Sights in Karnataka
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Namdroling Monastery
Bylakuppe's highlight is the Namdroling Monastery, home to the jaw-droppingly spectacular Golden Temple, presided over by an 18m-high gold-plated Buddha. The temple is at its dramatic best when school is in session and it rings out with gongs, drums and chanting of hundreds of young novices. You’re welcome to sit and meditate; look for the small blue guest cushions lying around. The Zangdogpalri Temple, a similarly ornate affair, is next door.
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Bidar Fort
Keep aside a few hours for peacefully wandering around the remnants of the magnificent 15th-century Bidar Fort. Sprawled across rolling hills 2km east of Udgir Rd, this fort was once the administrative capital of much of southern India. Surrounded by a triple moat hewn out of solid red rock and 5.5km of defensive walls (the second longest in India), the fort has a fairy-tale entrance on a roadway that twists in an elaborate chicane through three gateways.
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Gomateshvara Statue
A steep climb up 614 steps takes you to the top of Vindhyagiri Hill, the summit of which is lorded over by the towering naked statue of Gomateshvara. Commissioned by a military commander in the service of the Ganga king Rachamalla and carved out of a single piece of granite by the sculptor Aristenemi in AD 981, its serenity and simplicity is in stark contrast to the Hoysala sites at Belur and Halebid.
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Zenana Enclosure
A walled compound known as the Zenana Enclosure holds the Lotus Mahal, a delicately designed pavilion which was supposedly the queen’s recreational mansion. The Lotus Mahal overlooks the Elephant Stables, a grand building with domed chambers where state elephants once resided. Your ticket is valid for same-day admission to the Vittala Temple.
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St Aloysius College Chapel
Catholicism’s roots in Mangalore date back to the arrival of the Portuguese in the early 1500s, and today the city is liberally dotted with churches. One of the most impressive is the Sistine Chapel-like St Aloysius College Chapel, with its walls and ceilings painted with brilliant frescoes.
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Virupaksha Temple
The focal point of Hampi Bazaar is the Virupaksha Temple, one of the city’s oldest structures. The main gopuram (gateway tower), almost 50m high, was built in 1442, with a smaller one added in 1510. The main shrine is dedicated to Virupaksha, a form of Shiva.
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Maharaja's Palace
The fantastic profile of the walled Indo-Saracenic Maharaja's Palace, the seat of the maharajas of Mysore, graces the city's skyline. An earlier palace burnt down in 1897 and the present one, designed by English architect Henry Irwin, was completed in 1912 at a cost of Rs 4.5 million.
The palace's interior - a kaleidoscope of stained glass, mirrors and gaudy colours - is undoubtedly over the top, but it includes awe-inspiring carved wooden doors and mosaic floors, as well as a series of historically interesting paintings depicting life in Mysore during the Edwardian Raj. Hindu temples within the palace grounds include the Sri Shweta Varahaswamy Temple; its gopuram (gatewa…
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Channakeshava Temple
The Channakeshava Temple was commissioned in 1116 to commemorate the Hoysalas’ victory over the neighbouring Cholas. It took more than a century to build, and is currently the only one among the three major Hoysala sites still in daily use – try to be there for the puja (offerings or prayer) ceremonies at 9am, 3pm and 7.30pm. Some parts of the temple, such as the exterior lower friezes, were not sculpted to completion and are thus less elaborate than those of the other Hoysala temples. However, the work higher up is unsurpassed in detail and artistry, and is a glowing tribute to human skill. Particularly intriguing are the angled bracket figures depicting women in rit…
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Anegundi
North of the river is the ruined fortified stronghold of Anegundi, an older structure than those at Hampi; within it you'll find a charming village. Free of the rampant commercialism that blights Hampi Bazaar, this is a wonderful place to stay thanks to a heritage-conservation project, the Kishkinda Trust. Much of the old defensive wall is intact and there are numerous small temples worth a visit.
It takes less than an hour to walk to Anegundi from Hampi Bazaar. At the time of research a new bridge across the Tungabhadra River was nearing completion; until then coracle rides cost Rs 10. Alternatively there's a road to Anegundi from Hospet.
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Lalbagh Botanical Gardens
Spread over 96 acres of landscaped terrain, Lalbagh or the Red Garden was laid out in 1760 by Hyder Ali, and is now one of Bengaluru’s most famous greens. Ten-seater ecofriendly buggies (per head Rs100) can take you on a guided tour across the garden, telling you more about the centuries-old trees and collections of plants from around the world. A beautiful glasshouse, modelled on the original Crystal Palace in London, is the venue for flower shows in the weeks preceding Republic Day (26 January) and Independence Day (15 August). Walk in early on Sundays, and you can also hear the police band perform at the Police Bandstand.
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Hoysaleswara Temple
Construction of the Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebid’s claim to fame, began around 1121 and went on for more than 80 years. It was never completed, but nonetheless stands today as a masterpiece of Hoysala architecture. The interior of its inner sanctum, chiselled out of black stone, is marvellous. On the outside, the temple’s richly-sculpted walls are covered with a flurry of Hindu deities, sages, stylised animals and friezes depicting the life of the Hoysala rulers. A huge statue of Nandi (Shiva’s bull) sits to the left of the main temple, facing the inner sanctum.
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Bandipur National Park
About 80km south of Mysore on the Ooty road, the Bandipur National Park covers 880 sq km and was once the Mysore maharajas’ private wildlife reserve. The park is noted for its herds of gaurs (Indian bison), chitals (spotted deer), sambars, panthers, sloth bears and langurs, apart from tigers and elephants. Despite its rich wildlife, however, Bandipur isn’t the best place for animal sightings; unrestricted traffic hurtling down the busy highway that cuts through the forest has made the animals wary of venturing close to safari areas of late.
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Daria Daulat Bagh
Srirangapatnam’s star attraction is Tipu’s summer palace, the Daria Daulat Bagh, which lies 1km east of the fort. Built largely out of wood, the palace is notable for the lavish decoration that covers every inch of its interiors. The ceilings are embellished with floral designs, while the walls bear murals depicting courtly life and Tipu’s campaigns against the British. There’s a small museum within, which houses several artefacts including a portrait of Tipu Sultan aged 30, painted by European artist John Zoffany in 1780.
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Royal Centre
This area of Hampi is quite different from the area around Hampi Bazaar, since most of the rounded boulders that once littered the site have been used to create beautiful stone walls. It's a 2km walk on a track from the Achyutaraya Temple, but most people get to it from the Hampi Bazaar-Kamalapuram road. Within various enclosures here are the rest of Hampi's major attractions, including the Zenana Enclosure and the Elephant Stables.
This area is easily explored by bicycle since a decent dirt road runs through its heart.
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Bahmani Tombs
The huge domed tombs of the Bahmani kings, in Ashtur, 3km east of Bidar, have a desolate, moody beauty that strikes a strange harmony with the sunny hills around them. These impressive mausoleums were built to house the remains of the sultans – their graves are still regularly draped with fresh satin and flowers – and are arranged in a long line along the edge of the road. The painted interior of Ahmad Shah Bahman’s tomb is the most impressive, and is regularly prayed in.
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Krishna Temple
Udupi is home to the atmospheric, 13th century Krishna Temple, which draws thousands of Hindu pilgrims through the year. Surrounded by eight maths (monasteries), it’s a hive of activity, with musicians playing at the entrance, elephants on hand for puja, and pilgrims constantly coming and going. Non-Hindus are welcome inside the temple; men must enter bare-chested. Elaborate rituals are also performed in the temple during the Udupi Paryaya festival.
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Ibrahim Rouza
The beautiful Ibrahim Rouza is clearly among the most elegant and finely-proportioned Islamic monuments in India. Its tale is rather poignant: the monument was built by emperor Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r 1580–1627) as a future mausoleum for his queen, Taj Sultana. Ironically, he died before her, and was thus the first person to be rested there. Interred here with Ibrahim Adil Shah and his queen are his daughter, his two sons, and his mother, Haji Badi Sahiba.
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Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath
This visual arts gallery is Bengaluru’s definitive art institution. A wide range of Indian and international contemporary art is on show at its exhibition galleries (open 10.30am to 7pm), while permanent displays showcase lavish gold-leaf works of Mysore-style paintings and folk and tribal art from across Asia. A section is devoted to the works of Russian master Nicholas Roerich, known for his vivid paintings of the Himalayas, and his son Svetoslav.
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Jama Masjid
The finely proportioned Jama Masjid has graceful arches, a fine dome and a vast inner courtyard with room for more than 2200 worshippers. It was constructed by Ali Adil Shah I (r 1557–80), also responsible for erecting the fortified city walls and the Gagan Mahal. You can take a silent walk through its assembly hall, which still retains some of the elaborate murals. Women should make sure to cover their heads and not wear revealing clothing.
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Hanuman Temple
The whitewashed Hanuman Temple, accessible by a 570-step climb atop the Anjanadri Hill, has fine views of the rugged terrain around. Many believe this is the birthplace of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god who was Rama’s devotee and helped him in his mission against Ravana. The hike up is pleasant, though you’ll be courted by impish monkeys, and within the temple you’ll find a horde of chillum-puffing resident sadhus!
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Nagarhole National Park
West of the Kabini River is the 643-sq-km wildlife sanctuary of Nagarhole National Park, pronounced nag -ar-hole-eh. The lush forests here are home to tigers, leopards, elephants, gaurs, muntjacs (barking deer), wild dogs, bonnet macaques and common langurs. The park can remain closed for long stretches between July and October, when the rains transform the forests into a giant slush-pit.
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Pattadakal Temples
A secondary capital of the Badami Chalukyas, Pattadakal is known for its group of temples, which are collectively a World Heritage Site. Barring a few temples that date back to the 3rd century AD, most others in the group were built during the 7th and 8th centuries AD. Historians believe Pattadakal served as an important testing ground for the development of South Indian temple architecture.
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Bannerghatta Biological Park
The attached zoo is a little grim, but it’s worth making the 25km trek south of Bengaluru to this nature reserve to take its hour-long grand safari in a minibus through an 11,330-hectare enclosure. Here the Karnataka Forest Department rehabilitates tigers, lions and sloth bears rescued from circuses or the wilds. To get here, take bus 366A from City Market (Rs20, one hour).
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Choukhandi
Choukhandi is the serene mausoleum of Sufi saint Syed Kirmani Baba, who travelled here from Persia during the golden age of the Bahmani empire. An uncanny air of calm hangs within the monument, and its polygonal courtyard houses rows of medieval graves, amid which women in hijab sit quietly and murmur inaudible prayers. You are welcome to sit in or walk around, and soak up the ambience.
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Nandi Hills
Rising to 1455m, the Nandi Hills, 60km north of Bengaluru, were once the summer retreat of Tipu Sultan. Today, it’s Bengaluru’s favourite weekend getaway, and is predictably congested on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s a good place for hiking, with stellar views and two notable Chola temples. Buses head to Nandi Hills (Rs40, two hours) from Bengaluru’s Central bus stand.
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