Belur is home to several monuments: •
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. • Shankareshvara 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. • Pathaleshwara Temple – a small Hoysala style Shiva temple with fine artwork, about east of the Chennakeshava temple gopura. • Amrutheshwara 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.
Nearby sites bus in Belur
KSRTC Bus Station •
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. •
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. •
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. ==Gallery==