Saturday Sutting (Translation: Saturday Wanderings) is our attempt to get away from the monotony of daily life in search of some fresh air. A Saturday Sutting is all about day trips from Bangalore. Here is the latest one of the series
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/52byr1kY7hP2
Distance: 175 kms from Bangalore
Another 13th Century beauty built on a star shaped platform, this temple built during the hoysala rule was later enclosed as part of a fort during the rule of Vijayanagar kings. The temple complex is clean, green and very well maintained. Added bonus is the ASI person, who is very knowledgeable and takes time to explain the various important carvings & stories on the wall. This temple is considered to have been built during the mature phase of Hoysala construction and the work on the walls & ceilings are testimony to the same.
The six horizontal mouldings are intricately sculptured and are called friezes.Seen from top to bottom; the first frieze depicts birds (hansa), the second depicts aquatic monsters (makara), the third frieze has depictions of Hindu epics and other mythological and puranic stories narrated in the clockwise direction (direction of devotee circumambulation), the fourth frieze has leafy scrolls, the fifth and sixth friezes have a procession of horses and elephants respectively.In the frieze that depicts the epics, the Ramayana starts from the western corner of the southern shrine and the Mahabharata starts from the northern side of the central shrine vividly illustrating the demise of many heroes of the famous war between Pandavas and Kauravas.
Source: Wikipedia
Inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, you will find three shrines dedicated to Lakshmi Narayana, Venugopala and Lakshmi Narasimha, each carved from saligrama stone. Photography is not allowed inside the sactum sanctorum but the carvings on door jambs is a sight for sore eyes and the saligrama vigrahas are exemplary examples of art of that time period.
Route & Road Conditions
Route: You have 2 options to get to Hosaholalu depending on where you are starting fromn-
Route 1: https://goo.gl/maps/KazVxF5r8Ds
Route 2: https://goo.gl/maps/jnebBmt49Yt
We drove Route 1 and the road upto the turn off before Bellur Cross for Nagamangala is a 4L toll road. After that its good to very good 2L SH that takes you from Nagamangala to KR Pet and finally Hosaholalu. Both routes have ample pit stop options, but we prefer the Nelamangala – Nagamangala to avoid the Bangalore – Mysore road traffic..
This temple can be combined with Mallikarjuna Temple – Basaralu, both of which can easily be covered in a day.
If you are interested in exploring more of the lesser known Hoysala temple, do read Tour de Hoysala Part 1, Part 2 & Part-3 and drop us a note with your feedback or share the post if you liked what you read!
Man, Machine & Wanderlust 