Belur and Halebid

If you are ever in the area of Hassan in Karnataka, India, do yourself a favor and stop long enough to take a day trip to Belur and Halebid. They are easy to get to get to and you can visit both of them in one day.

The temple at Halebid and ...

The temple at Belur.

If they are such a quick trip, you may be thinking to yourself, there must not be much to see. Well, technically there isn't. There is just one main temple in each city, but each of those temples can keep you enthralled for hours. The carvings on these temples are some of the most intricate and involved I have seen in India. You wander in and around the temples marveling at the handiwork you see.

This is actually only about as tall as your hand.

There are things done on the large scale, like giant bulls and large lathe turned pillars, and things done on the small scale like scroll work and frolicking monkeys. There are even parts of the temples where you can see how the work was done due to the unfinished nature of some of the carvings. After spending some time at these places, you can easily see why writers and historians say these temples were produced at the height of their particular period.

Another small detail.

Large scale work.

There are a lot of photos here, but I think you will enjoy many of them. It may be best to choose the 'album view' and then pick and choose at your leisure. Remember though, I am only taking photos of the art that is already there.

Elephant attack!

And no, I don't know why this bull has decapitated a man and is displaying his head for all to see.

Have a look at the photos.