A Tryst with History
It's become a trend with me to make short getaways to destinations around Bangalore with my friends. This has started to happen in regular intervals and as McDonald's would sport it, "I'm lovin' it!!".
So it happened that yesterday we set out on a journey that took us to History dating back to a thousand years. I was in company of my college buddies.We were also fortunate enough to have with us one of my friend's mom(We had delicious home made food after quite a long time,thanks to her). Starting at 6 in the morning on a Sunday with an Indo-Pak finale on the cards was a tough job, but we made it and were out on the road on schedule.
Quickly then, we were out of the clamourous city-life into the serene countryside of Hassan district which was complimented by fantastic roads and fast-paced music,which made the travel a real pleasure.
Our first place of visit was Shravanabelagola, which houses the famed Gomateeswara temple. It is one of the most important Jain centers in the world and has a gigantic monolith of Lord Mahaveera. The temple is stationed on a hill with excellent panoramic views from atop.
Next in line was a two-hour drive to Belur.This phase of the travel had a lot of chattering and bantering amongst us which reminded us of our good-old college days.We reached the temple at a time when the sun was beating down mercilessly on the earthlings.To make things worse, the stone floors and pathways in the temple redirected their wrath onto our bare feet inside the temple.
But there we were, fighting these odds to view some of the best pieces of craftmanship of the Hoysala architecture. History books say that the temple was built almost a thousand years ago. The speciality of the temple lies in the intricate carvings all around and inside the temple which depicted the various mythological characters and stories.
We went on to see a similar yet distinct temple at Halibeedu, around 20 kms from Belur.Tourist guides were "making hay while the sun shines!!",explaining the legends behind the mysterious carvings..About the war betweens the Gods and Demons, about the churning of the Milky ocean and stuff..(Reminded me of my mythology books).
When we left the place early in the evening, we could see the gatekeeper at the temple grumbling about yet another Indian batting collapse! Cricket is indeed the religion in India..
So it happened that yesterday we set out on a journey that took us to History dating back to a thousand years. I was in company of my college buddies.We were also fortunate enough to have with us one of my friend's mom(We had delicious home made food after quite a long time,thanks to her). Starting at 6 in the morning on a Sunday with an Indo-Pak finale on the cards was a tough job, but we made it and were out on the road on schedule.
Quickly then, we were out of the clamourous city-life into the serene countryside of Hassan district which was complimented by fantastic roads and fast-paced music,which made the travel a real pleasure.
Our first place of visit was Shravanabelagola, which houses the famed Gomateeswara temple. It is one of the most important Jain centers in the world and has a gigantic monolith of Lord Mahaveera. The temple is stationed on a hill with excellent panoramic views from atop.
Next in line was a two-hour drive to Belur.This phase of the travel had a lot of chattering and bantering amongst us which reminded us of our good-old college days.We reached the temple at a time when the sun was beating down mercilessly on the earthlings.To make things worse, the stone floors and pathways in the temple redirected their wrath onto our bare feet inside the temple.
But there we were, fighting these odds to view some of the best pieces of craftmanship of the Hoysala architecture. History books say that the temple was built almost a thousand years ago. The speciality of the temple lies in the intricate carvings all around and inside the temple which depicted the various mythological characters and stories.
We went on to see a similar yet distinct temple at Halibeedu, around 20 kms from Belur.Tourist guides were "making hay while the sun shines!!",explaining the legends behind the mysterious carvings..About the war betweens the Gods and Demons, about the churning of the Milky ocean and stuff..(Reminded me of my mythology books).
When we left the place early in the evening, we could see the gatekeeper at the temple grumbling about yet another Indian batting collapse! Cricket is indeed the religion in India..
posted by Arun at
2:17 AM
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