[shreehari]

Bellur & Halebidu in karnataka were two places which were on our travel plan for quite long time because of their archeological importance in karnataka,but we never got a good reason to do this trip. at last a week end we started towards these historic places.


So one Sunday we started towards these places @ 5am.

The Route Taken :-
Marthahalli-yeshwanthpur(ORR)–tumkur highway–hassan–Bellur
Road condition:-
Marthahalli-yeshwanthpur(ORR)–Excellent road condition.Minor Truck traffic.
From yeshwantpur took tumkur highway –This road had Elevated high way construction going on–heavy traffic–and lot of deviations.


After around 10-15 kms on tumkur high way we took the left deviation from were the mangalore highway starts.From here road till hassan is getting widened.-Good road condition -Moderate to heavy traffic.–lot of lane deviations.
Hassan to bellur roads were beautiful–filled with scenary–I loved this route–the traffic too was very little.

1st Destination:-Bellur Chenakeshava temple:-


Situated in the heart of the city this star shaped temple is 800 years old.This temple was made by the hoyasala kings and it took 3 generations & 103 years to built this masterpiece .Chenna keshava means handsome krsihna & as the name depicts it is a vishnav temple were pooja and other rituals are carried out every day.Each and every stone in this temple was dying to tell there own story.We hired a guide here who explained the major attractions of the temple.








This temple is filled with amazing sculptures.Each one of them were rich in there details & it was a wonderful experience to watch these..Each and every sculpture here is a mater peice be it the darpan sundarii also known as the lady with the mirror.



or be it the extraordinary sculpture of the lady with drums.



watch out the drums she is holding in her hands.The thread like effect is given in the stone making the entire structure 3D.
The entire temple is filled up with such master pieces that this blog cannot do justice to each one of them.
I strongly recommend any one visting these places to hire a guide for them since they make the temple come alive.
2nd Destination:-Halebidu Temple:-
13 kms from bellur stands another hoysala master peice namely halebidu temple.surrounded by a green lush garden this temple is a shiv temple which also has mesmerising sculptueres all around



Here we were not able to hire a guide because of the time constraints but it didn’t stop us from getting some of the amazing work on camera..



We took almost 4 hours to see both these temples and it was a feist of splendid sculptures which greeted us in these temples.


we started our journey back to Bangalore around 2 pm.
We stopped at hassan on our way back to have our lunch from kadmba.the food was ok & nothing great.
Then it was a 4 hour non stop drive back to bangalore & touched our home @ 7:00 pm.
The best time to visit these places is in the month of July-August because that is the time when rain gods play hide & seek in these regions and that adds a magical touch to the entire journey and also to these places.

[ampere]

Sreehari, Offlate you have been having lots of fun looks like!
Or is it that all these travels were done in past and you are just penning then down now?

Nice snaps. During one of my visits to this place I forgot my camera!

[shreehari]

Originally Posted by ampere

Sreehari, Offlate you have been having lots of fun looks like!
Or is it that all these travels were done in past and you are just penning then down now?

Nice snaps. During one of my visits to this place I forgot my camera!

Thanks Ampere.yes some of the travels have been done in the past & i am just penning them down now.

[Cooltronics]

Hi Shreehari,
Nice description I plan to visit these places in the coming week.
Did you visit Shravanbelgola in between ? did it come in the way which you took ? is it possible to cover shravanbelgola-bellur-halebidu in one day ?
If I understand correctly, Tumkur Road would be a right after the BEL signal ( & railway crossing ), left side takes us to back side of Yeshwantpur station ?

~ Nishan

[shreehari]

Originally Posted by Cooltronics

Hi Shreehari,
Nice description I plan to visit these places in the coming week.
Did you visit Shravanbelgola in between ? did it come in the way which you took ? is it possible to cover shravanbelgola-bellur-halebidu in one day ?
If I understand correctly, Tumkur Road would be a right after the BEL signal ( & railway crossing ), left side takes us to back side of Yeshwantpur station ?

~ Nishan

Hi NIshan,

yes,Shravanbelgola comes in between ,its actually between bangalore and Hassan.
I guess its possible to cover all the three places in one day if you start like really early, i mean like in the range of 4am and make sure that the climb at shravanabelogola don't tire you down.
and yes you are also right about the tumkur road.But be sure to take the toll road,i guess its an elevated highway and you should not miss the exit from this highway to take the devaition towards mangalore.
The exit is the 2nd one after the toll booth.The intial 120 kms of Bangalore-Hassan stretch is beautiful and can easily cruise at 120kmph.
Have a fun ride and ya looking forward for your travelouge too.

[rockyb4u]

Hello Sreehari

Thanks for this info. I am super excited that I just got registered on Team BHP and am planning for a day trip to Belur, Halebidu and may be also Sravanabilagala on my new Polo.

Could you please suggest the best way to exit from the City, given that I stay in HSR Layout. Is Bannerghatta Road> Nice Road a better option to hit Tumkur Road?

I am planning to Start at around 5 AM in the morning and visit all the 3 places and reach back to Bangalore at around 9-10 PM. If it gets too tiring am ok not to visit Sravanabilagola.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by rockyb4u

Could you please suggest the best way to exit from the City, given that I stay in HSR Layout. Is Bannerghatta Road> Nice Road a better option to hit Tumkur Road?

I am planning to Start at around 5 AM in the morning and visit all the 3 places and reach back to Bangalore at around 9-10 PM. If it gets too tiring am ok not to visit Sravanabilagola.

If you are starting at 5am, I think no need of going via NICE road. There will be less traffic in city and you can cross without much issues. Please note that NICE toll has increased, its ~Rs.120/- now for BG road to Tumkur road section.

Last Sunday I went up to Shravanabelegola and road is very good. I didn't plan Belur/Halebidu along with that as I started around 10:15am only.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rockyb4u

Could you please suggest the best way to exit from the City, given that I stay in HSR Layout. Is Bannerghatta Road> Nice Road a better option to hit Tumkur Road?

I am planning to Start at around 5 AM in the morning and visit all the 3 places and reach back to Bangalore at around 9-10 PM. If it gets too tiring am ok not to visit Sravanabilagola.

Take ORR all the way. Drive past Silk Board till Jayadeva. Get on BG road and take the ORR again (take right on BG road where ORR starts again after the discontinuity). Drive on till you hit NH4.

Route Link

[arindamray]

From HSR Layout to Yeshwantpur/Tumkur Road, there are three options -
a) NICE road - take it from Hosur Road connector (not Bannerghata Road)
b) ORR - as ampere suggested
c) Cut through the city - Hosur Road - Queens Road - Sankey Tank - IISC - Yeshwantpur

Given your start time 5 am, I would prefer city route. Distance wise it is shortest, and most probably will be the fastest too in the morning.

[dass]

Originally Posted by rockyb4u

If it gets too tiring am ok not to visit Sravanabilagola.

I would say skip halebidu and visit shravanabelugola and belur. Belur and halebidu are almost the same and if you appoint a guide in Belur, they would pretty much explain the story in Halebidu too. Having a guide at belur is a must though, else you will miss the fun.

I have been to all three places and hence the suggestion.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by rockyb4u

Hello Sreehari

Thanks for this info. I am super excited that I just got registered on Team BHP and am planning for a day trip to Belur, Halebidu and may be also Sravanabilagala on my new Polo.

Could you please suggest the best way to exit from the City, given that I stay in HSR Layout. Is Bannerghatta Road> Nice Road a better option to hit Tumkur Road?

I am planning to Start at around 5 AM in the morning and visit all the 3 places and reach back to Bangalore at around 9-10 PM. If it gets too tiring am ok not to visit Sravanabilagola.

You can do all the three places. Do carru umbrellas and be careful in Shravanabelgola when you climb as it may be slippery.

Originally Posted by dass

I would say skip halebidu and visit shravanabelugola and belur. Belur and halebidu are almost the same and if you appoint a guide in Belur, they would pretty much explain the story in Halebidu too. Having a guide at belur is a must though, else you will miss the fun.

I have been to all three places and hence the suggestion.

While i agree that both Belur and Halebidu are similar, Halebidu is larger and is away from the hustle bustle of town and the setting is lovely. Dont miss it. Take a look at this photologue of Halebid. It is magnificent.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...hitecture.html

[Dieseltuned]

hi guys,

Had a quick query, If I fly down from Bombay to Bangalore and hire a cab, is it possible to cover both these destinations (Belur and Halebidu) within the weekend.

My probable itinary would be

Saturday early morning : fly to Bangalore
Reach Bangalore & hire a cab
Cover Belur and Halebidu over the weekend
Sunday evening (8 PMish) fly back to Bombay
Monday Morning (Back to work)

Is this possible ?

Can I cover any other place within this time scale along with Belur and Hale bidu ?

Regards
Ritesh

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Can I cover any other place within this time scale along with Belur and Hale bidu ?

Yes, you can cover both the places. It'll take around 4 hours from Bangalore to reach Belur or Halebidu.

[arindamray]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

hi guys,

Had a quick query, If I fly down from Bombay to Bangalore and hire a cab, is it possible to cover both these destinations (Belur and Halebidu) within the weekend.

My probable itinary would be

Saturday early morning : fly to Bangalore
Reach Bangalore & hire a cab
Cover Belur and Halebidu over the weekend
Sunday evening (8 PMish) fly back to Bombay
Monday Morning (Back to work)

Is this possible ?

Can I cover any other place within this time scale along with Belur and Hale bidu ?

Regards
Ritesh

You can do it easily. Saturday night you can spend in a homestay/resort in Chikmagalur/Sakleshpur among coffee plantation, catch late night or early morning flight back to bombay.

However to do justice to the flight cost, I would suggest to look for a 3 day week-end, where you can spend little more time in the resort/homestay.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Had a quick query, If I fly down from Bombay to Bangalore and hire a cab, is it possible to cover both these destinations (Belur and Halebidu) within the weekend.

You can definitely do this but I would suggest you reach Bangalore on Friday evening/night. You can travel by cab (start early morning) on Saturday.

On the way you can visit Shravanabelagola and then stay at Hassan.

Post lunch, maybe around 3pm, go to Halebidu and Belur.

You can leave by Sunday late morning/noon and reach Bangalore by evening for the flight back to Bombay.

However, if you have another day to spare, you can spend Sunday at Hassan (Hoysala Village resort was good when we did a similar trip) and leave on Monday morning to Bangalore, board a late afternoon/evening flight back to Bombay.