Some places offer natural beauty, few offer heritage stories and there can be places which takes you through some amazing adventure, but how many places you know which can offer you trekking experience, divine feeling, spiritual environment, natural beauty & architectural marvels? Shravanbelagola is such place which is primarily a popular jain pilgrimage in South India but also a place which offers very special experience for folks visiting this part of Karnataka state of India.
Sravanbelagola is one of the main places to explore when you are around Belur, Halebidu or Hassan region of Karnataka state in South India. Above photograph shows the places from where you need to start climbing for the main temple. There are 150+ stairs to climb and then some other are some terrains to cross, where you don't find stairs.
When I visited Saravanbelagola, this place was under renovation and mainly the Bahubali statue at the top of the hill.
One needs to climb up to reach the main temple, where this huge statue of Bahubali is places. This is considered as World's monolithic statue. While climbing up I was not feeling well, mainly because of my foolishness. I was climbing very fast and was not drinking water. For 10 minutes or so, I was little out of my sense and laid down on the stairs. The good part was that a group of doctors were accompanying me. So they suggested me to take deep breaths & drinks some water. Have a rest for 15 minutes and then decide you want to move up or go down. It was hot, so hydration of the body was important. So simple tip to climb up is - go little slow
I found this place very special and it's not because it's a temple, but because of it's brilliant location. Interestingly we were on the top when sunset was about to happen. Since this place is an elevation, it offers great views of the town, surrounding hills and the skyline.
Above is one of the photographs clicked before sunset at Saravanabelagola. Above photograph is not very sharp but with naked eyes the experience is outstanding. And to that point, visiting Saravanabelagola during second half of the day is good. Since it's usually hot, in second half you can spend a little more time on the hill after visiting the temple which can be little difficult around the noon.
I enjoyed clicking photographs when we were going down from Sravanabelagola temple, mainly because of these beautiful colors in the sky. On the way, there are some beautiful structures which help you compose shots very well.
This is the most common views from the top of Saravanbelagola. You see this huge water body in the middle of the town at the base. Please also notice stairs on the right bottom common with boundary. There are lot of stairs to follow for reaching the main temple and the statue.
Above is closer photograph of water body at Saravanabelagola. I clicked it quickly as we were passing by to catch our bus from next street.
I always like clicking photographs of co-travellers and on this hill I clicked few photographs of these girls with my mobile camera, as the discussion was around mobile cameras and how to make best of them.
So if you are planning to visit Belur, Halebidu or Hassan district of Karnataka state, don't think of missing Sravanabelagola.
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