World of Books and Travel

We left Belur by 3.30 p.m.for our next destination Halebid, which is just 16 kms away from there. The weather was cool, the landscape was beautiful and the roads were excellent. The small town was the earlier capital of Hoysalas, and then it was called as Dwarasamudra. Hotel Athithi Temple Garden Hoysaleswara Temple Shiva Parvathi Another guide was there who took us around. He explained in detail about the history of Halebid Hoysaleswara temple and the amazing architecture of the temple. The images of Hindu Gods were carved beautifully in different moods and in different shapes on the walls. Even after 100 years of hard labour, the work was not complete. With the wonderful memories of the architectural beauty of the temples, we boarded our tourist bus for our return. On the way, we stopped for dinner at Hotel Athithi. A nice and clean hotel. We reached back in Bangalore by 10.45 p.m, with the satisfaction of worth a trip.

After visiting Shravanabelagola, our KSTDC tourist bus headed towards Belur, 90 kms away from there. Belur is well-known for its marvelous temples built during the rule of Hoysala dynasty. (Gopuram of the Temple) We reached Belur by 12.30 p.m. and had our lunch at Hotel Mayura Velapuri, a unit of KSTDC, Belur. Then we got back to our bus and after 5 minutes we were at the entrance of the famous Chennakeshava temple. Chennakesava means "handsome Kesava". Our tourist guide requested us to be together and follow him. He took us inside the temple through the gopuram and reached the main temple. He then explained to us about the history and the architecture of the magnificent temple. For a moment, we stood there mesmerizing the beauty of the temple architecture. It was so much more beautiful than I had read in many travelogues. (Chenna Keshava Temple) The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and daily worship still goes on there. This beautiful magnificent temple was commissioned by

Last month, we decided to visit Shravanabelagola, a famous Jain pilgrim centre, in Karnataka, South India. It is situated 160 kms away from Bangalore. Early morning our tourist bus left Bangalore city and reached the first destination Shravanabelagola, a small town at Hassan District, after about 3 hours of travel. Sravanabelagola is famous for the huge statue of Bahubali, standingatop the Chandragiri hills. One can spot this spot from a distance because of this magnificent statue. It is believed that Bahubali, also called as Gomatheswara, quarreled over their inheritance with his elder brother and nearly killed him. Later on, he repented for his action and meditated to achieve moksha (salvation) here. (View from the top of the Hill) (Temple on the top) (Bahubali) The town is located in between two lofty hills, named Vindyagiri and Chandragiri. The landscape around this place is greener and fertile looking. From the top of the hill one can see a huge pond in the centre, which is calle