Historical Halasi

Halasi village near Belgaum is dotted with heritage temples and history and the vibe of this place directly transports you to the era of kings and dynasties, writes Arti Das

The second temple at Halasi that has a high plinth

Whenever you plan or decide something after a long gap, there are indeed apprehensions and doubts. The things which you were confident about or took for granted are now making you overthink. Travelling during the pandemic era has done that to most of us. I chose to take a bike ride from Goa just for a weekend to Halasi, a quaint village situated around 12 km from Khanapur in Belgaum district of Karnataka. We first visited Belgaum or Belagavi city to break our journey and after a two-day stay, we headed to this village. It was a joyous 40-km ride mostly through the early morning fog and thick forests of Western Ghats.

Halasi is known for some old temples built in the 5th century during the Kadamba period. That made me excited as I always look forward to discovering such places whenever I travel. The village of Halasi is like any other agrarian village of the country. It has an old-world charm with mud-plastered houses, small grocery stores, and green fields and hills bordering this village. The main temple of this area is the Bhuvaraha Narasimha Temple.

One interesting aspect of this temple is that its main entry door is from the side of the temple, which is usually not the case. Also, what makes it unique is that when you enter you find deities on either side as it has two sanctum sanctorum facing each other. One side of it is dedicated to the Varah — one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu, where you witness an intricate idol of Varah, and another one has an idol of Vishnu in a sitting posture, which is rarely seen. There are also idols of Suryanaryana and Mahalaxmi. The temple also has a large stone tablet that has an inscription and gives details about some gifts given by the Kadamba dynasty in the 12th century. The temple structure is situated on a star-shaped platform and is dotted with coconut palm trees. The whole complex also has small shrines outside and an idol of Kaal Bhairav.

This ancient temple is now under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), but it is still worshipped by the villagers. This temple also reminded me of the temple complex of Banvasi, near Sirsi in Karnataka, which was also the ancient capital of Kadamba rulers. At the temple, a villager informed us of another such temple in the vicinity and also one on a hillock that requires a trek of 2 km to get there. Due to time constraints, we could not do that but we explored the nearby temple which had a Shiv Linga and two Nandi idols. The temple is situated on a high plinth with no roof as such. We then also explored another temple, which is also dedicated to Lord Shiva. Here I came across a panel of Saptamatrikas (a group of seven mother-goddesses, each of whom is the shakti, or female counterpart, of a god), an idol of Lord Ganesha, and also some hero stones. All these sculptures looked very old and were beautifully decorated with flowers as they are worshipped by the villagers.