Hassan is 118km northwest
of Mysore. Hassan is only a bypass town
for tourists who have more than a passing
interest in Hoysala temple and Indian
temple architecture; they head towards
Halebid, Belur and Sravanabelgola
Temples of Halebid: Once known as Dora
Samudra, Halebid meaning Dead City became
its new name after it was taken over by
the Delhi Sultanate. In the process of
his atrocious conquer many Hoysala temples
were destroyed only two main temples survived
Hoysaleshwara and Kedareshwara.
Hoysaleshwara Temple: Built by Vishnuvardhana
and Ballala-II, this is a temple that
has both Shiva and Vishnu deities. Epic
tales of Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Vishnu
Puranas, Bhagavatha Gita are niched on
the temple's outer walls. King Ravana
shaking Mount Kailash, Krishna holding
up Mount Govardhana, Brahma seated on
Hansa, are some of the sculpted images
and along with these godly tales and epic
narration, are mortal figurines also.
Jain Bastis and Kedreshwara Temple: South
of Hoysaleshvara, Jain bastis with scullputed
mandaps and elephants on either side of
the entrance steps. Nearby is the Adi
Parhwanatha Temple (13th century) and
Vijayanatha (16th century) and Kedareshvara
Temple, entry into this temple is restricted.
The Lord Krishna dancing on serpent Kaliya
a rare sculpted narration is found on
the Kedareshvara Temple wall.
Sravanabelagola, Lord Gomateshwara: Shravanabelagola
originally known, as Katavapra is an important
Jain pilgrimage complex located in Jaina
Kaasi of Haasan District, Karnataka. Built
by Chamundaraya, the world famous Bhagavan
Gomateshwara Bahubali statue stands here
at a magnificent height of 58 feet, making
it the world's tallest statue. Mastakaabhishaeka,
the Head Bathing Festival of Bhagavan
Gomateshwara Bahubali is conducted periodically
once in twelve years is a divine spectacle
– the statue is bathed with milk,
curds, ghee, saffron and gold coins. Nearby
visits to Indragiri Hill, Bhandari Basti
and monastery and the Chandragiri Hill
can be very insightful about Jainism in
ancient South India.
Belur
37km northwest of Hassan is Belur, on
the banks of the Yagachi is the Channakeshava
temple. Built by the emperor Vishnuvardhana,
during 1117 AD to memorialize his shift
from Jainism to Vaishnavism, and his victory
over the Cholas. Still in use today, the
Channakeshava temple also has an annual
car festival held during March-April draws
a lot of participation from the nearby
villages and towns. The temple is built
on a podium of star shaped platform, with
tall walled courtyard. In its complex
are shrines, mandapa and pillared hallways;
the Narasimha pillar, Kappe Channigaraya
shrine, Viranarayana shrine within the
premises have some very insightful episode
impressions from the Mahabharatha. |
