Arkavati Dam and Mallikarjuna Temple — Basaralu

When visiting sangam/mekedatu there is one dam which was always evading me. Though I had seen the signboard numerous times I never did consider visiting it. While checking for places that can be covered, in a day I chanced upon Harobele Dam, which caught my attention.

Since I had to go to mysore, I decided to cover this along with a few other places before reaching mysore.

Research on where to go apart from the dam lead me to mallikarjuna temple in basaralu which is 30 kms from Mandya.  I was in no hurry to reach mysore so decided to explore the dam and then head to mandya and visit the temple before reaching mysore

Fact File about Harobele Dam

Harobele or Arkavati Dam is built on the river arkavati. The dam supplies water to kanakapura and nearby. While popular tourist spots such as sangam, mekedatu and cunchi falls are heavily polluted, the dam is free from any of this, which is a good sign.  It would be helpful if ppl who plan on visiting the dam dont litter the place, with junk

Distance From Bangalore : 90 kms

How to reach: Take the sangam road from kanakapura and stay on the road till you see a board pointing the direction towards arkavati dam. The dam is 5 kms from the signboard

Road Conditons: Not so good after taking the left from the signboard

I reached the dam around 11 went inside, to take some snaps. The place was relatively empty except for a couple of workers. Took a few snaps of the dam and the landscape and went to have a chat with the workers. I was told that the dam was constructed to provide water for kanakapura and nearby towns. The dam was constructed in the 80′s, however as always the dam was completed after few years due to red tapeisim  and lacks of funds. Now the dam serves a very important purpose.

Few snaps of the dam and the landscape

I headed back to the main road and then to malavalli. Reached the highway and was cruising towards mandya shortly.

The mallikarjuna temple in basaralu is one of the typical hoysala temples. It was built by one harihara nayaka who was the commander in cheif under the hoysala king raja imadi narasimha.

Mallikarjuna Temple

The temple is built in a typical hosyala style with the base being star shaped. The carvings depict various stories from the mahabharata n the puranas.

Carvings

The shikara contains the hoysala emblem which adds to the grandeour of the temple.

Shikara and the Hoysala Emblem

The place is maintained well by the ASI

The temple has beautiful Dravidian Shikhara on its main garbhagriha, which houses a “Balahari Shivalinga”  and a beautiful lotus on the ceiling . The two small garbhagrihas facing each other, housed a “Naga Nagini”  sculpture in one  and the “Surya Deva” (Sun god) in the other. The vestibule has the symbol of Hoysala , Sala killing a lion .

Note: Photography is not allowed inside the sanctum scrotum

Mallikarjuna Temple Fact File

Name of the temple: Mallikarua Temple

Location: Basaralu

Built in : 13th Century AD

How to reach: Bangalore->Mysore highway->Mandya->Take right to chick mandya-> Take Left to basaralu.

Total Distance: 130 Kms

Road Conditions: Few potholes along the way, overall road conditions are OK

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Snaps can be found here