Road Trip| Bangalore to Halebeedu/Belur| Amazing Architecture

When amazing architecture and the finest carvings force you to get interested more towards history is what our road trip to Halebeedu & Belur (Hassan) taught us.

Halebeedu- Belur Location

Halebeedu and Belur, 25 Kms apart, both the masterpieces of architecture are in Hassan District of Karnataka. Which are

• 155Kms from Mangalore
• 215 Kms from Bangalore
• 150 Kms from Mysore

Being the UNESCO Heritage site it is well connected by bus services, railways, and airports. The nearest railway station is Hassan which is around 35 Kms.

Halebeedu & Belur: Some common things

Both depict the class apart architecture and carvings of the Hoysala Dynasty. Hoysala temples are characterized by typical star-shaped ground plans and are usually set on a platform. These temples are a glorious part of South Indian architecture. These temples are made up of soap-slate stone which is very very soft and very easy to chisel but when exposed to the atmosphere it eventually becomes hard.

Hoysala Dynasty is said to be named after two words, hoy – sala meaning strike Sala, who was the legendary head of the dynasty. This dynasty ruled the Deccan and parts of Tamil Nadu between the 10th to 14th centuries.

Hoysaleshwara Temple.

It’s a Shiva Temple of the Hoysala Dynasty and known for its outer beauty thus it’s the most renowned monument of Halebeedu. Its older name was Dwarasamudra. King Vishnuvardhana started the construction of this temple but it took 200yrs for the temple to get completed as it was attacked by Allaudin Khilji and other Muslim Emperors during that time thus got the name Halebeedu means ruin city.

The temple is a combination of 2 parts one Hoysaleshwara(Shiv temple) and the other Shantaleshwara(his wives), the two temples are joined by a common verandah.

The lower part of the temple has 11 panels like that of lions, horses, scenes from epics which gives us the message about strength, courage, beauty, speed, etc, and runs continuously around the whole temple. You will not find any 2 figures the same.

The upper portion of the wall has thousands of complex carved sculptures depicting scenes from mythological epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc are carved on the temple walls. From Krishna lifting the Govardhan parvat to Lord Shiva dancing, from people using telescope and female figures showing the modern-day clothing and hairstyles amazes you. You can find Ravanna lifting Kailash parvat or Krishna Arjun alighting on the chariot.

The pillars in the interior of the temples are ornately carved. Crafted from a single stone, bangles, etc which even defeats the modern-day science and maths. These are masterpieces of delicate carving. It has a garbhahraha, praying room, and navranga. Out of the total 84, only 14 are left rest all has been stolen by Britishers. It also has a panchshila stamba, 42 mini temples but out of them, only 4 have remained. The temple also has a monolith statue of bahubali.

It has 2 Nandi monolithic temples. Out of the total 7 monolithic Nandi temples all over India, 2 are at Halebeeidu. Other Nandi temples are at Lepakshi, Mysore, Tanjore, Rameshwaram, Bangalore. One can also visit

• Kedareshwara Temple
• Basadi Halli- Jain Temple

Both of these form the part of Halebeidu complex but are 1 Kms apart from the main complex, so very few people visit these places. One can visit these places as well to get to know more about it.

Sri Chennakeshwara Temple, Belur

This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It’s a temple built by Vishnuvardhana when he adopted Vaishnism. It was built over 3 generations and took around 100 yrs to finish this masterpiece of architecture. This temple is known for its inner beauty.

It’s an active Hindu temple. The temple complex has a main temple, and many small temples and mandapas. On the corner, they had a tank as well.

The dramatic and miraculous aspects of mythology are also beautifully depicted all over the temple, which is remarkable for its architecture, sculptures, reliefs, friezes as well as its iconography, inscriptions, and history. 

Doddagaddavalli -Laxmi Temple

It is another temple, 16 kms from Hassan on Belur Highway built by King Vishnuvardhana. It also has same kind of architecture and structure. Far from the main complex of famous Halebeedu and Belur not many people visit this place

Feel the experience

Let’s watch a small video made on our experience during the whole trip

Our Journey Our way

One can either cover both Haleebeedu and Belur in a single day trip, but if you really want to see its beauty, you need to have enough time to see, admire and learn more about it. We opted for a weekend trip means Saturday Sunday.

We started on Saturday early morning at 6 AM & packed some breakfast with us. Since its only 3 hr 45 min drive, we hit non stop at Haleebedu temple site at around 10 AM. It took around 2 hrs for us to explore the place. There are government guides at the complex which charge Rs 300/-. It’s my personal opinion that one should hire these guides they explain to you all about its history and architecture with every minute details.

There are small eatery shops outside and vendors selling stone items at a very reasonable price. Since it was hot so we already planned that after visiting Haleebedu we will check in to the hotel and cover Belur the next day. But after Halebidu complex we went to 2 other places, Kedareshwara Temple & Basadi Halli- Jain Temple. As these are very close by and smaller in size so we can cover both of them in half an hours’ time.

Our stay at Hoysala Village Resort

As the name suggests it’s an esthetically designed luxurious resort in Hassan. Considering details regarding the natural environment, sustainability, architecture, and local touch which makes you feel more connected to the historical place you are visiting.

It has 5 to 6 categories of rooms to choose from. A convention hall, ground, swimming pool, a restaurant, room for indoor games are the other recreation activities to enjoy.

A convention hall is ideal for weddings and corporate meets. Many small grounds amongst the different types of rooms give a visitor the freedom to relax and enjoy anywhere. A swimming pool is a must and most enjoyable place for kids. They also offer many indoor and recreational games options. Their restaurant offers all traditional varieties of food made from the locally procured material from the villagers around. It gives you a variety of local and multicuisine food variety.

They also organize folk dance or some activities by the local villagers to promote their art and culture as well this gives them occupation. The compound also has vast varieties of trees which give it a more natural look and keeps it cool for sure. The architecture of the whole resort is traditional and natural. A warm and grand welcome is indeed very promising.

The next day after checkout we went to Belur which has the famous Sri Chennakeshwara Temple. On our way back we also opted to explore Doddagaddavalli -Laxmi Temple, which is not often visited by many people. We started at 5 PM from there and reached Bangalore around 8.30 PM.

Important points not to be missed

1. Try to visit these places during the early morning and evening time. June to March is the best time to visit.
2. Do take govt guides available at the temples to feel the real marvel and get to know the details regarding these temples.
3. Kids/adults can note down the valuable and practical information if they are keen on history.

To conclude

The magnitude, exuberance of carving, and artistic majesty of these shrines are incomparable. This place will definitely force you to love the efforts put in to build such architectural wonder.