Halasuru (Ulsoor) Someshwara Temple (Bangalore - Karnataka)

I can't believe, I haven't done a single post yet on Bangaluru (Bangalore)!!! Yes, I have done a few places easily reachable from Bangalore, but then, this is gonna be my first post on the heart of Bangalore. 

During my last trip to Bangalore, I had some work near the MG Road and pretty near to it was this place called Ulsoor or Halasuru. One mistake I did was to try to walk upto Ulsoor from MG Road. It was just 3 kms and I would have easily walked it up. But why mistake? I walked it up wearing my stiletto heel, right from work!!!!! 3 km in stilettos, I know, stupid, right? Yeah!!!

At Ulsoor was my destination, Someshwara Temple. This was a huge temple, but then still, hidden in the chaos of the market all around it. 

light thru coconut leaves

Unique was the first word that hit my mind when I saw the sculptural marvel of this temple. It was not regular. The pillars, the reliefs on them, the reliefs on the temple walls, everything was different from the regular temples.

This temple was where Mandavya Maharishi prayed to Lord Shiva. The Shrines here were of Nanjundeeswaran, Arunachaleshwarar, Kala Bhairavar, Dakdhinamurthy esp. apart from Chandikesa, Lord Muruga and Lord Vinayaka. This temple is believed to have been built by the Hoysalas/Cholas with the Dravidian Architechture. Later on during the 1570 AD this was rebuilt by Kempe Gowda, the founder of modern Bangalore. 

The legend so goes that Kempe Gowda, tired after hunting, slept beneath a tree here and in his dream Lord Siva as Someshwara asked him to erect a temple at the very spot. Just as I would say always, in a country where we have the Ajanta from 2nd C BC, I wouldn't consider this temple very old!!!

The uniqueness of the temple was esp. the pillars. No two pillars looked alike. Many pillars had sculptures more than reliefs. Minor portions of the sculptures, were attached to the actual pillar, thus creating, an intricate, open work on the pillars!!! 

Another unique factor was all over the walls. Just above the lowest crevice in the wall, across all 4 sides, there were series of relieves throughout the walls, at places depicting a story scene by scene!!!

My cam is in a wee-bit bad shape, so all these pics are from my cell. Thank you Samsung Mobile!!! Lolz!!!

TO REACH:

In Bangalore:

Nearest Busstop: Ulsoor

Nearest Metro Station: Halasuru

From M.G Road: 2.6km

Further detail on transport in Bangalore given in Pt.4 of Transport Section in Travel Tips Page. 

TO STAY:

Hotels, Dorms, Paying Guest facilities available at all price points all over Bangalore.