Stories Stones Tell

The Ancient Temples of Belur and Halebeedu, Hassan, Karnataka

It’s a one-day trip to the ancient cities of Belur and Halebid (Halebeedu to locals) in the Hassan district of Karnataka about 200 km from Bangalore. We choose to combine it with some rest and relaxation and took off for three days

Hoysala Village

It took us 6 hours to drive down to Hoysala Village Resort 6 km from Hassan town. The drive was great. Every time I come into the countryside I’m surprised by how much sky one can see. Sometimes it feels as if the blue lying the feet of the faraway trees is water – a lake or perhaps even the sea. We reached the resort by lunchtime and did the typical resorty stuff that day – swimming, cycling, walking and playing Ludo, carom and TT late into the night.

I cannot proceed further without sharing a bit of history here.

Belur and Halebeedu are 12th century ancient cities of the Hoysala Dynasty. Hoysalas were tribal chiefs who defeated the Cholas and ruled this area for 300 years. Halebeedu was the capital of the Hoysalas till it was destroyed in attacks by the Delhi Sultanatein the early 14th century.

The famous Belur and Halebeedu temples were among the 1500 temples built by King Vishnuvardhan, a great patron or art and religion who converted to Hinduism from Jainism. About a hundred temples lie scattered at various locations in present day Karnataka.

Halebeedu

Next morning we hired a taxi to take us to Halebeedu, a charming hamlet 15 km away. The rolling greens along a smooth road were punctuated only by sudden human dwellings, once a cluster of majestic windmills, or the remains of ancient edifice braving the neglect.

Halebeedu, Kannada for old habitat was the capital of the Hoysala dynasty between 1108AD to 1340 AD. The Hoysala dynasty had however named it Dwarasamudra – the Hoysaleshwara temple stands facing a lake.

The Parshwanatha Swamy Temple

Our first stop was the desolate and visitor-less Jain temple. The contrast was stark – the centuries-old magnificent edifice standing silently and so unobtrusively next to human dwellings where women and children washed themselves outside their homes by the side of the road. Neither seemed affected by the other’s presence but were like two different pictures artificially merged.

We stood in awe before the 18-feet high figure of the Thirthankara Parshwanatha Swamy as bats darted and hit the high-columned mantap. Huge webs hung over the high reaches but nothing could obscure the magnificence of the idol and the polished stone pillars that shone like metal in the shafts of light falling in through the openings in the roof.

Also in the precincts was a 20 feet pillar or stambh. The plaque at the entrance was our only guide. It spoke of a well but we could not locate it.

The Hoysaleshwara Temple – Shiva Temple

Though not as famous as the Belur temple, I loved this one. I could live here for years looking at the amazing sculptures. One must engage a Guide to be able to appreciate the small details that will otherwise be missed.


The temple is dedicated to Shiva. It has two enormous Nandi bulls at the entrance. They were founded by a Jain, Nripa Kama, whose kingdom was between that of the Cholas of Thanjavur in the south, and the Chalukyas of Badami in the north.

Mark the folds of the skin at the neck.

The temple is built on a high platform and faces a tank believed to be built in the 9th century by the Rashtrakutas. The construction of the temple continued uninterrupted for 87 years but remained incomplete. Metaphorically implying that artistic pursuits and imagination never ends?

The horizontal friezes on the outside walls depict rows of elephants depicting strength, above them lions for courage, horses for speed, winding creepers for beauty and so on – accommodating all aspects of life.

During the 14th century, there were repeated attacks on the kingdom of Hoysalas by Malik Kafur, the general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi. The temples, especially the Halebeedu temples were vandalized and some magnificent pieces of sculpture were taken to England. The Belur temple, however was vandalized by the local population – the Guide was very emphatic about this distinction.

The outer walls of all these temples have intricate stone sculptures and frescoes depicting scenes from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and other mythological events.

Here, Krishna effortlessly lifting the Govardhan parvat.

A Scene from the Mahabharat depicting how each arrow shot from Arjun's bow multiplies.

The eyes of the demons being squashed at the feet of Narasimha are popping out of their heads.

Here he has peeled off the skin from the face of a demon. The eyeballs are stuck to the peeled skin. Yuk! The artist's imagination became a little morbid here.

Krishna and Satyabhama are shown here, escaping with the Parijat tree from Indra's garden.

One of the many dancers striking a pose.

The guide was tickled with what he called this – monkey business. A monkey pulling at a woman’s garment as she tries to shoo him off with a tree branch while firmly holding on to the garment in her other hand. This theme reappears in Belur.

Now this is a complete surprise – the couple on the left is drinking with straws, the third woman from the left is looking through a telescope and the men on the right are using a rocket launcher!

Here, the Nandi is angry because Shiva has made Parvati too sit on her. Her nostrils are flared and eyes bulging out.

Forget who this is. Notice how his legs are bending over due to the load on his head.

Belur

The Chennakeshava Temple - Vishnu Temple

Belur is 20 km away from Halebeedu. The most outstanding temple in Belur is the Chenakeshava temple, meaning ‘handsome Vishnu’. It took 103 years to build. The temple stands majestically on a star-shaped platform. It has been sculpted using soapstone that is soft when unearthed but slowly hardens with exposure.

This entrance is a later addition - built by the Vijaynagar empire. The edifice below is presumably the model of the main temple!

Hoysala is the call to ‘strike the lion’. Legend has it that the first king of the Hoysalas, when a boy fought a lion bare-handed and his guru’s call, ‘Hoy Sala!’ became the name of the dynasty and its symbol too. Till now we thought it was the mobile patrol units of Police in Bangalore city!

Notice the stone sculpted like fine filigree. Notice the tubelight? Fume! Fume!

To show us how intricately the figures have been carved out of stone, the guide passed a twig through one of the faces in the sculpture below.

The massive hall before the idol of Lord Vishnu is supported by 46 pillars, each with a different design. The Narasimha pillar could be rotated, the practice has been stopped to prevent damage.

The platform before the shrine is where the dances were performed. Stone-slab brackets that have been fixed on the top of the pillars around this ‘stage’ depict the beautiful maidens, Shilabalikas, in different dance postures.

This lady is wringing her wet hair. The water droplets are colleted at the ends.

The carvings on the ceiling.

On the outer walls more such sculptures inspire awe and amazement at the progress, modernity and forward-thinking dynasty long-lost. The outside walls are adorned with intricate sculptures of life that provide a peek into their times. The picture below shows multi-level living - there are two floors here.

Darpana Sundari ( Lady with the mirror ) is one of major attractions here. No, that's not a real mirror she's holding, my camera just caught that flash of light there :)

This one shows Holi. The attendents are filling pichkarees.

The lady with the parrot, another well-known figure from Belur. The woman below has short hair and is wearing Egyptian-style earrings - or so we were told.

Soon the tour of the temple is over. It’s not easy to take in so much magnificence and exquisiteness in a tour and get back to the honking cab, the restaurant waiting with cold soda and hot chappatis. The sculptures keep calling you back to tell the untold stories. Can one have enough of this, ever?