Belur, Karnataka Explained

Belur
Native Name:	Belooru
Other Name:	Baylore, Beluru, Velapuri
Settlement Type:	Town
Image Alt:	A street in Belur town, Karnataka, India leading to front entrance of the famous Chennakesava temple. The street is lined with shops and houses. A few vehicles are parked on both sides of the street. There are some pedestrians.
Pushpin Map:	India#India Karnataka
Pushpin Label Position:	right
Pushpin Map Alt:	Location in Karnataka, India
Coordinates:	13.1629°N 75.8571°W
Subdivision Type:	Country
Subdivision Name:	India
Subdivision Type1:	State
Subdivision Name1:	Karnataka
Subdivision Type2:	District
Subdivision Name2:	Hassan
Governing Body:	Town Municipal Council
Unit Pref:	Metric
Area Total Km2:	6.3
Area Rural Km2:	836.10
Elevation M:	979
Population Total:	22484
Population Rural:	161974
Population As Of:	2011
Population Density Km2:	auto
Population Footnotes:	^[1]
Demographics Type1:	Languages
Demographics1 Title1:	Official
Demographics1 Info1:	Kannada
Timezone1:	IST
Utc Offset1:	+5:30
Postal Code Type:	PIN
Postal Code:	573 115
Area Code Type:	Telephone code
Area Code:	08177
Registration Plate:	KA-46, KA-13
Iso Code:	IN-KA

Belur (in Kannada pronounced as /beːluːru/) is a town and taluk in Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India. The town is renowned for its Chennakeshava Temple dedicated to Vishnu, one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture and the largest Hindu temple complex that has survived from pre-14th-century Karnata-Dravida tradition. A historic site inspired by the teachings of Ramanujacharya, it has been a Vaishnava Hindu pilgrimage center since at least the 12th century. It was also the first capital of the Hoysala dynasty, before they built Dwarasamudra (modern Halebid).^[2]

Belur is also Town Municipal Council and taluka. The Hoysala monuments at Belur and Halebidu have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2023.^[3]

Geography

Belur is situated on the banks of Yagachi River in the Hassan district of south Karnataka. It is about 40km (30miles) northwest of Hassan and about 16km (10miles) west from the famous Hindu and Jain temples' town of Halebeedu. The town is about 217km (135miles) west of Bengaluru (IATA Code: BLR), about a 3.5 hours drive accessible with a four lane NH75 highway through Hassan. Nearest railway stations to Belur are Hassan Junction and Chikkamagaluru Railway Station. The nearest airport to Belur is Mangalore International Airport at 160 km.^[4]

Belur has an elevation of 979m (3,212feet) above mean sea level, making it the highest town in Hassan district. The National Highway 73 (India), its subsidiary, NH-373, State Highway 57 (Karnataka), SH-110 & SH-112 passes through the town of Belur.

There are regular buses to Belur from Bengaluru(222 km), Chikkamagaluru (25 km), Halebeedu (16 km), Hassan (40 km) and Mysuru (160 km), operated by KSRTC. The KSRTC also has a bus depot in Belur under Chikkamagaluru division.

Rainfall

In the year 2022, Belur hobli received 1585mm of annual rainfall. Meanwhile other hoblis of Belur taluk received rainfall as follows:

1. Arehalli - 2290mm
2. Bikkodu - 1637mm
3. Halebeedu - 1208mm
4. Madihalli - 1185mm ^[5]

History

Belur is near the foothills east of the Western Ghats, at an altitude of 3,200 feet. It and the nearby Halebidu are well connected to northern Karnataka, western Andhra Pradesh and northern Tamil Nadu. Around this region, between the 10th and 14th century, the Hoysaḷa dynasty came to power, whose history is unclear. By their own 11th and 12th-century inscriptions, they were descendants of the Krishna-Baladeva-roots and the Yadavas of Maharashtra. They married into the Kalyana Chalukya Hindu dynasty, known for its temple and art tradition. The reliability of these inscriptions have been questioned as potential mythistory by some historians, who propose that the Hoysalas were a local Hindu family – a hill chief from the Western Ghats remembered for having killed a tiger or a lion, and they seized power and over time expanded their territory starting in the 10th century.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Belur was the early capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 11th-century, before they built Dwarasamudra (modern Halebid).^[9] According to inscriptions discovered here, it was called Velur or Velapuri during the Hoysala era. Belur remained an alternate capital through the 14th century. The city was esteemed by the Hoysalas, and they referred to it as "earthly Vaikuntha" (Vishnu's abode) and "Dakshina Varanasi" (southern holy city of Hindus) in later inscriptions. In early 12th-century, the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana met the Hindu philosopher Ramanujacharya – famed for his ideas on Sri Vaishnavism. Belur's profile rose thereafter, becoming a Vaishnava temples and monasteries town. It has remained a Vaishnava Hindu pilgrimage center.^[10]

Monuments

Belur is home to several monuments:^[11]

• Chennakeshava Temple, Belur – a large Vishnu-related Hoysala Hindu temples complex from the early 12th century. The main temple was originally called the Vijaya-Narayana temple built by the king, which is surrounded by many smaller temples built by a Hoysala queen, generals and merchants of Hoysalas, an attached monastery, Brahmins residences, a simple pushkarini (temple water tank), a pilgrim's choultry, kitchen and grains storage. The towering Belur gopura is visible from a distance.
• Sankaresvara temple – the oldest temple in Belur, predates the Vishnuvardhana's Chennakeshava temples complex. Also called Shankaralingeshwara temple, dedicated to Shiva, it is about northwest of the Chennakeshava temple gopura. The temple has a phamsana style shikara, square architectural plan, notable sukhanasi, much simpler artwork, with ruins of its mandapa scattered nearby.^[12]
• Pathaleshwara Temple – a small Hoysala style Shiva temple with fine artwork, about east of the Chennakeshava temple gopura.
• Amrutheswara temple ruins – a temple with a large temple tank, it was restored and expanded with a mandapa during the Vijayanagara-Nayaka period, but damaged and its parts scattered after the fall of Vijayanagara. The temple is about south of the Chennakeshava temple gopura. It provides a contrast between the Hoysala and Vijayanagara architectural styles.

World heritage and tourism

The Belur monuments, along with those at Halebidu are on the pending list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.^[3]

Nearby sites

• Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu: it is 16 km from Belur, was capital of Hoysala and it was formerly called as Dwarasamudra. It has another famed collection of Hindu and Jain temples showing 12th century Hoysala architecture and artwork.^[3]
• Bucesvara Temple, Koravangala – a twin temple near Hassan city that synthesizes the pre-Hoysala traditions of Hindu architecture, includes artwork from all three major Hindu traditions
• Nageshvara-Chennakeshava Temple complex, Mosale – another major temple complex near Hassan city that presents Shaivism and Vaishnavism traditions together
• Veera Narayana Temple, Belavadi – a major three sanctum temples complex, about 25 kilometers from Belur, with beautiful carvings, preserved Vesara superstructure and a galaxy of artwork from all Hindu traditions
• Lakshminarasimha Temple, Javagal – a triple sanctum shrine from the 13th century, with a galaxy of artwork from all Hindu traditions; A Vesara architecture, where the aedicule on the outer walls show many major variants of Dravida and Nagara shikhara (superstructure) styles; it is about northeast from Belur.
• Lakshminarasimha Temple, Haranhalli – another triple sanctum 13th-century Hindu temple, with a complex two-storey Vesara-architecture, dedicated to Vishnu avatars, but includes major reliefs of Shaivism and Shaktism; about northeast from Belur.
• Ishvara Temple, Arasikere – a Vesara and Hoysala architecture Hindu temple for Shiva that illustrates the dome-style Hindu architecture for mandapa built about a hundred years before the first invasion of Delhi Sultanate and the start of Deccan version of the Indo-Islamic architecture. It is about 60 kilometers east of Belur.
• Lakshmi Devi Temple, Doddagaddavalli – one of the earliest Hoysala temples, four sanctums and beautifully carved
• Shravanabelagola, Channarayapatna: a major group of many Jain and Hindu monuments; it is about southeast from Belur on National Highway 75, one of the most important Digambara Jainism pilgrimage site in South India.^[4]
• Nuggehalli group of temples – about 80 kilometers to the east of Belur, with an ingenious structure that makes three sanctums appear as one sanctum from outside; a Vesara architecture from the 13th-century
• Kesava Temple, Somanathapura: it is about southeast from Belur, another site of a major 13th century Hoysala temple and arts dedicated to Krishna and other forms of Vishnu.^[4]

References

• Book: The history of the Sri Vijayanarayana Temple of Belur (Mysore State). M.H. Krishna. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri. 1966. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
• Book: Narasimhacharya, Ramanujapuram. The Kesava Temple at Belur. Asiatic Society. 1987. 37520409.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Census Data Handbook 2011 Hassan District. 9 August 2023.
2. Book: Madhusudan A. Dhaky. Michael Meister. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Volume 1 Part 3 South India Text & Plates. 1996. American Institute of Indian Studies. 978-81-86526-00-2. 295–302, 313–315 .
3. Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO (2014), Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala, UNESCO
4. Book: V. K. Subramanian. Art Shrines of Ancient India. 2003. Abhinav Publications. 978-81-7017-431-8. 75–77.
5. Web site: Annual State Report 2022. 5 July 2023.
6. Katherine E. Kasdorf (2013), Forming Dōrasamudra: Temples of the Hoysaḷa Capital in Context, Columbia University Press, pp. 42–49
7. Book: Fischel, F.R.S. . Local States in an Imperial World: Identity, Society and Politics in the Early Modern Deccan . Edinburgh University Press . 2020 . 978-1-4744-3609-0 . 34–39.
8. Book: Madhusudan A. Dhaky. Michael Meister. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Volume 1 Part 3 South India Text & Plates. 1996. American Institute of Indian Studies. 978-81-86526-00-2. 295–302 .
9. Book: Sen, Sailendra . A Textbook of Medieval Indian History . Primus Books . 2013 . 978-9-38060-734-4 . 58–60.
10. Book: Madhusudan A. Dhaky. Michael Meister. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Volume 1 Part 3 South India Text & Plates. 1996. American Institute of Indian Studies. 978-81-86526-00-2. 300–302 .
11. Book: Gopal, Madan. India through the ages. 1990. 174. K.S. Gautam. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
12. Book: Madhusudan A. Dhaky. Michael Meister. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Volume 1 Part 3 South India Text & Plates. 1996. American Institute of Indian Studies. 978-81-86526-00-2. 319–321 .