An engineer by profession and an avid traveler by choice! A photographer by passion!

I have been roaming many different parts of India and UAE in life. The galleries have been posted after my visits but they seem to be deep embedded in the blogs. I have created an index for all these travel galleries which should help in easier navigation for all visitors to my blog.

From the heritage ruins of Hampi to the glittering cityscape of Dubai all have been linked to this index which can be accessed from the link below.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE GALLERY INDEX

As mentioned in my earlier post on Halebeedu and Belur, it is a photographer’s delight. The temples stand in grand pose for you to come and shoot them.

The architecture and the skill of artisans is displayed in its entirety and grandeur. As the temple took around 2 centuries to be built, some of the craftsmen would not even have seen the complete state during their lifetime. You are the lucky one to be seeing them.

Below image will lead you to the complete gallery of selected photos from my trip.

The place has recently some under preservation from government and is prevented from further theft and damage.

Around the temples is the regular small town life and the locals do not seem to worry much about the prized possession of their town. I think I mentioned it earlier as well but would like to reiterate to hire a guide to understand the history behind the temple, dynasty it related to and the purpose why it was built.

The place and the photos that are captured are so good that I have some of them selected in my heritage gallery.

The Sun can be dampening and a water bottle is must. I have no idea about the availability of local transport as we had gone in our own vehicles. During the entire trip I found no buses plying on the route we took to see the different temples.

My suggestion to you would be to hire a vehicle and then traverse the place. If you are around this place then do not miss the opportunity of visiting this place.

Heritage sites are a photographer’s delight and they also let you capture the legacy forever. Or probably the photos last and not get lost. Halebeedu & Belur are one such site where the Hoysala dynasty has its imprints.

The similarity between this place and Hampi is quite a lot for its intricate carvings and the use of rock boulders for temple creations. This place is not in as huge area as Hampi but the carving are definitely much finer and intricate. The skill of artisans is beyond comprehension and comparison.

Halebeedu and Belur are 2 cities which are located around an hour apart. Halebeedu is the place where the heritage temples are located and dormant. The temple in Belur is the only one which is active with the traditional daily prayers.

A visitor to either city should not miss the other one. It is located about 230 km North west of Bangalore and we did the place as a day trip. The closest place to stay is in Hasan.

Here you can find a travelogue of the trip to Halebeedu and Belur and I would recommend it to all travelers in the region and include it in their itinerary.

You can view the travelogue by clicking on the image below. On click will a PDF file start the download process. You will need to be a little patient as it is around 650Kb in size.

Hope you have a good time and visualize the heritage temples and architecture through the travelogue. Just carry water bottle and food with you. Around the sites, there are hardly any places offering these things.

Before you exit this blog post, I would like to make a recommendation is to take a government authorized guide. It is in the range of ~ Rs 200 (approx $4) and is a must. I am sure we would have missed the nice little stories he told us and also the explanation of intricate carvings on the temple walls.

My personal recommendation for this place is for people who are interested in following categories.

• History
• Culture
• Architecture
• Photography

I will, from now on, post the ratings for the place which I have visited in my different journeys. This request came from a comment at one of the travelogue post.

Rating: 7/10 (I know I am very miser in giving out points)

1- Lowest

10-Highest

I am a traveler and cannot resist the temptation to go explore and place and add it to my list of visited places. I also like to drain my camera batteries which is also evident from the site where I have highlighted my portfolio photos, album photos and theme based photos.

I have been lazy in not writing much about the past trips I have taken. It is probably because I get tired after sitting in front of the computer so long that I don’t feel like doing much work on it as home. But this is no excuse for not sharing the wonderful experiences I have had in my past travel journeys.

I try to make my travelogues as a guide to someone else reading them. They might seem like a trip report but I just enjoy writing them. My past journeys have taken me from India to UAE. In India the direction of places has been limited to Jammu & Kashmir to southern most tip of India, Kanyakumari. There has been no trip to eastern location and the western side has been purely professional.

The trip to UAE, mainly dubai and the other 4 emirates are worth sharing with the folks who would like to visit that country. I will be sharing that soon. I must admit with the kind of diversity that is present in India that I sometimes feel that is just impossible for a human to explore this beautiful country in entirety in one’s lifetime.

That being said I will highlight some of the places in my subsequent posts like Pondicherry, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Shimla, Hampi, Mysore, Karnataka heritage sites, Jammu and other places.