Belur Halebid Ride from Bangalore and Shivamogga
Belur Halebid Ride Backdrop: Since a week it was raining like cats and dogs in Bengaluru, rather what I like to call it as Bangalore, what ever the nature has to throw at us it still remain Nama Bengaluru still amazes me very single day. I had not slept properly the previous night , woke up to an early text at 3 :00 AM ” macha its raining here “and I was in no possible mood to get wet early in the morning. well to my luck it stopped raining.
400 + KM ride “okay this is gonna be a wet one” thought to myself and got ready for the ride and the assembly was 4;45 AM ,We reached the flag off point with my pillion, Cheta (Arun Hilson), after the safety and ride briefing we did wait for few late timers as it was raining and hit the road . The weather was just right not too cold, not too humid, not too sunny, but just right in fact the entire way it was the same the cold breeze hitting us which made it much more pleasant one. I was itchy and just wanted to click as much as I can, open road beautiful destination Belur and the company of the best people who have come across my life, what else could I ask for just when I was thinking this their came the breakdowns.
One early model cast iron Royal Enfield front wheel wobbled too much at the speed what we were leading on and after a couple of stops checks and when stopped for first chai break , the gentlemen decided to head back as with a slower pace he would not be able to complete the 400 KM rideto Belur Halebid and then their was two bikes missing , later after calling the sweep found out that one of the bike was losing power. Both the bikes some how made to the chai break point , when I tested the bike I found out that the air filter was getting clogged, I was think about opening it up and cleaning it to check if it works? to my amaze after opening the seat up found out that the hose pipe was getting blocked with a sunglasses cover under the seat, we cracked up laughing with the very sight of it .
We started once again passing the NH tolls , We reached our breakfast point at Mayura hotel, where a buffet breakfast was arranged by Highway Delight our travel and pit stop partner ( Mr Rajesh). With growling stomach we just pounced on the plates, its ,movements like these which brings the fellow riders closer to you when we get to share stories crack jokes pull each others legs, pose for the clicks fight for the table and food and all. We saddled up once again after the breakfast stop , actually envied the Shivamoga chapter riders ( Abhishek and team members) who were supposed to meet us at blur because they had and epic scenic ride between hills and valley and cross the lush greenery of Add to dictionary to meet us at Belur Halebid.
We reached our destination, Belur and it was the second time that I was visiting this place and yet I felt same surprised feeling lingering yet again this place never stops to amaze me. 12th century made and this amount detailing and carvings where every stone speaks for itself and have unique story to tell, I was like a kid in a candy store running around with my camera to click as much as I can.
Belur: The temple gravity pillar which stands on its own without and foundation and where the hell did they find such a big rock ?? 42 meet in height .The outer walls are the best part of the temple if you ask me the rock cuts shrines depicting the epics scene from Mahabharata rows of animals and dancing Mandankinis the Gods and goddesses, Hoysala dynasty symbol , the beautiful Mandakinis, Naramshima statue and the intricate carving on the pillars and ceiling has a whole new way of mesmerizing people the rotating statues , no wonder Belur Halebid temples is one of the world heritage site opted by UNESCO.
Our Shivamoga riders made it just in time , we met each other greeted shared our stories planned for our next events such as rider mania , RT merchandise was distributed amongst all , It was lunch time already and to my surprise I had a flat tire , fixing it along the way we cashed at near by hotel for some biryani what ride is complete with out a biryani if you ask me .
Soon after the lunch it was time for us to split ( RT Shivamoga and RT Bengaluru) it slightly started to drizzled, we geared up to our wet riding gears and start our 200 + KM ride back to the city to our luck it stopped raining once again , winding through the Hassan city traffic we made to the national highway and reached the last toll and took a long chai ( tea ) break we were exhausted the 21 riders just crashed everywhere possibly at the shop no one was will to get up and to start riding again.
Convincing ourselves with aching butts we started again we stopped at our usual dispersion point at Parle factory on Tumkur road bidding bye and cherishing the ride completion we called it a day , one should definitely visiting temples of Belur Halebid if your traveling in South India, the road condition is really good plenty of hotels on the way and one will surely add pages to the memory lane after visiting these two places .
Blog and Pictures by Vinod Basavaraj! RT Official Photographer – RT Crew, #RTBengaluru
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Thank you for the words, Vinod bhai! 🙂
one of the best blogs so far.. NatGeo material 🙂
Well penned dude…. really missed the ride. ..
🙂
we missed you too… next time 🙂