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| Hassan |
| Featured Destinations of South India : |
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194 kms from Bangalore is the District Headquarters of Hassan. This quiet and peaceful town is a convenient base to visit Sharavanabelagola, Belur and Halebid. Hassan offers a wide variety of accommodation. It is well connected by road and rail to Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore |
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Hassanamba Temple is 800 years old and houses the main deity of Hassan. The temple is dedicated to Amba also known as Goddess Shakti. The goddess here is a anthill or (hutta in kannada) which denotes Hassanamba is actually goddess Parvathi. The Inner sanctum opens only once a year for two weeks during Deepavali and closes three days after Balipadyami. When the temple is closed they keep before the goddess a lit lamp two bags of uncooked rice, water and flowers. |
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Shravanabelagola |
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Shravanabelagola in Hassan District is 157 km away from Bangalore is an important Jaina centre. There is a pond and two stony hills, called Chandragiri and Indragiri. Chandragiri has the Chandragupta basadi of the Gangas and the Parashwanatha basadi here is the biggest. The town below the hill has the Jaina matha whose walls have very old paintings. Indragiri has the Gommata monolith, 58' tall, installed by a Ganga general and scholar Chavundaraya, and also Siddhara basadi, Odegal basadi, Chennanna basadi and Chauvvisa Tirthankara basadi, and also the finely engraved pillar called Tyagada Brahma Pillar. The floral designs on it are excellent. To the north of town is Jinanathapura which has the Aregal basadi and the Shantinatha basadi of Hoysala times. Shravanabelagola has over 500 inscriptions, and some of them are recording death by starving (`sallekhana') by Jaina ascetics and laymen |
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Belur |
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This quaint hamlet - 38 kms from Hassan - is located on the banks of the river Yagachi. It was once capital of the Hoysala empire, today made unforgettable for its exquisite temples. |
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The Shennakeshava temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture. It took 103 years to complete this architectural marvel. The facade of the temple is filled with intricate sculptures and frescos, with no portion left blank.Elephants, episodes from the epics, sensuous dancers.. they are all there - awe-inspiring in their intricate workmanship.Hand-lathe-turned filigreed pillars support the temple |
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The Veeranarayana Temple and the smaller shrines are worth a visit. |
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Halebid |
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This is the largest enclosure including two major plat form structures , an underground chamber which must have served as a treasury or private audience hall , several other platforms double fortification walls and several interesting architecture elements . |
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Mahanavami Dibba |
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Equally Impressive is the massive Mahanavami Dibba , where the king once sat on gem- studded golden thrones and watched processions pass by . The platform sports densely carved bands of horse , soldiers and depiction of the various aspect of courtly life . |
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Mosale |
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14 Kms from Hassan is home to the famous twin Hoysala temples of Chennakeshava and Nageshwara believed to be over thousand years. The Chennakeshava Temple has Vishnu as the main deity which is 6 feet tall. There is also a Shiva temple with a linga on a star shaped platform which is 850 years old dedicated to Nageshwara, with a Nandi idol in front. |
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Gorur |
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located 20 Kms from Hassan on Hassan-Arkalgud road here you find one of the largest reservoirs of Karnataka. The hemavathi river has been dammed at Gorur village. The dam is 146 feet high and streches for 4,362 mts. The hemavathi reservoir is really beautiful and spectacular. It is a must see. The best time to visit the dam is during monsoon, where you get to see the full swing of water |
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Koravangala |
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is around 10 km north-east of Hassan through a road cutting off from the Hassan-Arsikere road. This place is famous for 3 Shiva temples built in Hoysala style during the 12th century. The temples mukha mantap has 18 exclusively carved pillars. There is a Surya shrine with a 6 feet high Sun god idol, in front of the sanctum there is a nandi (bull). There is a lot of ornamentation on its outer walls |
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There is also a Bhairava shrine and 2 dilapidated temples of Govindeshwara and Nageshwara |
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Manjarabad Fort |
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is 46 Kms from Hassan on Mangalore road to Sakleshpur. It was built by Tipu Sultan in 1792 to ward of enemies from Madikeri and Mangalore. The fort is at a height of 3,240 feet and is star shaped. It is built out of mud and granite. |
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The name Manjarabad (Manju in kannada means fog) was given because Tipu saw a lot of fog around this place and named the fort Manjarabad. |
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The enemy movement can be watched by the 6 watch towers built across the fort. If you climb up the fort the view is spectacular. There seem to be a secret tunnel which connected Mysore and Chennaryapatna. This was built to protect the royal family to escape because they were under a constant threat from the Britishers. |
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The structure has 8 limbs in all directions with a plus shaped well in the center. There are number of arched gateways which seems to be resting place for the horses. To protect from enemy invasion the fort had water channels all around. |
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Inorder to savour the natural beauty of South India, we have designed the following tour packages for the discerning travellers |
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