Belur - Halebedu

The 12th century remains of the Hoysala Empire in the Hassan District are a absolute excitement to get a grapple in the History of India.

Haleebidu is situated in the HassanDistrict; Karnataka. It is 216kms away on road from Bangalore. As our every visit, the travel was estimated to about 4hours. We left as early as 6am to take the Peenya Industrial Area route. Current condition of this road is bad due to elevated highway construction. If we plan to take this road, the early we leave, the better it stands. We chose the Magadi route via Yeshwantpur, Chord Road and finally turned right onto Magadi Road. The drive was fast, the road was good and clear. We stopped in a roadside tea stall for some refreshment and I have to say that the coffee tasted like heaven, a perfect energy booster. We crossed Magadi Road and Kunigal in no time to touch the NH48 near Hassan. The new 4 lane highway offers a great drive down the road. Hassan is a crowded town but looks well planned. As we moved further, we would get to see road signs that points to Belur. The roads are good once we are out of the town but drive needs to be slow since there are too many cows on the road.

The Hoysala temple Architecture is simply astonishing. One has to be the person to view the splendid work on the stones and the sun playing on the curves to relish the reality of beautiful history. One should have an excellent camera to capture the beauty on stone work and give way to no repentance later. This place is definitely the photographer’s delight. Time flies and we spent 4 hours there clicking every corner and finally it was time for sunset. There was no end to what needs to be a photographic capture. The sun playing on the stones every minute till it gets dark beautifies the place. One the premises come to the darkness, one of the temples have the worship and the Sandhya Aarti offering and this is again a delightful experience of peace and serenity. After we viewed the sunset there and grabbed some snacks outside the premises. Our mind felt pure and poised.

It was finally to go home. While on the way, we clicked around the sunset over paddy field and stopped in one of the Kamat Yatrinivas for food. Food was fresh and good as usual but no delicacy as such. We hit the roads again, took the same way back to Bangalore. The drive back was again 4-5 hours.