Veera Narayana Temple,Belavadi

I had never heard of Belavadi nor the Veera Narayana Temple located there. And I am fairly confident that it would be the case for many others as well. The number of visitors that we saw at the temple when we visited it, also served as evidence to this.

My daughter was getting a week off from college as her mid-semester break and she had to do a travel related project during it. Well, how does one do a travel related project? Travel of course!! 😀 . Since it was only going to be a short trip, we thought of going to some historical sites. So now the question was, “Where to?”. I remembered a friend of mine mentioning about the temple in Belavadi and how they had enjoyed visiting it.  I came to know that Belavadi is not too far from the famous temples of Belur and Halebidu. So we decided to include them also into the itinerary. I also did some more reading up over the internet to see if there were any other sites close by that we should also look to visit. And find them I did. So I am going to dedicate the next couple of blog posts to the gems that we came across and visited. They are, like the Veera Narayana Temple of Belavadi, less known and hence less visited by tourists, but stunning pieces of architecture. All the more reason why they should be visited given a chance!

Veera Narayana Temple is located in the Belavadi village in the Chikkamagalur district of Karnataka, India. The temple was built in 1200 C.E. by King Veera Ballala II of the Hoysala empire. The temple contains three shrines that are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, in different avatars. The central shrine holds the Narayana form, the southern shrine holds the Venugopala form and the northern shrine has the Yoganarasimha form. You can read more about the temple here. The pujari (priest) at the temple also told us that the Venugopala idol at the temple had been certified as the “most beautiful” one in India by the Archaeological Survey of India. Well, we can certainly vouch for it beauty. It is not just the idols that stand out. The temple also has a host of intricate carvings all around it.

Here are some pictures that I took when we visited:

The temple is an active place of worship. The pujari was sitting near the Yoganarasimha shrine when we visited. He was a young man who kept out of the way as we initially walked and explored the different parts of the temple. My wife wanted to make an offering to the deity and so went to the pujari. He instructed her to bring a puja basket (a small basket containing offerings like flowers, fruit etc. used as an offering to the Lord). Once the puja was done, he was a transformed person. He was so happy that we had come over there to not just see the temple but also to offer prayers. He enthusiastically took us to the three shrines, showed us each of the deities and talked about each of them.

When we visited the temple, it was just the four of us and another couple. So we almost literally had the place to ourselves. This in itself added to making the experience blissful. We all spend some time just sitting inside the temple, absorbing its beauty and enjoying the serenity. We remarked to the pujari that it was pity that the temple was not better promoted, to which he remarked that the Lord knows what is the best and whom to get to the temple. Interestingly enough, the other couple who was also visiting the temple when we were there, had not heard nor pre-planned to visit the temple. They had come all the way from Chennai, a city far away from Belavadi, for a holiday to Chikkamagalur. They were advised to visit the temple by the staff in their place of stay. The couple were expecting their first child and it was indeed a blessing to have visited the temple. The words of the pujari were indeed interesting!

Useful Information

Here are some useful information in case you plan to visit the temple:

• You are required to leave your footwear outside. During summers I think the stony pavements of the temple exterior will get pretty hot. So if you are sensitive to walking barefoot, it might be a good idea to wear socks. The inside of the temple is very cool.
• The temple is an active place of worship. So be respectful to dos and don’ts
• Videography is prohibited throughout the complex unless you get prior permission from the concerned authority
• Photography is allowed though only in the exterior of the temple. You are not allowed to photograph within the inside of temple like the mantap, deity etc.
• There are no guide services available at the temple. The best way to get information on the temple itself is to engage in a conversation with the priest. The person we met was a nice person and knowledgeable