Hoysala Mahotsava
The dance festival held at Belur and Halebid is a magnificent event. The splendid Hoysala temples with their sculptural extravaganza, make the perfect venue for this cultural feast.
A brief note on the Hoysala dynasty that ruled parts of South India from 1000 A.D. to 1346 A.D. Includes discussion of their legacy in Indian art.
Kamat writes that the temples of Belur exhibit a joyous exuberance of fancy, scorning mechanical refrain. "All that is wild in human faith or warm in feelings is found portrayed in these temples".
Belur was part of the Hoysala Empire between the 12th and 13th century. Belur was the very first capital of the vibrant Hoysala Empire. The Hoysalas were hill tribes living in the Western ghats. They served as feudatories for many years to the Chalukyas. When Vishnuvardhana became the king of Hoysalas, the capital was changed to Halebid. During Vishnuvardhana’s rule, many wonderful temples came up in Belur. The most prominent of these was the Hoysaleshwara temple.
Things To Do
Belur is amazing place to visit if you are interested in ancient Indian architecture. The town has rich cultural heritage and is a great place for sightseeing. If you’re in Belur make sure you visit the Hoyasaleshwara temple and Chenakeshava temple which have the best architecture you will witness. There are a lot of dance festivals that are celebrated within the temples of these towns. The town is one of the best places for people who are looking for spiritual solace. When in Belur, you can buy some amazing terracotta items and Panchaloha statues.
Belur and Halebid the two beautiful towns are an affair for the heritage admirer. The things to do list for these towns include a lot of sightseeing. You will witness some wonderful old Hoysala architecture in captivating Hoyasaleshwara temple and Chenakeshava temple. These scluptures and temple structures may be ancient but they carry signatory marks of the artisan. Attend the morning aarti (prayer) in Chenakeshava Temple at Belur and experience the spiritual solace. In case you visiting these towns in the month of March don’t miss to attend Hoysala Mahotsava, a dance festival, celebrated within the temples.
The Madanikas are inspired by the beautiful Shantaladevi, epitomizing the ideal feminine form. There are 48 pillars of various sizes and designs, all bearing stunning artistry. The main highlight of the temple is Darpana Sundari or "The lady with the mirror". The primary mode of employment is agriculture in the Belur region. Coffee, rice, finger millet, pepper, cardamom, ginger and sugarcane are some of the famous crops grown in the region. Belur travel guide is helpful in getting more information about this place.
Hoysala festival:-
People of Karnataka have many religious festivals but along with that they also have many cultural dance and music festivals and they seem to enjoy them with equal fervor. You can see the art and dance lovers, come there to the venue and being a part of the great event with a cheerful and excited faces. People from all over India come there to participate and show their talent. It is a place where many veteran dancers and musicians enchant the audience with their mesmerizing performance and at the same time a place where the budding new talents are given a chance to showcase their music and dance abilities. Hundreds of tourists also visit the place and they rave about what they see in the event. The immense talent witnessed here is rare in other parts of India.
The festival is a great way to enjoy your day with your family and friends. Every year people wait eagerly for the event to start for the city comes to life with the festival at its brink. The lost glory of the city seems to come back and people love to be there, where there is a rich history. People of the Karnataka take great pride in celebrating this event and work really hard to make it a grand success every coming year. The event goes on not for too long but the amount of hard work and dedication that is put up there is commendable. The performers rehearse their piece of art for days before the festival is commenced and make sure that they give world class performances. Usually the Hoysala Mahotsava takes place in the months of March and April. It is very to reach the cities of Belur and Halebid since the city is connected to all big and small cities of the state as well of other neighbouring states.
The festival of dance:-
The beautiful Hoysala Temples form the perfect setting as traditional dancers take to the stage and perform a cultural extravaganza, mesmerising onlookers. The hamlets of Belur and Halebid come alive with the reverberation of melody, jingle of the dancer’s moves and glitter of lamps in the months of March and April.
Charming history meets with present day modifications giving the festival a popular turn and inviting millions of cultural fanatics from the length and breadth of this diverse country. The breathtaking talent witnessed here surpasses that seen anywhere else in India and this gives visitors the perfect chance to rave about their unbelievable experience.
Chennakeshava temple:-
The sage Ramanuja converted Bittiga, the fourth and mightiest monarch of the Hoysala dynasty, from the Jain faith to the Vaishnava faith. The king changed his name to Vishnuvardhana and built temples with great vigor and dedication. In order to commemorate his victory over the Cholas in the battle of Talkad, he built Belur Temple in 1117 A.D. It took 103 years to complete. The facade of the temple is filled with intricate sculptures and friezes-with no portion left blank. Elephants, episodes from the epics, sensuous dancers nothing was left without being carved. The Veeranarayana temple houses the shrines of Kappe Chenniga, Andal, Saumya Nayaki, and other deities.
The main temple, surrounded by a group of subsidiary shrines, stands in the center of a rectangular, paved courtyard along the perimeter of which are ranges of cells fronted by a pillared veranda. The temple has lost its super structure but looks very imposing. It has a pillared hypostyle hall (navaranga), a square vestibule (antale ), and a solid, stellate vimana. Three entrances lead into the hall, each being flanked by a shrine. The gorgeously decorated doorkeepers guard the doorways on either side. Forty-six pillars support the extensive hall, each of a different design. The Narasimha pillar could be rotated at will.
Rough-finishing a monolithic block of stone and then mounting it in upright position on a wheel manufactured the unique pillars. This was rotated against a chisel, set as a turning tool. Each pillar has a bell-shaped member towards the lower half of the shaft. A sloping bracket has been fixed to the capital by means of sockets. The brackets were carved from single slabs into images, enshrined with leafy aureoles of beautiful maidens known as 'shilabalakis'. The seductive, voluptuary emphasis is remarkable. The subjects are all secular and mostly represented are voluptuous maidens. All are graceful, charming and fascinatingly chiseled out. Each damsel is celestial, with exuberant serene beauty, exhibiting the virtuosity of the sculptors. They all are in conformity with the art of dance and sculpture ('Natya' and 'Shilpa' shastras). Hence, their breasts remind of the moon, the waist resembles that of a swan, and their hips remind those of an elephant.
In the rich marble screens of the navaranga there are twenty-eight grill windows. Some are pierced with the conventional patterns. They are generally star-shaped, with bands of foliage, and with figures and mythological subjects. On one of the screens king Vishnuvardhana is shown beside his queen Shantala. A metallic icon of the period depicts the king in a standing posture, which gives the exact idea about his stature, personality, dress, and different ornaments he wore.
Historians find a tradition that the ancient and medieval Indian artists rarely sign their work of art. However, the Hoysala sculptors have broken this custom and signed their sculptures. They engraved their names, titles and even the place of their origin at the foot of their art work. The stone inscriptions and copper plates of the period give some more details about these artisans. Mallitamma was the most prolific of all known Hoysala artists and more than forty well-executed sculptures stand in his name. Dasoja and his son Javana were migrants of a nearby town called Ballegavi. Javana is credited for the sculptures of five madanakai damsels and his father is credited for another four. Malliyanna and Nagoja have included birds and animals in their sculptures. Chikkahampa and Malloja carved the sculptures located in the navaranga. Even after a lapse of eight centuries, the art lovers of the whole world can adore them.
Halebid (Halebeedu):-
Halebid (Hale'beedu) literally means 'the ruined city'. During the 12th and 13th centuries AD, it flourished as the capital of the Hoysala Dynasty for about 150 years. It was also then known as Dwarasamudra (gateway to the seas). However, invaders who robbed it of its treasures, leaving behind the ruins of the once-magnificent Shiva temple, twice attacked it. The Hoysalas then shifted their capital to Belur, leaving behind Halebid, a city once grand and since reduced to poverty and ruins. The Shiva Temple, Hoysaleshwara, is unique for its two shrines in the Linga form and gigantic figures of Nandi (sacred bull). It is actually two temples attached along the north-south axis by pillared walls. This temple is twice the size of Belur's Chennakeshava Temple and the figures are larger as well. The twin Shiva Temple with a common platform and two garbhagrihas, one beside the other have a common broad navaranga. One of them houses Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleshwara Linga and the other.
Shanthaleshwara Linga:-
Infront of the Hoysaleshwara is the Nandimantapa and behind that is a shrine of Surya with a two-metre-tall image. The temple doorways are highly ornate and impressive. Outer walls have rows of intricate figures narrating episodes from epics like Ramayana, Bharatha and Bhagavata. The place has a Parshwanatha basadi with highly polished pillars in which on- lookers queer images are reflected. There is a Museum of the A.S.I. The Kedareshwara temple is another monument built by Ketaladevi, Ballala II's Queen. Chatchatnahalli (nearby) has a trikuta temple built by Chatta Dandanayaka in 1220.
How to Reach:-
By Road:-
Sravanabelagola is on the road to Hassan from Bangalore and Mysore, and regular buses ply from Hassan to Belur. The KSTDC organizes conducted tours from Bangalore and Mysore to Hassan, Belur and Halebid. Arasikere is another base from which to reach Belur and Halebid.
The best way to reach Sravanabelagola, Belur and Halebid is to keep Hassan as your base, which offers a host of transport options (including taxis) to travel to the temple towns. Your hotel can provide tourist cars and information on buses to take you between Hassan and Belur / Halebid.
By Train:-
The nearest railhead is Hassan, which is connected to other major junctions such as Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore.
By Air:-
The nearest airports are Mysore (150 km), Bangalore (222 km) and Mangalore (194 km).
Accommodation in Belur:-
One can find out some basic accommodation facilities here in Belur, for top end hotels one will have to move further afield. On the other side, Halebid has a state tourism motel that gives several facilities to its guests.
