Halebidu,Karnataka.

 HOYSALESWARA TEMPLE:

 Hoysaleswara temple is also known as Halebidu temple which is located at Halebidu in Hassan district of Karnatka state,India.Halebidu is the former capital of the Hoysala Empire.the temple constuction started around 1121 CE and was complete in 1160 CE.The Hoysaleswara Temple is a shiva temple.The Hoysaleswara temple is a famous tourist attraction with twin temple dedicated to Hoysaleswara and santaleswara shiva lingas and it has two Nandi shrines outside ,where each seated Nandi face the respective shiva linga inside.The temple represents the architecture of the hoysalas,it has a beautiful statues,sculptures,intricate reliefs,detailed friezes as well its history.Numerous smaller friezes narrate hindu texts such as the ramayana,the mahabharata and the bhagavata puranas.the temple is nearby 16 Km from belur temple.

Dedicated to lord shiva hoyasaleswara temple is built by hoysalas,it is the best example of hoysala architecture in 12 centuary.amazing,beautiful and magnificent hoysaleswara temple,Halebidu,Karnataka.The shrine in the temple is called as hoyasaleswara in the form of shiv linga .

Timings to enter into the Temple:

Hoysaleswara Temple has two temples side by side facing to east,each temple has nandi statues in front of temple. The temple is surrounded by large wall with big entrance. when you entered into Halebidu,first you see vinayaka temple inside the compound of hoyasaleswara temple.hoysaleswara temple timings are from 6:30 AM to 9:00 PM and best season is from august to march. Because the weather is cool in that time in south India.

Beautiful architecture on the walls of temple symbolising the strength and dedication of craftman ship of sculptures in the hoysala empire.the temple architecture contains elephant,lions,other animals are carved on the walls of temple. These are symbolises the royalty,courage,strength and ability. These animals are crafted in 8 freezes (lines),no statue in the freeze is same as other. Each freeze contains a different animals like elephants,lions,horses,hamsas. above the freezes large statues are sculpted. In that statues are designed based on the stories of puranas mahabharatam,bhagavdgeta ,ramayanam.

 The hoysaleswara temple is famous for its well known sculpture and architecture done along the side walls of the temple. In all there are number of structures are crafted in the shrine noted for breath taking beauty of sculpture. As one goes around the wall panel the finest seen are lord shiv as dancing natraj,Ravan lifting the mountain kailash,lord shiv has victim andhakasur under his feet and shivparvthi. The various formations of lord vishnu in that most prominent lord krishna lifting the mountain govardhana,lord narasimha killing the hiranyaksyapa,lord vishnu as vamana and asura king bali. These structres represents the puranas and the stories behind this explains how to live,how to behave,which is right or wrong to humans.   

How to reach the Halebidu Temple?

There are a lot of state and private buses which run from bangalore to halebidu,it takes approximately 7 hours to reach halebidu.  The nearest railway station is Hassan railway station.from there bus and taxi services are available to halebidu.there is no airport in halebidu,the nearest airports are bangalore and  mysore.