Till now, we explored Banavasi Town where my first article introduced the essence of the town to the readers. Post this, my subsequent articles toured 2 other sightseeing spots in and around Banavasi town - the Town’s well known Madhukeshwara Temple and the Chandra Guppi hill will take one on a wonderful ecological journey, although pilgrim enthusiasts would have something here with the Renuka Amba Devi temple situated here.
Now, we are going to check out another tourist attraction around Banvasi Town, venturing into Gudnapur, that’s prominent for the place’s lake -the Gudnapur lake.
There are two unique temples here, the Bangareshwara temple and the Veerbhadreshwar temple. These temples are a wonderful spot for Nature lovers with the Gudnapur Lake and the Bangareshwara lake featured in the scenic and mesmerizing views their surroundings offer.
The Veerbhadreshwar temple is a Heritage spot showcasing Gudnapur’s rich history, as this tourist spot houses ancient ruins of another era.
Gudnapur
Bangareshwara temple and lake
A Five km drive from Banavasi brings one to this very special lake in Gudnapur - the Bangareshwara lake.
This lake was recently rejuvenated by the efforts put by NGO Manuvikasa with the help of local farmers, grants for which was given by Coco Cola Foundation.
The lake has a temple that is part underneath water, the Bangareshwara temple.
Snapshot taken from this video
One has to navigate the water here, to explore the interiors of the temple that houses a Shiva Linga around which are other deities as can be seen in these videos, showing the views from and around the Bangareshwara temple.
The temple roof is a fine spot to check the expanse of the Bangareshwara lake, bordered by hill mounds decorated with trees.
This would be a scenic experience and while enjoying the surrounding beauty of Gudnapur lake there is bound to be some interesting bird you can spot as this is a lake point.
Veerbhadreshwar temple
There are curious remains of history in Gudnapur’s Veerbhadreshwar temple. It is situated at the top of a small mound and is a great spot to enjoy sunset views over the horizon of the Gudnapur lake.
There are brick structures in the front yard of the temple with an intact Shiva Linga structure along with that of Nandi that is sitting in front of the Linga. These structures are of the 6th century Kadamba period.
The Veerbhadreshwar temple was built in later Chalukyan Style. It houses loose images of Rati and Kama, Parshwanatha, Mahavira and Virabhadra. A damaged pillar there has an inscription which talks about a temple built by King Ravi Varma in the period of 485- 516 AD. He provided liberal grants for the temple to offer it’s services. A water tank, Guddatataka was constructed as well.
Details are mentioned in the information notice placed at the site.
The temple overlooks Gudnapur lake and sunset views in the evenings are a priceless but soul enriching experience.
The area's surroundings around provide an up close experience with Nature, with nature’s simplicity embracing the beholder. A simple joy, one usually never makes space to experience.
Very interesting place. Thank you for taking us there through your photos. I will feature this post in my latest upvote giveaway for more visibility. Here is also some support from TipU ;)
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 36/48) Liquid rewards.
Thankyou so much @phortun for your support!!
We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by @tinta-tertuang on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!