A day outing to Somanathpura
Last month, one beautiful Saturday evening saw us become proud owners of TUV300. We couldn't wait to hit the roads. After some discussion we zeroed upon visiting Somanathpura temple as it's a short drive and I love visiting ancient temples. I wrote another post on the Hoysala temples that I visited recently. Here's the link if you are interested.
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| Sri Chennakeshava temple at Somanathpura |
We started at around 9:00 AM on Sunday morning after a good breakfast at home. We picked the NICE road - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Begur - Somanathpura route. I love the Kanakapura route as it has numerous banyan trees, providing ample shade and green cover. But unfortunately some patches were under maintenance and this delayed our drive. After numerous pit-stops and navigating bad road patches, we finally managed to reach by 2:00 PM. We parked our car below a tree nearby as there is no dedicated parking area. But yes, you still need to pay parking fee, apart from the entrance fee of Rs.15 per person.
The temple is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) . The premises has a well groomed lawn around the high walled enclosure that houses the temple. This 13th century temple is one of the finest specimens of Hoysala architecture. There are room like structures around the temple attached to the enclosure. In front of these are the sturdy, signature Hoysala styled pillars.
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| Banyan tree lined roads |
The temple is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) . The premises has a well groomed lawn around the high walled enclosure that houses the temple. This 13th century temple is one of the finest specimens of Hoysala architecture. There are room like structures around the temple attached to the enclosure. In front of these are the sturdy, signature Hoysala styled pillars.
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| Sturdy pillars |
The temple is built on a raised star shaped platform and has three kutas (towers). The entire exteriors including the towers have extremely intricate carvings depicting the life and richness of the Hoysala period.
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| Side view of the temple |
The temple has three shrines hosting idols of Janardhana and Venugopala. The main idol of Chennakeshava is missing due to which no prayers are offered here. The roof is filled with designs of lotus and banana buds. Hats off to the craftsmen of that era pulling off something this majestic and grand without having any of the modern tools.
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| Beautiful sculpture |
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| Carving on the roof |
This temple provides ample opportunities for taking some really great pictures. We spent an hour or so before our rumbling stomach demanded to be fed. Unfortunately there are absolutely no restaurants here. The security suggested two options - T-Narasipura or Begur. Since Begur was on our way back home, we chose to try our luck there. Found a small meal joint. After a hearty meal, we started back to Bangalore by 4:00 PM.
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| Lunch time! |
Trip Stats:
Visited on :
19 Feb 2017
Places visited :
Sri Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathpura
Nature of trip :
Religious, architecture
Route :
NICE road - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Begur - Somanathpura (This route has 1 toll)
Total distance :
~320Km
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