Somnathpur
This weekend I visited the Somnathpur temple. I had not heard of this place at all. Before a few days, one of my friends casually mentioned that she had visited this place, and it is a must. She also told me that this temple was another temple in the Hoysala Architectural style. I must admit that in the last few months, I have become a fan of this architecture style, because of the simplicity of the layout, but the sculptures are exquisite and intricate in detail.
I planned a 2 day weekend trip to Srirangapatnam. I have visited Tipu’s fort, palace and the other monuments that are related to him. So, the idea was to visit Srirangapatna on a Saturday and visit Somnathpur temple on Sunday. My husband has not visited the Mysore Palace, so we planned to visit that place as well. In this travelogue I focus only on Somnathpur.
We had checked into a comfortable hotel on Saturday evening, after the Srirangapatnam visit. I had got details pertaining to this hotel called Chandra Palace from Indiamike ( Indiamike.com ) and the person who posted reviews about the hotel was in all praise for the hospitality extended to the guests by the hotel staff. The reviews were completely correct. The deluxe room cost us rs. 390 plus taxes per day, had TV, phone and 24 hrs running hot water in the bathrooms. So, after a nice hot water bath, I settle to watch Serial LOST on Star Movies. I have become a big addict of the idiot box and I will do anything to ensure that I catch LOST at 7 pm. So, I was ready with my bottle of wine in front of the TV, and ordered the best food available Chandra Palace does not have a attached restaurant, but they offer room service facilites. The food is supplied by a restaurant nearby – Sangeeta restaurant. The food was great. We kept eating and drink, Lost serial was intriguing with suspense. And, I dunno when I hit the bed.
I woke up the next morning at 7.30 am. The Mysore palace would open only at 10.30 am. We din’t want to waste time, and hence getting to Somnathpur first was the right thing to do to save time. So, after the hot cup of tea ( I would give 6 on 10 for tea here, Most hotels make milky sugary team, which I don’t like ), after the early morning sundaes and the hot water bath, we left the hotel to get to Somnathpur at about 8.30 am. We were pretty quick.
Somnathpur is about 35 kms from Mysore and 140 kms from Mysore. For the most part of the journey is roads are good, but it is really bad in small patches. Say for about 5 kms in all, the roads are bad. The scenary of the country side is really green. This part of the year, due to the good monsoon, and may be also because the Cauvery flows here, the fields were green with newly transplanted paddy crop. The entire stretch was green. The scene of the paddy fields, with the occasional coconut trees in the middle, the farmers removing the weeds and the several cranes, the scenery was perfect.
We reached Somnathpur in about 1 hr 15 minutes. The temple was build in the 13th Century, in yr 1268, by Hoysala King. At this time, the Hoysalas had already ruled over the region for over 250 yrs and were in the peak of their dynasty. A stone slab at the base of the entrance clearly states that the temple was commissioned by Hoysala King Narsimha 3.
However the temple was actually built by Narasimha 3’s Military Commander Somnath, on the west bank of the river Cauvery and hence this place is called Somnathpur. The size of the complex is much smaller in comparison to Halebid, but it has lot of open halls or verandas all around the temple and a huge walled enclosure which is absent in the Halebid complex. It looks like a small fortification. There is a huge entrance gate, with a small gopuram, and the entire structure stands on a star shaped platform, the Hoysala style magnificiently. The river Cauvery flows to the right of the temple.
This temple is dedicated to Lord Keshava and has only 1 entrance, unlike Halebid temple that has 4 entrances. There are three Sanctum Sanctorums. On the left there is the Sanctum of Lord Venugopal with a flute and lots of cows around him are carved, the center Sanctum ( the one opposite to the entrance ) is for Lord Keshava and this idol also had a Garuda carving at the bottom, and the Sanctum on the right side is for Lord Janardhana, another form of Lord Keshava. These 3 idols are beautifully carved . The entire sanctum has a large squarish hall with the 3 sanctums on the 3 sides. The pillars have carvings, but nothing much to write about, but the entire roofs is beautifully carved. There are many figures of gods and goddesses, and flower designs are carved. The Archiological society has provided lights inside that provides for better visibility and helps for taking photographs as well.
The enterior of the temple is also great. As mentioned, the entire complex stands on a star shaped platform, and there are steps provided to get on top. There are apsaras guarding the entrance, and the carved elephants at every stairway. The temple has carved panels, with rows of elephants, horsemen, musicians, floral patters, lots of men and women, and in some places, the artisans have engraved sexual positions as well. In one place, they have depicted a orgy. Over these carved panels are beautifully carved figures of Lord Keshava, Vishnu, Narayana and many beautiful apsaras, about 190 of them. There is one beautiful carving of Ganapati. There is also the sculptures of the 10 avatars or reincarnations of Lord Vishnu. I could not recognize most of them, all of the other sculptures looked like different forms of Lord Vishnu or Narayana..may be I am right, coz it was the Keshave Temple. 5 of the best craftsmen of the time were invited to do the temple and the sculptors are said to have signed under each sculpture their respective names. Since I don’t know to read Kannada, I could not locate the signatures.
Over these sculptures was Jali work, and then the gopuram or vimana, very short one, but had many beautifully carved sculptures.
After going round the temple, and observing every thing, I quickly made a note of what I wish to photograph. I did a second round for photographing all my favourite sculptures and panels.
The over all temple is is good shape and is well maintained. Some parts of the scultures are missing, but, most of the carvings are fine. The panel are also fine, the gardens are maintained well.
It was 11 am then. 2 busses full of school children just came into the complex. The kids started walking in pairs, and they were monitored by their teachers who kept telling them ‘walk with your partner’ or ‘where is your partner ?’ It was really cute to see that all the kids were praying to all the sculptures on the exterior of the temple. The whole place was getting noisy, and just them, another bus load of children reached the place.
Just outside the temple, there is a small shop, we had tea there, and ate Brittania Good Day Biscuit. We did not have break fast, and hence we were felling really hungry. The next destination was Mysore Palace, and we wanted to finish the sight seeing fast, coz we also wanted to leave Mysore by about 4 pm so that we can reach Bangalore by about 7 pm.
Getting there
Road : Somnathpur is about 140 kms from Bangalore and 35 kms from Mysore. It is well connected by bus services from Bangalore and Mysore.
Rail : Srirangapatnam and Mysore are the closest railway heads
Air : Bangalore
Trip Duration : 1 day
Best time : Any time of the year.
Accomodation :
I planned a 2 day weekend trip to Srirangapatnam. I have visited Tipu’s fort, palace and the other monuments that are related to him. So, the idea was to visit Srirangapatna on a Saturday and visit Somnathpur temple on Sunday. My husband has not visited the Mysore Palace, so we planned to visit that place as well. In this travelogue I focus only on Somnathpur.
We had checked into a comfortable hotel on Saturday evening, after the Srirangapatnam visit. I had got details pertaining to this hotel called Chandra Palace from Indiamike ( Indiamike.com ) and the person who posted reviews about the hotel was in all praise for the hospitality extended to the guests by the hotel staff. The reviews were completely correct. The deluxe room cost us rs. 390 plus taxes per day, had TV, phone and 24 hrs running hot water in the bathrooms. So, after a nice hot water bath, I settle to watch Serial LOST on Star Movies. I have become a big addict of the idiot box and I will do anything to ensure that I catch LOST at 7 pm. So, I was ready with my bottle of wine in front of the TV, and ordered the best food available Chandra Palace does not have a attached restaurant, but they offer room service facilites. The food is supplied by a restaurant nearby – Sangeeta restaurant. The food was great. We kept eating and drink, Lost serial was intriguing with suspense. And, I dunno when I hit the bed.
I woke up the next morning at 7.30 am. The Mysore palace would open only at 10.30 am. We din’t want to waste time, and hence getting to Somnathpur first was the right thing to do to save time. So, after the hot cup of tea ( I would give 6 on 10 for tea here, Most hotels make milky sugary team, which I don’t like ), after the early morning sundaes and the hot water bath, we left the hotel to get to Somnathpur at about 8.30 am. We were pretty quick.
Somnathpur is about 35 kms from Mysore and 140 kms from Mysore. For the most part of the journey is roads are good, but it is really bad in small patches. Say for about 5 kms in all, the roads are bad. The scenary of the country side is really green. This part of the year, due to the good monsoon, and may be also because the Cauvery flows here, the fields were green with newly transplanted paddy crop. The entire stretch was green. The scene of the paddy fields, with the occasional coconut trees in the middle, the farmers removing the weeds and the several cranes, the scenery was perfect.
We reached Somnathpur in about 1 hr 15 minutes. The temple was build in the 13th Century, in yr 1268, by Hoysala King. At this time, the Hoysalas had already ruled over the region for over 250 yrs and were in the peak of their dynasty. A stone slab at the base of the entrance clearly states that the temple was commissioned by Hoysala King Narsimha 3.
However the temple was actually built by Narasimha 3’s Military Commander Somnath, on the west bank of the river Cauvery and hence this place is called Somnathpur. The size of the complex is much smaller in comparison to Halebid, but it has lot of open halls or verandas all around the temple and a huge walled enclosure which is absent in the Halebid complex. It looks like a small fortification. There is a huge entrance gate, with a small gopuram, and the entire structure stands on a star shaped platform, the Hoysala style magnificiently. The river Cauvery flows to the right of the temple.
This temple is dedicated to Lord Keshava and has only 1 entrance, unlike Halebid temple that has 4 entrances. There are three Sanctum Sanctorums. On the left there is the Sanctum of Lord Venugopal with a flute and lots of cows around him are carved, the center Sanctum ( the one opposite to the entrance ) is for Lord Keshava and this idol also had a Garuda carving at the bottom, and the Sanctum on the right side is for Lord Janardhana, another form of Lord Keshava. These 3 idols are beautifully carved . The entire sanctum has a large squarish hall with the 3 sanctums on the 3 sides. The pillars have carvings, but nothing much to write about, but the entire roofs is beautifully carved. There are many figures of gods and goddesses, and flower designs are carved. The Archiological society has provided lights inside that provides for better visibility and helps for taking photographs as well.
The enterior of the temple is also great. As mentioned, the entire complex stands on a star shaped platform, and there are steps provided to get on top. There are apsaras guarding the entrance, and the carved elephants at every stairway. The temple has carved panels, with rows of elephants, horsemen, musicians, floral patters, lots of men and women, and in some places, the artisans have engraved sexual positions as well. In one place, they have depicted a orgy. Over these carved panels are beautifully carved figures of Lord Keshava, Vishnu, Narayana and many beautiful apsaras, about 190 of them. There is one beautiful carving of Ganapati. There is also the sculptures of the 10 avatars or reincarnations of Lord Vishnu. I could not recognize most of them, all of the other sculptures looked like different forms of Lord Vishnu or Narayana..may be I am right, coz it was the Keshave Temple. 5 of the best craftsmen of the time were invited to do the temple and the sculptors are said to have signed under each sculpture their respective names. Since I don’t know to read Kannada, I could not locate the signatures.
Over these sculptures was Jali work, and then the gopuram or vimana, very short one, but had many beautifully carved sculptures.
After going round the temple, and observing every thing, I quickly made a note of what I wish to photograph. I did a second round for photographing all my favourite sculptures and panels.
The over all temple is is good shape and is well maintained. Some parts of the scultures are missing, but, most of the carvings are fine. The panel are also fine, the gardens are maintained well.
It was 11 am then. 2 busses full of school children just came into the complex. The kids started walking in pairs, and they were monitored by their teachers who kept telling them ‘walk with your partner’ or ‘where is your partner ?’ It was really cute to see that all the kids were praying to all the sculptures on the exterior of the temple. The whole place was getting noisy, and just them, another bus load of children reached the place.
Just outside the temple, there is a small shop, we had tea there, and ate Brittania Good Day Biscuit. We did not have break fast, and hence we were felling really hungry. The next destination was Mysore Palace, and we wanted to finish the sight seeing fast, coz we also wanted to leave Mysore by about 4 pm so that we can reach Bangalore by about 7 pm.
Getting there
Road : Somnathpur is about 140 kms from Bangalore and 35 kms from Mysore. It is well connected by bus services from Bangalore and Mysore.
Rail : Srirangapatnam and Mysore are the closest railway heads
Air : Bangalore
Trip Duration : 1 day
Best time : Any time of the year.
Accomodation :
One can do Somnathpur as a single day trip from Bangalore or Mysore. There are good places in Srirangapatnam and Mysore if you wish to stay overnight
Chandra Palace : 150, KT Street, Mysore. Ph : 0821 2421333 / 444
Bombay Tiffany : 0821 2435255 / 2435257
I will suggest Chandra Palace, as the place is good, economical and the staff are really friendly. But, just remember that they have place for just 2 cars to park. Chandra Palace does not really have a large parking space. They have a travel desk, and can arrange tours or cars if you want.
posted by Sandhya Reddy at 2:30 PM
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