Halebid and Belur Reviews

Overview of the destination
We took a KSTDC tour from Bangalore to Halebid, Belur and sravanabelgola on a saturday. The tour started at 7:15 in the morning. At around 10:45 we reached our first stop Sravanabelgola. Its a long hike up the hill and tiring to the bone. We took about 25 mins to get up the 680 odd steps, but once you reach the top the view is breathtaking. Also the 58ft monolithic statue of Lord Gomateshwara or Mahavir is beautiful. Coming back down takes a toll on your knees but its completely worth it. After 2 hours we reached Belur. The Chennakesava temple is extremely beautiful. the carvings on the temple are extremely intricate. The temple was built by the Hoysala dynasty kings as a memoir of their win over Chola kings. The temple inside is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Guides are avaialbe here for 15 Rs/person. Next destination was Halebid. It has similar architecture as Belur but some parts of the temple were never completed. This temple is supported by the archaeological society of India. This temple has two beautiful huge Nandi's. At every destination. the tour guys give you one hour to see it and come back. All in all it was a wonderful and enriching experience.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping
Food at the places the tour guy stops is not that great other than the one he stopped at in the evening at Chanarayapatna. At all the other places we just survived on chips, biscuits etc.

Activities & things to do
Main thing to see are the temples. no other major activity to do here though. The temple it self takes up most of your time.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc.
Make sure you take a camera. The guides that you get at Halebid and Belur are ok. Some part of what they tell you is made up but the other part is actual history. If you want to book the KSTDC tour make sure you book on a weekend as the volvo buses are only available on Sat and Sun. On all the other days Non AC buses ply to these places.

Overview of the destination
The twins towns Halebidu and Belur are quite, non-commercial and secluded unlike other popular tourist places. The temples, are undoubtedly the best feature of Halebidu & Belur. One can spend a day or two just looking at these monuments and studying the various sculptures. Taking a guide helps understand the story behind many cravings. Not to be missed - In Belur temple, Apsaras or dasis in different poses, lord Shiva dancing inside an elephant, a disappointed lady, the feeling portrayed by a monkey sucking her hand when he cannot reach a bunch of grapes. In Halebidu tempe, the most decorated Nandi in India, different hairdos, the hierarchy where a warrior women dasi has another dasi, removing a thorn from her feet on a hunting expedition. Apart from these, the temples have several stories from our epics.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping
There are many decent hotels in Hassan or you could choose to stay in Halebidu or Belur itself. Either way, expect decent rooms with basic essentials. Food and stay at KSTDC Mayura Shantala was good ; with average vegetarian thalis and the Indianised Chinese. Though shopping was not on my mind at all, I picked quite a few pieces of toys made out of stone, sold outside the temples. Little bargaining and you could get a good deal.

Activities & things to do
Enjoy the country side as you drive in and out of the place. The roads are good and enjoyable. Explore and take in the ancient architecture.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc.
If coming from Bangalore, one can take the following route: Bangalore- Shravanabelagola-Halebidu-Belur-Mysore-Bangalore.