Things to See in Hassan District, Karnataka

Location: Hassan district is located in the heart of the Malnad region and shares the boundary with Kodagu district on the south, Mysore on south east, Manday district on east, Tumkur on north east, Mangalore on west and Chikmagalur on north west.

District Headquater: Hassan

Distance: Hassan town is around 180 km from Bangalore

Journey time: Around 4 and half hours by bus and 5 hrs by train.

How to reach there: One can reach there by KSRTC bus or train from Bangalore, Mysore or Mangalore.

Route: Bangalore – Kunigal – Hassan

Where to stay: Hotel Amblee Palika, Hotel Hassan Ashok, Hotel Suvarna Arcade

Where to eat: Shantala Restaurant, Sathyaprakash Lodge, Malanika Restaurant, Hotel Amblee Palika

Language spoken: Kannada. English and Hindi is understood.

The history of Hassan prominently features the rule of Hoysala kings who ruled in this part of the world in betweeon 1000 – 1334 AD from Belur and Halebidu and Ganga Dynasty of Talkad (350 – 999 CE). After the decline of the Hoysalas, the Vijaynagar empire rules this place and then by the Mysore Wodeyars kings. During ancient time Hassan was said to be part of the great Murayan empire. The Master Control Facility of the Indian Space Research Organization is located here.

What to see:

1. Belur: Belur is famous for the Chennakeshava temple built by Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana. It located around 38 km from Hassan town and other spots like Veeranarayana temple may be visited. Here you can stay at the Karnataka state government run Hotel Mayura Velapuri.

2. Halebidu: Halebidu is famous for the Hoysaleshwara temple. It is located 27 km from Hassan town. At Halebidu you can stay at Tourist Cottages of Tourism Department.

3. Shravanabelagola: Shravanabelagola is important religious center of jains. One has to climb around 600 steps to reach the hill top where a huge monolithic statue of Gomteshwara or Lord Bahubali is located. This is the largest monolithic statue in the world. Also, you can find various stautes of jain thirthankaras. Mahamastakabhisheka is a grand festival here, which takes place every 12 years.

4. Bisle reserve forest or Bisle ghat: This area is famous for trekking.

5. Sakleshpur: Sakleshapur is a small town and is a mini hill station. It can be a weekend escape from the cities like Bangalore, Mangalore or Mysore. It is also know for coffee and spice cultivation.

6. Gorur Dam: Gorur dam is made by embanking river Hemavathi. It located around 12 km from Hassan town on the way Arakalagud. The back water of Gorur dam is also known Hemavathi Reservoir. Here can also visit the temple of Yoganarasimha.

7. Manjrabad Kote or fort: Manjrabad fort is locared on the top of Adanigudda, 6kms from Sakleshpura on the road to Mangalore. Its purpose is not to enclose any town but is to serve as a point of political strategy in the form of a protection and control point on the enemies to the rulers. In order to subdue or attack the enemies who would infiltrate from Madikeri and Mangalore sides. Tippu sultan developed this fort around 1782 AD as a watch tower rather then a full fledged defense point.

Hassan district is full of Hoysala architecture scattered all over the country side. This may never come to the notice of the typical tourist. Some of the are as follows:

Hulikere (ornate stepped tank or Kalyani)
Pushpagiri (Mallikarjuna, Bhairava temples)
Doddagaddavalli (Lakshmidevi temple)
Koravangala (Govindeshwara, Nakeshwara and Bucheshwara temples)
Kondajji (Vishnu temple)
Adagur (Lakshminarayana temple)
Chatachatahalli (Chatteshwara temple)
Javagal (Narasimha temple)
Haranahalli (Keshava and Someshwara temples)
Arasikere (Ishwara temple)
Hullekere (Channakeshava temple)
Shantigrama (YogaNarasimha and Channakeshavaswamy temple)
Nuggehalli (Lakshminarasimha and Sadashiva temple)
Sakleshpura (Sakaleswara temple)
Manjarabad (fort and dungeons)
Ramnathapura (Rameshwara temple)and Pattabi Rama ,Subramanyeshwara
Gorur (Yoganarasimha temple, Paravasudeva temple and Dam over river)
Basadihalli (Adinatha Basadi, Parshwanath Basadi and Saantinatha Basadi)
Malekal Tirupathi (Venkata Ramanna and Govidaraja temple)
Shantigrama (Yoganarsimha, Dharmeshwara and Keshava temples)
Anekere (Chennakaesava temple)
Mallarajapatna (Lakshmaneshwara temple)
Mavathanahalli (Mahalingeshwara temple)
Anathi (Lakshminarayana temple)
Hebbalalu (Singeshwara temple)
Jinanathapura (Shantinatha basadi)
Ambuga (Prasanna Chennakeshava temple)
Heragu (Kirthinarayana temple)
Mosale (Nageshwara and Channakeshava temples)
Mavinakere (Ranganathaswamy temple)
Holenarasipura (Narasimha temple)
Honnavara (Keshava temple)
Ruined Keshava Temple Honnavara,HassanHirekadalur (keshava temple)
Ruined Keshava Temple Hirekadalur,HassanHalmidi (Inscription)