Date: 30th May 2009
This was a one day drive to a town called Somanathapura, most famous its Kesava temple, located around 100kms from Bangalore and 35kms before Mysore city. Just off Mysore Road, it will probably take you 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours by car.
It was past 10am when we arrived at the temple
I don't remember, but I do believe there is an entry fee to the temple. It's not much.
We went in
The front facade of the centuries old Chennakesava Temple
The temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture
From behind the main temple
Inside the stone structure, the intricate details were even more impressive
I'm always been fascinated by the sculpting work done in many Indian temples
Since the inside of the temple isn't very big, you have to get down on the ground to get a wider shot of the ceiling
It's easy to lie down on the ground because it's so cool inside
Even the pillars are intricately carved!
That's my friend Ramesh inside the idol room
I can't imagine how long it must have taken to carve all this in stone
This temple maybe small, but it's still quite a sight to behold
Ventilation, in the olden days
The ground was so cool
We left the coolness of the inside and stepped out into the scorching heat again
It was time to leave
When we left the temple, we walked around the nearby farms
Took me a while to get a shot of this amazing looking dragon fly
On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Mayura River View in Srirangapatna
It's a nice little hotel run by KSTDC that we discovered during an earlier trip
The restaurant menu isn't exhaustive but the prices are very reasonable, so it's a good place to sit and have a beer by the river and eat
That is of course if the monkeys don't eat your meals first
There are a lot of monkeys around
We gave our bodies some rest before driving back to Bangalore
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Tags: bangalore, canon 450d, chennakesava temple, hindu temple, mysore road, road trip, somanathapura, somnathpur, temple
