Shravanabelagola is one of the many day trips and the Gomateshwara statues situated here it is one of the pilgrimage destinations for Jainism. It is a small town of Hassan District located at a distance of around 150 km from Bangalore. The main attractions in Sharavanabelagola are two small hills namely Chandragiri and Vindyagiri. Vindyagiri is where the famous Gomateshwara statue is present.
We have started our journey from Bangalore around 6:00 AM in the morning and have taken SUR HASAN EXP (11311) to reach Shravanabelagola from Bangalore. As I have mentioned earlier train being the cheapest mode of travel, we usually take train and avoid getting our vehicle. The train started at 6:40 AM and we reached Shravanabelagola at 10:00 AM in the morning. From the station, we have taken Tuk-Tuk which took us to Vindyagiri Hill.
You need to climb around 600 odd steps and thus in summer it is recommended to wear socks as they don't allow you to wear your shoes. Since it is a steep climb we need to be extra cautious, though there are railings installed which will make it easier to climb.
You will love the surrounding view from the halfway of the hill, especially the view of pond and Chandragiri hills. Few glimpses of the view :
After climbing around 400 steps we saw the first temple, it was dark inside so could not get the shot from inside though
We reached the top in like 45 minutes. We at first taken a walk around the temple before going inside the temple
Gomateswara statue being 58 feet is the largest monolithic statue in the world.
Along with the main statue, we also saw a few more beautiful sculptures depicting ancient beauty.
We sat there for around 30 minutes and then we started to climb down. Since it was 1:30 PM we went to a nearby restaurant and had our lunch. After having lunch, we have started for Chandragiri Hill. Chandragiri hill does not get too much of a visitor because either people are not aware of it or they simply decide to skip it, but if you are in Sharavanabelagola it is worth to visit the hill. It has fewer steps than Vindyagiri, and we just have to climb around 270 steps to reach the top of the hill. Climbing the hill is relatively easy than Vindyagiri because it does not have steep stairs.
If you have to do photoshoot I would highly recommend this hill, it has everything which you need to cozy photoshoot.
Out of the 106 memorials in Sharavanabelagola, 92 are located in Chandragiri hill. Photos from inside the temple complex :
Again after staying there for 30 minutes we decided to climb down. From there we have again taken a tuk-tuk to reach the railway station. Our train SOLAPUR EXP(11312) was at 4:45 PM and thus we need to wait for around 30 minutes on the railway station. By looking at the railway station I must say, it is one of the cleanest railway stations, it might be because of a few people visiting it. Our train was on time and we reached Bangalore by 8 PM.
Though the trip was tiring as we have to climb two hills, but it was worth it.