>Date of travel: 1st August 2009
Place: Somnathpur, Karnataka
My first visit to Somnathpur temple was brief and the place was mesmerizing enough to long for another visit. Somnathpur is at a distance of about 35 kms from Mysore (45 mins drive) and presents innumerable opportunities to experiment with the camera and light. The carvings here are so detailed that you are bound to see the same sculptures in a different angle every time you visit – which was the prime purpose for my second visit.
Lathe turned pillars
The entire temple complex is on a star shaped platform. We can see gopuras – 3 in number corresponding to the three Sanctums, Lord Venugopala, Lord Keshava and Lord Janardhana.
The lighting inside the temple was eerie. They had placed tungsten focus lights at such angles so as to give a ghostly appearance to the idols in the sanctum area. The shadows cast by the delicately carved ceilings completed the ambience.
Ceiling carvings
Statue of Lord Venugopala.
Statue of Lord Keshava, also has a Garuda carving on the pedestal.
13 Comments
Sameer · 9 Nov ’09 at 4:42 am
>great! i should have visited this place when i was in blore.. miss ho gaya.
Charu · 9 Nov ’09 at 5:31 am
>beautiful pics, as always, Anoop! the first one of the pillars is stunning – the play of light and shadow – the pillars almost seem to be rotating slowly! I love Somnathpur – not as crowded as the other temples – and much prettier!
Vetrimagal · 9 Nov ’09 at 6:00 am
>I am avid follower of your blog. Breathtaking is the word that comes to my mind.
Your blog inspires me to wander off in Karnataka , on my next visit.
Thanks a lot.
God bless.
Arun · 9 Nov ’09 at 6:45 am
>Beautiful pics. The light on the statues is very good.
shruthi · 9 Nov ’09 at 12:19 pm
>just very beautiful.. as our India
Francisco Beltrán · 9 Nov ’09 at 8:09 pm
>Beautiful place and great photographs.
Thank you for sharing them.
Greetings from Barcelona.
anoop · 10 Nov ’09 at 4:19 am
>sameer: give a visit on your next visit to bangalore, whenever it is. any plans?
charu: thanks. my personal favorite is the second pic though.
vetrimagal: thanks. nice to know that my blog inspires someone to travel!
arun: thanks man,
shruthi: our country is beautiful, indeed!
Francisco: thanks for visiting. Greetings from India too 🙂
Smilie! · 10 Nov ’09 at 12:55 pm
>Hi Anoop,
Brilliant! 🙂
I love the second pic – I bow before the artist who carved it so beautifully!
…n u the photographer – kudos to u to like always!
Cheers,
Shalini
Sid · 10 Nov ’09 at 4:08 pm
>Wonderful pictures and like you said the light does all the magic.
Loved the first picture, for a second I actually thought that they were spinning.
Sishir · 11 Nov ’09 at 11:06 am
>Excellent shots. 1st & 4th are my favorite. Thanks for sharing.
anoop · 11 Nov ’09 at 11:30 am
>smilie: as always, thank you 🙂
Sid: the pillars here are my favorite, in fact i love taking photos of pillars whichever temple i visit.
sishir: you are welcome.
wandering soul · 11 Nov ’09 at 5:25 pm
>the pillars are lovely at Somnathpur..aren't they? I found myself also to be very amused by them.
Infact no two pillars have similar pattern it seems. Went on a guided tour through KSTDC…
Nice pictures!
Mithun · 17 Nov ’09 at 4:18 am
>Beautiful pictures…I have run out of superlatives describing your pictures, so from now on will limit myself to just beautiful 🙂