‘The Tour of Less Known Hoysala Kingdom’ is back again. We are doing a tour on the weekend of August 29th, in which I will take a small group through some less known but beautiful temples around Belur and Halebeedu, built by Hoysala Kings. The tour is not just about going from place to place, but involves knowing a lot about the dynasty and the temples. We will also do a walk inside a coffee estate and find out everything about growing coffee.
We had received great response in earlier editions of the tour, and the feedback was excellent. See details of the tour on travelwise.in. The group size will be small, between 8 and 11, so register early.
Click on the image to see large version. See related posts at the bottom of this post to know more about the places we visit.
Here is unfolding more stories of the Hoysala Kingdom, and places we visit as part of the ‘Tour of Less Known Hoysala Kingdom’ from Travel Wise. My story on Dwarasamudra, the ancient capital of the Hoysala Dynasty was published in Deccan Herald a few weeks ago. An unedited version of the same is now posted on Club Mahindra Blog.
Standing on the top of Bennegudda hill, there is something interesting to see in every direction. Spread to the north are the ruins of ancient city of Dwarasamudra and remains of its temples of stone. To the east is the famed Hoysaleshwara Temple and the large lake that attract travellers in drones from all over the world. To the south, not far from Hoysaleshwara Temple, is another complex of finely carved structures of stone that have weathered the times. Finally, to the west is an open expanse of villages and fields, with tall hills of western ghats visible in the horizon. The hills are so far away that their fading ridges seem to merge into the sky.
Read the full story on the ancient capital at clay.
Lakshmi writes in Deccan Herald about the small village of Angadi, associated with the origin of the Hoysala Dynasty. Angadi is one of the places we contemplated on including in the Hoysala Trail for ‘Travel Wise’, an initiative from Lakshmi and I. But it was way far from other locations in the itinerary, and could not be accommodated in a two-day schedule.
The idols and sculptures were kept safely, especially Chennakesava which stood in the glare of the setting sun. As the sun touched down, we sat a while on the broken pillars gazing at the strewn idols and wondering about the times when a dynasty was laying its foundation stone in a small village. It dawned on us at that very moment, that we had just walked into a historic moment.
Read Cradle of a Dynasty on Deccan Herald. The link may expire in a few days.