Travel: Hassan, Belur and Helebidu

Hassan, our pittstop for the day. We reached Hassan around 5 in the evening and checked in a hotel. Then, it was time to go around the city and to the city's shopping centre. An exhibition was on and we bought a cute tabla showpiece set. And bought fruits, chips and biscuit; and checked out some shops too. It's not a big place like Bangalore, but definitely a typical small town.

We didn't spend much time going around the city and came back to hotel, had dinner (Biryani and a different version of Malai kofta) n slept. So tired becoz of the journey and the invincible stairs we climbed in Sravanabelagola, we slept soon and woke up around 8, left for Belur around 9.

Travel: Sravanabelagola and Hassan

Me and my husband were planning for a trip since last week, and finally decided on 14th of March. And left for Hassan on 15th around nine in the morning, though the plan was to leave early. We packed our bag (including sunscreen, cap, shades) and zoom......ed. The view on the way was breathtaking, with fields on both sides, coconut trees, good roads (though it is single laned); the journey was quite comfortable. With two stops in between (one is always in Cafe Coffee Day); around 1 , we were in Sravanabelagola (holy place for Jains).

The Gommata Monolith, statue of Bahubali, (58 foot tall & built in 981 A.D.) , is an exemplary work of art. Legend has it, that Lord Gomateshwara (0r Bahubali), after fighting his brother Bharatha for the throne, renounced his kingdom and all worldly pleasures and stood in deep meditation.

 

One has to climb a very long flight of stairs to reach the lord's statue. The stairs looked scary, as we started climbing. And yes! we had to stop for a breath every two minutes, and finally we could climb up all of the 650 steps. Huff.......it was exhausting, but the view was unbelievable. We enetered the temple complex and there we were, near the statue. It's enormity makes one feel tiny, very tiny.

We clicked pictures, especially one near the foot of the statue to see how small we look in front of it. Anyways done with that, we sat there for sometime and prayed (it was so peaceful). and we came literally running down the stairs, quite unlike the way we climbed up. Then it was shopping time, we went to the teddy shop (it's not funny) and bought a cute tortoise teddy (yes! it is cute). After shopping, it was time for food, we found a nice restaurant and had some awesome idlis and dosa. And then back on track, on our way to Hassannnn.................