Places of Interest

Melkote CheluvaNarayana Swamy Temple

36 Kms North from Mandya is Melkote, a sacred pilgrim centre, known for its Vairamudi festival in March- April. More than one lakh devotees  congregate here for this festival. Melkote used to be known for its Handlooms. The great saint Ramanujacharya walked this land a thousand years ago. The Chaluvanarayan Swamy and Yaganarasimha swamy temples of Melkote boast of a history of more than 1000 years. Melkote is also home to theAcademy of Sanskrit Research.

How to reach there: By road from Bangalore (135 K.M.s), Mysore (50 K.M.s) and  Mandya (50 K.M.s) 

Where to Stay at Melkote: The Forest Department and the Public Works Department have a guest house each. The Academy of Sanskrit Research has lovely cottages surrounded by lush green gardens.

Brahmeshvara Temple, Kikkeri

Situated about eight miles from K.R.Pet town and ten miles from Sravanabelagola, this temple is a fine specimen of Hoysala architecture. It was constructed in A.D.1171, during the rule of the Hoysala King Narasimha I, by a lady named Bammare Nayakiti. This ornate structure has some special features. The sides of the temple are convex viewed from outside and bulge out so that the interior dimensions are widened beyond the base. The deep indentation of the horizontal courses in the basement and the knife-edge to which  the cornices have been brought are also interesting points. It is a single celled temple and has an impressive and lofty stone tower. There is a well executed image of Vishnu, about four feet high, in one of the niches of the navaranga The madanike figures carved on the capitals of the pillars of the navaranga are of extra-ordinary workmanship and are life-like.. 

Satyagraha Soudha Shivpura

A monument to mark the freedom struggle at Maddur in particular and Mandya district in general, this is an architecturally unique building located on Bangalore Mysore Highway, 80 K.M. away from Bangalore and 25 K.M.s from Mandya.

Hosaholalu Temple

The Lakshminarayana temple is a magnificient example of Hoysala architecture of the thirteenth century. The intricate carvings in stone depict various images from the Mahabharata and other epics. 

The temple is a trikutachala or three-celled temple. Only the main cell has a sukhanasi and a tower.

Some of the images carved on the walls are about two and a half feet high. They are of fine proportions and well executed. The figures of Panduranga, Dakshinamurti and Mohini are particularly noteworthy. Groups of dancing ladies with accompaniments in impressive poses adorn the capitals of the pillars in the navaranga. There are also some interesting sculptures in the friezes, the scroll work and the railing panels. An annual jatra called Rangada-habba is held here in honour of Anjaneya about the month of April. It resembles the Holi festival in some respects. The villages put on various disguises, sing the praises of god and dance the whole night, squirting, at intervals, saffron water (vasanta) over one another.

Hosahallu is a village near Krishnaraj Pete town. One can reach Hosaholalu by road from Mandya (60 K.M.s), Mysore (50 K.M.s) and Bangalore (160 K.M.s).