Hosaholalu

The second of October was fortunately a Thursday, the entire team had planned a mass CL on Friday, I had a long weekend at my disposal. We planned to visit Sharavanabelogala this time. Among all the places around Mysore, its tough to accommodate Sharavanabelogala in any of the circuits. So, it had to be Sharavanabelogala and Melukote.


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I had TWO other tasks on agends.

ONE – The roads are good and driving is a pleasure, and I was taking driving lessons for Bro.
TWO – My cousin’s kid wanted me to visit Shravanabelogola and Gommatagiri for long and check if Gomateshwara has started wearing his Pants, at least now.

We had planned to start at 6, but started at 8:30(still good….). I hate paying a visit to the Petrol Bunk early in the morning, on the day of travel. But, it was not a necessity this time. We drove along Mysore –> SH17 –> Pandavapura -->you see a big welcome banner of Shravanabelogola and Gomateshwara -> take a left -> keep driving till KR pet.

The town was full of activity. Due to the lack of sign boards, we stopped-by at the main circle here to inquire, if we were to go straight or take a right to reach Shravanabelogala. But, we were also advised to take a left first(why left now?) visit a Hoysala style temple which is just 2kms away and then proceed to Sharavanabelogala.

And so we did.

HosahoLalu

It can be easily spotted, Hosaholalu is a small village, and it reminded me of Aihole.


Hosaholalu Laxminarayana Temple

This temple is of the trikoota structure with deities being LaxmiNarayana – the main deity, LaxmiNarasimha in the right Sanctum and VenuGopala in the left Sanctum.


The outer walls have carvings of Vishnu and his incarnations. Below it is 6 levels/stripes of intricate carvings with Horse, Peacock, Swan and depictions from Ramayana and Mahabharata. I love watching those monotonous continuous running strips. I could easily get the stories, as Mom and Bro are always good at those, unlike me. In fact even up to 7th std, I found it confusing and difficult to recall if Arjuna belonged to Ramayana or Mahabharata. :-P

Remember reading it somewhere that, ‘The new style of Hoysala temples have 6 strips of carvings running around the temple, while the old style has only 5 strips running’.


I however failed to spot the Hoysala Emblem – Sala fighting with the lion, which I we usually see on the Hoysala style temples.

Side View........
Back View........

It was 11:15 AM and we had't even thought of Breakfast. The Hotels in such villages prepare tasty stuff most times. So, it was for the Dad & Bro to look for a decent, clean place, first taste and then buy take aways’ for us.

We continued towards Sharavanabelogala, searching for a pit stop. It was a hot and we were in search of shaded region. And we happened to drive through a place lined by trees and a fresh water stream flowing parallel to the road! What more could any one ask for. A breakfast to remember …….

Lotus Temple

This would be the last post in the Delhi series. After...

Delhi >> Red Fort >> Birla Mandir >> India Gate >> Raj Ghat >> Qutub Minar

Had traveled back from Jaipur the previous night. A quick shower and a sumptuous Breakfast. And we set out.

Akashradham Temple was our first stop for the day. I would least appreciate such places. Tight core security and all the richness in the world. The theist in me would neither appreciate the temple nor the sanctum santorum. Shiva-Parvathi, Rama-Sita, Radha-Krishna are made to occupy other small shrines around SwamyNarayana. All the richness, pomp, splendor and grandeur - wonder how the funds would flow-in. The same thoughts echoed, while I visited ISKON. A temple shop which sells everything from Pizza to Vada, at exhorbitant prices. And another selling everything from SwamyNarayana Scissors to SwamyNarayana Magnetic Compass. In all it was disappointing.

The Sun was high up, by the time we reached Lotus Temple. A long walking pathway leads to the Lotus Temple. No security checks, no prohibitions, all you are expected is to leave your footwear.

Built in 1986 this is set among pools and gardens, and adherents of any faith are free to visit the temple and pray or mediate silently according to their religious beliefs.

It just has a huge prayer hall. You are allowed to sit and meditate for long. It was definitely different compared to all places. A quick visit and we exit.