Haranahalli 6th Jan 2013

 Haranahalli

There are two temples in Haranahalli, on either side of the road. I looked around for a hotel and was shown to the only one in town. The hotel was a two bench shanty serving the usual Ragi balls and beans.  There were two guys who had finished their lunch and one of the plates went through a minimal rinse before it appeared in front of me. I jolly well went ahead with the lunch and reached the Chenna Kesava temple. There was a group of men who were sleeping on the stone slabs at the entrance. So I moved on to the temple platform to rest.

Chenna Kesava temple- Haranahalli

Those sleeping in temple were often made fun of as extremely lazy but that day I realized that sleeping on those slabs is not a easy job. The stone soaked up my body heat in no time and I had to keep turning my body and catch some sleep before the chill seeped to my bone. Well-earned rest after a long walk in the sun. The people who were sleeping outside walked in, I guess after coming to an unanimous conclusion to find out more about an old man in a shorts sleeping inside. I do not blame them and think it is the natural response for people who mostly see only known faces. We began chatting and they told that there is a plan afoot to expand the temple area by extending till the road, which ran about 100 meters ahead.  There were many houses that will be pulled down including a newly built two storied concrete house right in front of the temple.  I could sense that someone up there thinks that this can become a hell of a tourist attraction.

They also told me that the temple will not open till 7 PM.  So, I went around the temple clicking away. The temple indeed has some intricately carved sculptures decorating the outside walls of the temple. Some of the sculptures seemed to be missing, chiseled away. No one will ever know that was once there. After some time in Chenna Kesava temple, I moved on to Chandramouli temple across the road. It was in an even more dilapidated condition and there was no sign of maintenance although it seemed to be in ASI control. I realized that I need to come back to this place again. More or less, to all the places, I guess.

Chandramoulishwara temple - Haranahalli

I started walking to Arisikere, a distance of another 10 Kilometers. The night was drawing near but I was determined to push on as much as possible. With another 4 KMs to go, with the evening turning to night, I flagged a two wheeler and reached Arisikere.