Belur - 4th Jan 2013

BELUR

 

4^th Jan 2013

Reached Belur by 4 PM and booked myself into a ‘lodge’ next to the Bus station. The man at the desk told me that the Belur temple opens at 5 PM and it was just about 500 meters away.

I took a quick shower and began walking towards the temple so as not to miss the evening light.

Belur has a Gopura of post-Hoysala architecture and I learnt later, that it was the addition of Hampi Kings.

Belur is a grandeur of a Hoysala temple. It obviously is a temple built to larger scale as a result of larger needs. There is a hall for dance/ art and music, hall for community meetings, hall for social functions. Very Hampisque though Hampi came later in time. The large open space that lay between the temple and the main entrance is spacious, unlike any other Hoysala temple I would see in the next one week. The carvings are exquisite and delicate. The best part of the temple is the main ‘mantapa’. The pillars are made of fine grain black variety of soap stone. The ceiling is simply exquisite and there are spot lights provided for easy viewing of the sculptures. The deity is the ‘Chenna Keshava’, the theme repeated in many other temples. The two guards of Chenna Kesava is another treat to the eyes.

Main Ceiling - Belur

           There is a tall obelisk that stands to the right of the temple that is just made to stand on a platform at ground level. There are places where one can push a paper between the obelisk and the platform on which stands. The feeling I got was that Belur is built over a period of time (which seems to be what was found written) as not everything sits together. There is no symmetrical architecture. Along the left side wall, there are plenty of sculptures that seem to have been added over a period and they seem to have come of disjoint ideas. The symmetry of the main temple still retains its beauty in itself.  

The inside of the southern wall has large halls with exquisite carvings but is obviously in disuse. To the northern wall, there are many small add-ons deities that really do not sit in with the temple. There is a pond within the temple walls, in the north-east corner with delicately made steps. All in all, Belur stands out, in spite of the various styles with which it is built. It also indicates the glory it commanded in its prime time. A must visit.