I didn’t want to waste the long weekend. So had decided to go out somewhere on Monday as well. Though I preferred a trip, I was also fine with finally making the long-pending visit to Aakruti Book House in Bangalore.
But when my friends said they are also free, we decided to get out of town. Again, the gazette was our guide. We zeroed in on some places around Channarayapatna and Nuggehalli.
Plan
Start at 7 AM.
Visit as many places as possible from the list here:
- Halebelagola
- Jinnathapura
- Hebbalalu
- Nuggehalli
- Heragu
- Harihareshwara
- Agrahara Belaguli
- Dindagur
Back home by 4.30 PM.
And off we were…
We started at 7.15 AM. Standard delay of 15 minutes.
The first three places on our list were the ones I could not cover in my previous visit.
Halebelagola
We returned to the Jain basadi. The priest had left after performing morning prayers, but caretaker was available.
According to him, Cholas built this basadi. It was later renovated by Mysore rulers.
Jinnathapura
Hard luck with the priest here again. He takes care of multiple temples and visits Jinnathapura only in the morning. So I don’t have any hopes of getting hold of him ever. One of the basadis was open anyway. So, we checked that out. Looked too modern.
Yaksha and Yakshi in the Jinnathapura basadi.
Huge inscription stone next to the basadi.
Hebbelalu
This small village has several historical temples. One of them is Singeshwara temple which is barely surviving. The temple is completely covered in bushes. But I dared my way in.
The main idol of Shivalinga is stolen. Only the platform remains now.
I wonder what Krishna is doing in an Eshwara temple? Many Hoysala era Shiva temples have Chennakeshava as well. So, I am sure this was an entrance to another sanctum sanctorum, mostly of Chennakeshava.
Missing idol. Perhaps Parvathy?
Can you spot the Basvanna idol here?
Inscription of the temple
The Brahmeshwara temple is apparently submerged in the pond/ water nearby. This must be a rare one, as Brahma hardly has any temples. According to a local villager, this and the one in Hampi are the only Brahma temples.
Chennakeshava temple is under renovation. So we didn’t go there.
Nuggehalli
I had been to Nuggehalli before. Our NGO, Aviratha Trust, also distributes notebooks every year to some schools here.
A young chap came running to open the temple doors. This was the largest temple we visited in the two back-to-back trips. There are some standard deities here. He didn’t have any information about the temple. He just unlocked the doors and closed them after we took pictures.
The Saptamatrukeyaru were flanked by Ganesha on one side and another deity on the other. The standard feature of Hoysala temples. The deities beside the Saptamatrukeyaru varies though.
Anjaneya at the entrance.
On the side wall
We wanted to visit the historical Lakshmi Narayana temple nearby. But due to a Krishna Janmashtami procession, we decided to avoid crowded places during the pandemic. We proceeded to Heragu.
Heragu
Heragu has a nice little Keertinarayana temple. This was clearly an example of Hoysala architecture. This was renovated by Shri Veerendra Heggade. Again, apart from the one in Talakadu, this is only other Keertinarayana temple.
This is the only picture of that temple I have. Weird me.
This temple was also renovated by Shri Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala.
There is a small Kamateshwara temple nearby. But it is in ruins.
There are two Basavannas in front of the lone Shivalinga. A first for me. Unfortunately, there was no one to share stories.
Harihareshwara temple
I vaguely remember visiting this temple before.
We thought the deity will be a combo of Hari (Vishnu) and Hara (Shiva). But this is a standard Eshwara temple whose name is Harihareswara. Interestingly, the entrance has Ranganathaswamy. There is clearly a story connecting these, but it is missing here.
Agrahara Belaguli
Skipped this in the interest of time.
Dindagur
It looked like Agrahara Belaguli deities weren’t happy that we tried to save time by not visiting them. So they made sure that we wasted our time by roaming around on some bad roads before we reached Dindagur.
I visited Dindagur in 2017. It was in a bad shape back then. But now it is renovated with a fancy porch and all. Thankfully the lake in front of the temple still looks peaceful.
Sidewing
Usually, when the temple priest is out of town, someone in the village will have the temple keys. But at Jinnathapura, that was not the case.
We got multiple recommendations for Mudugere temple. Have to visit next time.
Dindagur is hardly 10-15 minutes off NH75. I might come back here after a tiring trip someday to just stretch my legs and relax a bit before heading back home.