During this year's summer holidays, we made two trips - one to Belur/Halebid in Karnataka and the other to Siem Reap in Cambodia. The experiences, more similar than I had expected in many ways. Both involved visits to temples and ruins, about a thousand years old. Talk about building something sustainable!
We went to Belur/Halebid in April as part of a Karnataka trip, covering Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi, Mulliyanagiri, Sringeri, Agumbe, Udupi, Marudeswarar, Dharmasthala, Sakleshpur and Belur/Halibed in 6 days. An unforgettable road trip and one that I highly recommend.
As far as the kids were concerned, they would probably say that four things stood out. First the home-stay in Chikmagalur, trysts outside by themselves, mountains and hills, lakes, picking fallen coffee beans, pepper and oranges. Second, running around unrestrained in Malpe Beach near Udupi. Third, eating ice cream and pizza for lunch at the beach site restaurant in Marudeswarar. And fourth, taking an ad hoc break between Agumbe and Udupi and playing in one of the little streams near the road on a really hot afternoon! Can't argue with any of those now can we ?! I personally remember something called Mangalore bun that we had for lunch at a road side eatery on the road down from Agumbe.
As far as I was concerned, while Chikmagalur was very relaxing, Sringeri was awe-inspiring in its own way with the ambience of reverence, Agumbe an eye-opener in terms of what the Western Ghats must have looked like many years ago, Udupi was even more than what I had expected. One knew what the Amar Chitra Katha had told the unitiated 10 year old many moons ago about the Lord Krishna idol at Udupi turning around to give Sri Kanakadasa a view when the priests wouldn't let him have one. Then of course, the story about how Sri Madavacharya found the Sri Krishna and Balarama idols in a cargo of sandalwood from a merchant vessel that he rescued on the stormy seas. The temple was more than appealing enough to warrant a couple of visits, very distinctive with its temple tank, layout and of course the deity himself. We also heard about a temple dedicated to Lord Balarama in the Malpe area. Other than the priest, there was one other devotee in the temple. Talk about two siblings, one getting all the attention with the other out-of-sight and away from the main scene of action!
I'll mention a few things about my Belur-Halibed experience. Both being significant symbols of temple architecture from the Hoysala empire period. As much as one has seen temple art, sculpture and architecture - I had described my Melkote/Sravanabelagola experiences previously on this blog - this one was special considering the size and scale of things involved. All within a 20 mile radius. Almost like a modern-day Special Economic Zone for artisans a thousand years ago developed by the Hoysala kings ! Simply incredible to see so much beauty and life created out of stone, by so many anonymous.
The Chennakesava temple at Belur, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and still functional, left one in a daze. This one was supposed to have been built in the 12th century during the reign of King Vishnuvardhan . The original, not the modern day superstar from Karnataka ... The king was a follower of Jainism originally who converted to Vaishnavism and apparently promoted both in his kingdom. One got to see sculptures of numerous dancers in various Bharatanatyam poses. Queen Shantala Devi was apparently the inspiration for many of these pieces. My head was literally in a spin while I looked left, right, front, behind, at the ceiling and all other kinds of acute and obtuse angles on the protractor, admiring all the creativity. A perfect place for one looking for a shot of the creativity Kool-aid. Really! Not to mention, the film making going on near the entrance, the heroine being a fellow guest at the local hotel we were staying in.
After Belur, we went to Halibed to see the Hoysaleshwara temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, but what the heck, this was yet another awe-inspiring experience. While the inside was impressive enough, the exterior was even more so. Other things that stuck to my mind were the presence of multiple structures in the complex, the use of soapstone, intricate designs depicting scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the fact that the temple was built on a platform. Not to mention the use of elephants pretty much everywhere, perfectly lathed pillars and exquisitely carved balustrades. Standardization maybe ?!
Other temples that we visited in the vicinity included temple structures at Belawadi, Holikeri, Jain Basti, Marle and Doddagaddavally. Marle was interesting for the wrong reasons. This was a small temple complex in a little village off the beaten path. When we found it and went in, the only folks inside were a couple of seedy-looking guys playing cards who ran when they saw us. The temples themselves were in quite a decrepit state. Sad. There were a couple of really exquisite elephants holding Lotuses in their trunks. Doddagaddavally, again, not mainstream, still in use for worship of Goddess Lakshmi among other deities, was interesting for the Betala figures that we saw.
We did all of Belur/Halibed and their environs in about a day and a half. Pretty soon, Aneesh's refrain 'I'm never going to a temple again', became more and more frequent!
One of the more nicely planned road trips, I might add, without being too much of a strain on any of us. In spite of the numerous signs of vandalism, the temples seemed to be in decent shape for the most part, with renovation and maintenance by the Arch. society of India. The lack of facilities for tourists, although one saw many non-Indians, was a disappointment.
We took Aneesh's feedback to heart, when we planned our visit to Cambodia. It was just us, without the kids.
We went to Belur/Halebid in April as part of a Karnataka trip, covering Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi, Mulliyanagiri, Sringeri, Agumbe, Udupi, Marudeswarar, Dharmasthala, Sakleshpur and Belur/Halibed in 6 days. An unforgettable road trip and one that I highly recommend.
As far as the kids were concerned, they would probably say that four things stood out. First the home-stay in Chikmagalur, trysts outside by themselves, mountains and hills, lakes, picking fallen coffee beans, pepper and oranges. Second, running around unrestrained in Malpe Beach near Udupi. Third, eating ice cream and pizza for lunch at the beach site restaurant in Marudeswarar. And fourth, taking an ad hoc break between Agumbe and Udupi and playing in one of the little streams near the road on a really hot afternoon! Can't argue with any of those now can we ?! I personally remember something called Mangalore bun that we had for lunch at a road side eatery on the road down from Agumbe.
As far as I was concerned, while Chikmagalur was very relaxing, Sringeri was awe-inspiring in its own way with the ambience of reverence, Agumbe an eye-opener in terms of what the Western Ghats must have looked like many years ago, Udupi was even more than what I had expected. One knew what the Amar Chitra Katha had told the unitiated 10 year old many moons ago about the Lord Krishna idol at Udupi turning around to give Sri Kanakadasa a view when the priests wouldn't let him have one. Then of course, the story about how Sri Madavacharya found the Sri Krishna and Balarama idols in a cargo of sandalwood from a merchant vessel that he rescued on the stormy seas. The temple was more than appealing enough to warrant a couple of visits, very distinctive with its temple tank, layout and of course the deity himself. We also heard about a temple dedicated to Lord Balarama in the Malpe area. Other than the priest, there was one other devotee in the temple. Talk about two siblings, one getting all the attention with the other out-of-sight and away from the main scene of action!
I'll mention a few things about my Belur-Halibed experience. Both being significant symbols of temple architecture from the Hoysala empire period. As much as one has seen temple art, sculpture and architecture - I had described my Melkote/Sravanabelagola experiences previously on this blog - this one was special considering the size and scale of things involved. All within a 20 mile radius. Almost like a modern-day Special Economic Zone for artisans a thousand years ago developed by the Hoysala kings ! Simply incredible to see so much beauty and life created out of stone, by so many anonymous.
The Chennakesava temple at Belur, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and still functional, left one in a daze. This one was supposed to have been built in the 12th century during the reign of King Vishnuvardhan . The original, not the modern day superstar from Karnataka ... The king was a follower of Jainism originally who converted to Vaishnavism and apparently promoted both in his kingdom. One got to see sculptures of numerous dancers in various Bharatanatyam poses. Queen Shantala Devi was apparently the inspiration for many of these pieces. My head was literally in a spin while I looked left, right, front, behind, at the ceiling and all other kinds of acute and obtuse angles on the protractor, admiring all the creativity. A perfect place for one looking for a shot of the creativity Kool-aid. Really! Not to mention, the film making going on near the entrance, the heroine being a fellow guest at the local hotel we were staying in.
After Belur, we went to Halibed to see the Hoysaleshwara temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, but what the heck, this was yet another awe-inspiring experience. While the inside was impressive enough, the exterior was even more so. Other things that stuck to my mind were the presence of multiple structures in the complex, the use of soapstone, intricate designs depicting scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the fact that the temple was built on a platform. Not to mention the use of elephants pretty much everywhere, perfectly lathed pillars and exquisitely carved balustrades. Standardization maybe ?!
Other temples that we visited in the vicinity included temple structures at Belawadi, Holikeri, Jain Basti, Marle and Doddagaddavally. Marle was interesting for the wrong reasons. This was a small temple complex in a little village off the beaten path. When we found it and went in, the only folks inside were a couple of seedy-looking guys playing cards who ran when they saw us. The temples themselves were in quite a decrepit state. Sad. There were a couple of really exquisite elephants holding Lotuses in their trunks. Doddagaddavally, again, not mainstream, still in use for worship of Goddess Lakshmi among other deities, was interesting for the Betala figures that we saw.
We did all of Belur/Halibed and their environs in about a day and a half. Pretty soon, Aneesh's refrain 'I'm never going to a temple again', became more and more frequent!
One of the more nicely planned road trips, I might add, without being too much of a strain on any of us. In spite of the numerous signs of vandalism, the temples seemed to be in decent shape for the most part, with renovation and maintenance by the Arch. society of India. The lack of facilities for tourists, although one saw many non-Indians, was a disappointment.
We took Aneesh's feedback to heart, when we planned our visit to Cambodia. It was just us, without the kids.
Excellent write up and presentation. Thanks for sharing. You will love the Srivilliputtur, Madurai Meenakshi and Thanjavur temples ...
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