The street apporaching the temple in the town of Belur. The rising tower at the entrance of a temple in called a Rayagopura.

In front of the main temple building.

Tens of thousands of sculptures adorn the temples. At the base all the way around are elephants symbol of strenght supporting the rest of the temple.

The level of detail on each elephant is incredible and no two are exactly alike.

This giant stone obelisk is not anchored, it simply balances where is has for the past thousand years.

The Rayagopura from inside the temple grounds.

The Temple pool.

The Hoysaleswara temple was surrounded by beatiful grass and trees.

This photo provides some sense of the number of carvings that adorn these temples.

Climbing the thousand steps up Vindhyagiri hill. Notice how the steps are simply carved into the solid granite hill.

The climb was pretty brutal.

This picture was taken about halfway up.

The view at the top was pretty spectacular.

The colossus of Gommateshwara at the summit.

Standing about 60 feet tall carved from a single rock the size was impressive.

In an effort to preserve this icon the scafolding protects but does not support the sculpture.

Resting before the thousand step descent.

Enjoying a KingFisher at a roadside daba on the way home.