Sight
Seeing :
While your stay at Gopi’s farm you will have an
opportunity to visit some of Karnataka’s most famous temples, Belur and Halebidu
are the famous magnificent pieces of art and architecture of the Hoysalas
.It is just half an hour's journey from the farm and presents a good detour.
Halebidu was the 12th-century capital of the Hoysalas . The temples in Halebidu
are known for their intricate stone carving and magnificent centuries old
temples , taking you back in time to one of glory and magnanimity .The town
gets its name from the lake, Dhwara samudhra which means ocean’s entrance
. The two Nandi statues which are on either sides of the Hoysaleshwara temple
are monolithic .Many sculptures in have been destroyed due to continual invasions
and were destructed by invaders. Halebidu means old city or basically a ruined
empire and like the name ,that’s all is left of it in the present times though
one can observe with what is left the abundance of wealth and appreciate the
glory and grandeur of the period . The walls of the temple are covered with
an endless variety of depictions from Hindu mythology, animals, birds and
Shilabalikas or dancing figures and not one is known to have repeated.
The chennakeshava temple was completed in 1116 by the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana
to commemorate his victory over the Cholas. It took 103 years to complete.
The facade of the temple is filled with intricate sculptures and friezes-with
no portion left blank explaining their perfection and artistic talent. Elephants,
episodes from the epics, sensuous dancers nothing was left uncarved. These
temples are worth a watch and are even better when available so close to the
farm.