the light baggage

  This Post is a part of the Chalukya Trail. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: After visiting Rattihalli, we proceeded towards Haveri via Byadgi. The town of Byadgi is famous for its chillies or 'Byadgi mensinkaai' as it is called in Kannada. We reached Haveri at around 10am. The Siddheshwara temple, built by the Chalukyas in the 10th century is built in Dravidian style of architecture with rich carvings. The temple is made out of soapstone and the inscriptions found here is written in old Kannada. The main mantap bears the sculptures of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Some of the sculptors were damaged inside the temple. The ASI has done a good job in maintaining the temple.            Kaginele:  Nearby Haveri is Kaginele, the birthplace of the great saint Kanakadasa where he lived most of his life and wrote many of his compositions. There is a small temple dedicated to Kanakadasa and Adi Keshava at Kaginele.  ...

  Overview: Having nothing much to do over a weekend, we thought of visiting a regular picnic spot near Bangalore, the Kanva reservoir. Its one of the favourite places for the bikers as one gets to go down till the mouth of the water. We thought of a family outing so we set off in our car. We had to take a right turn near Channapatna towards Kanva. The roads at that time were not in a very great condition. As it was just the beginning of the monsoons, there was very little water in the reservoir. We went to the Dam and enjoyed the scenic view of the surrounding hills. The water was looking crystal clear and the reflections from the sky gave it a blue look. It was a Sunday so we could see decent crowd at the place. Though there is nothing much to see at Kanva, one can be lucky enough to spot a few good birds. After spending a while near the reservoir, we headed back towards Bangalore. On the way back, we visited the Kengal Hanumantha temple at Kengal.     ...

  Overview: After writing a full fledged blog on Banavasi, I still felt the need of again highlighting an excavated palace at Gudnapur near Banavasi called Rani Mahal. Rani Mahal is said to be built in the 5th century and was probably used by the queen during the Kadamba rule. Archaeologists are still trying to explore this place. We could see many Jain idols which reveals that this place was associated with Jainism. The palace overlooks the Gudnapur lake offering spectacular views of the sunset. Still trying to find answers for many questions on this place: 1) First up, the history behind this palace 2) The story behind the name of the place, Rani Mahal 3) The association of this place with the Kadambas      How to reach: Bus: KSRTC buses and also several private buses ply regularly from Bangalore to Sirsi. Private vehicles can be hired from Sirsi to Gudnapur. By Bike/Car: Take the NH4 to reach Gudnapur via Shimoga, Birur, Kadur, Banavasi. Food/Accommodat...

  This Post is a part of the Hoysala Diary. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: We started our trip with Turuvekere, which houses a number of Hoysala temples. The first temple we visited was the Moole Shankara temple. One exceptional feature of this temple is a small opening from the eastern wall which allows the sunrays to fall on the idol on certain days. The temple was closed when we reached there but we got the keys to the temple and unlocked it ourselves. Its a very simple structure with not many carvings unlike the typical Hoysala temples. Also nearby is the Gangadheshwara temple where we have the idol of Shiva and the Ganga flowing from the top of his head Shiva. The Nandi is well polished and has a shine.            About half a kilometre from this temple is the Chennagaraya temple which is a very small temple. The premises was clean but the temple was closed. This temple also has nice shape but no carvings. ...