I have been going without a break for nearly 2 years and thanks to the information kindly provided by Addihemmige and others, I made a trip to Belur, Halebidu and Shravanbelagola.
I have always loved to travel in Karnataka for many reasons - amiable nature of the people, the easy availability of good food and exquisite Hindu temples. I come from Tamilnadu which has a magnificent tradition of temple architecture too. Yet what I saw in Hoysala temples left me dazed in wonder.
I started with the odometer at 1932 km in Safari on 30th May at 8.30 am. Cleared the chaotic traffic of the city by 9.45 and reached Hosur by 1 pm with odometer reading 2255. Took the NICE road near electronic city and reached Hassan via Magadi road at 5.30 pm ( I told you it is a leisurely drive ). Settled down in Hotel Jewel Rock ( just as you enter the town of Hassan) for the next 4 days.
I covered Belur and Halebidu in one day. The road from Hassan to Belur is a dream to drive.
A lot has been written on the grandeur of Chennakesava Temple and the Hoysalaswera Temple in Halebid. The exquisite poetry in stone leaves you spellbound. Unfortunately I was so busy taking in the scene through the lens of the Camera that I couldn't feast on the intricate stone carvings - I ended up making a mental note that I will come again for another detailed look.
The builders of the temple had thought of minute details before executing their work in the soft soapstone. For example, their massive stone edifice had to rest on ornate pillars and the nature of the soft soapstones of which the pillars were hewn out precluded the use of cold chisels to carve out the intricate shapes they wanted. They had used lathe to shape the uniformly circular pillars.
John F.Kennedy, the late President of the United States wisely stated this -
"I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit."
One day was spent on the gardens of Mahatma Gandhi Park in Chikmagalur. The "thematic" picture of a lone electric post set against the backdrop of ominous cloud portends a deluge.
On our return, we were caught in a heavy downpour so typical in western ghats. About some 20 km from Hassan, We came to a grinding halt because a big tree was uprooted on to the highway. The KSTRC bus behind us managed to turn the bus around and led the rest of the traffic through a maze of narrow villege road until we reached Hassan. Initially I contemplated driving the car through a field to reach the other side of the road - but decided against that on seeing the knee deep water
One more day was spent climbing the 620 steps of Shravanabelogola to see the Bahubali monolithic stone statue. It is breathtaking too. A travel in these parts - like I said earlier - leaves you mesmerized. But the return trip posed a little problem. The dirt road from the mountain was not intended for faster pace as I found out to my dismay. I must have been around 70 km/hour when the car skidded horribly in a corner. I fortunately left the brakes alone and eased on the accelerator pedal and over corrected the skid. The squeal of the tires and the slidding Bull is scary. I managed to wrestle control after what seemed like a long time. I left lots of tire marks behind.
I realized that despite the large tread, Tata Safari still has problems with traction when asked to corner at faster speed on a mud track.
On the 5th day we had to leave for Madras with a tinge of sadness that the holiday is over so fast..
The odometer read 3441 when I reached Madras. The car returned about 14.5 km/l which indicates that the FE is increasing as the engine "matures".