Reply

    Elly Surjati – Welcome to backpacker and thanks for the comment

    Philip – Each country has its own culture which makes it interesting..thanks

    Alok – Im not sure I will be able to post in detail ..but will try

    HW -Thanks , though I know heritage is not yr thing πŸ™‚

    Vishesh – I know and life there is so different from what we know

    Gopal – Thanks..though i couldnt be as verbose and humourous as you πŸ™‚

    PNS – I wish I could post each and every one of them..but there are quite a lot of them..hence I decided to showcase the rich heritage in a collage

    epistolaonline -thanks for dropping in…will definitely visit yr space

    Wendy – Yes, I do hope you will get to see some of them in 2009

    Celine – True and its quite overwhelming and Im still researching..so u can imagine πŸ™‚

    Ramesh -Thanks ..glad u dropped in

    Ceedy – U need to gv me time on this..I tend to forget so just remind me in case I dont mail u πŸ™‚

    Kamini – Thanks..I feel excited abt the Chola trail..I wish you and yr family a great 2009..

    Indrani – Yup..and it was one helluva trip πŸ™‚

  7. Smitha H.M 13 December, 2011 at 00:12 Reply

    Hello.Glad to See the famous Historical Hullekere Temple Photos.As we had been to this temple just few days back, I kindly Request the Govt/concerned authorities to take care of the Much needed maintainance to safe guard the construction of the temple immediately… Such Historical Temples should be given atmost importance.
    H.N.Bhaskar- Hullekere/Chennai
    H.M.Smitha-Hullekere/USA
    H.N.Rajalakshmi-Hullekere/Australia

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