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 templeI don't remember, but I do believe there is an entry fee to the temple. It's not much.
We went inThe front facade of the centuries old Chennakesava Temple
The temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architectureFrom behind the main templeInside the stone structure, the intricate details were even more impressive
I'm always been fascinated by the sculpting work done in many Indian templesSince the inside of the temple isn't very big, you have to get down on the ground to get a wider shot of the ceilingIt's easy to lie down on the ground because it's so cool insideEven 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 stoneThis 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 againIt 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 flyOn the way back, we stopped for lunch at Mayura River View in SrirangapatnaIt's a nice little hotel run by KSTDC that we discovered during an earlier tripThe 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 eatThat is of course if the monkeys don't eat your meals firstThere are a lot of monkeys aroundWe gave our bodies some rest before driving back to Bangalore
R Niranjan
04/05/2012Awesome architecture. Am heading here soon.
http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2012/05/skyline.html
David
25/07/2016I am planning to go here this week by Friday ..is there any temple timings .. Because we will reach by 12 . pls reply
Mithun Divakaran Reply:
July 25th, 2016 at 12:44 PM
Friday shouldn’t be a problem. The temple isn’t an active one and should be open until evening, say 6PM.