Incredible India - Video of Karnataka Temples in Belur and Halebidu

#SridharPeddisetty #IncredibleIndia #Karnataka #Temples #Historic #WorldHeritageSites #Heritage #Hindu #Belur #Halebidu #PlacestoVisit
As part of Incredible India series, this video is of Temples in Belur and Halebidu in Hasana district of Karnataka, India.

Incredible India - Temples in Gwalior

As part of Incredible India series, this post is for various Temples in Gwalior located in historical Gwalior city of Madhya Pradesh, a central state in India.

Referring Wiki, Saas-Bahu ka mandir (Mother-in-law - Daughter-in-law's Temple), or Sahastrabahu Temple, is located to the east of Gwalior Fort. Built in 1092 by King Mahipala of the Kachchhapaghata (Kachchhwaha) dynasty, this temple is one of the greatest architectural marvels situated by Gwalior Fort. 


It was named SahastraBahu, depicting Lord Vishnu with a thousand hands. Lord Vishnu was worshiped by the wife of Kachchhapaghata's king, but when his son's wife came, she became a devotee of Lord Shiva. Thus, another temple beside Vishnu temple was built, where Lord Shiva was worshiped by the wife of the king's son. Collectively, these two temples were named 'Sas-Bahu temple', meaning the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law's temple.


Teli Ka Mandir is an ancient temple, which is located in the Gwalior Fort complex and is famous for its splendid architecture. Teli Ka Mandir is built in 11th century and considered the oldest temple of the Gwalior Fort. It is a Brahmanical sanctuary and was refurbished between 1881 and 1883, having a blend of south and north Indian architectural styles.


Sun Temple built by the Aditya Birla Trust is the second Temple dedicated to Sun in India (Konark Sun Temple being the first) and is an exact replica of the famous Konark Sun Temple, Odisha. 




As part of Incredible India series, I had earlier shared blog posts on Karnataka Road Trip, Qutub Minar, Golconda Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Temples in Delhi, Bird Watching, Gwalior Fort & Gwalior Palace Museum.

Incredible India - Karnataka RoadTrip

India has so much to offer in terms of incredible world heritage sites and it was a privilege to visit couple of them (Halebidu and Belur) recently.  

Took a roadtrip from Bangalore to Hassan via NH 48 covering 215 kilometers taking approximately 4 hours to reach Halebidu. Drive is beautiful and the road conditions excellent.

Halebidu (Reference Wikipedia) is located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Halebidu (which was previously called Dorasamudra or Dwarasamudra) was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to some of the best examples of Hoysala architecture. Most notable are the Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples, which are lord Shiva’s temples.
In Belur (Reference Wikipedia) is the Chennakeshava temple complex which contains the Chennakesava Temple (dedicated to Chennakeshava, meaning handsome Vishnu) as the centre piece, surrounded by the Kappe Chennigraya temple built by Shantaladevi, queen of kingVishnuvardhana.

It is very difficult to describe in words how poetic the stone carvings are and the perfection with which each sculpture is given life. In front of each temple, there are monolithic Nandi statues 

One can find Mahabharatha epic depicted in the scultpures, which is really amazing. It includes the one depicting Arjuna fighting with Bheeshma while Krishna is the charioteer and under the same, depiction of Bheesham lying on the bed of arrows. 

You can also see in the pictures, a sculpture of a young couple in which the head of the young woman is of a donkey, which according to our guide depicts that when in love, even a donkey headed girl looks beautiful. 

Trip to India

These snaps are of our trip to India earlier this year. Snaps include places like Yanam, which is situated on the eastern coast of India, in the district of East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. Yanam was once a French colony and is presently a part of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. One of the high points of the visit included a boat ride. Snaps of various temples in Kakinada, which is a city , northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India.