Today was filled with visiting 3 temples. Hindus associate with one of three gods, Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. The Brahmans are a by birth upper class in India’s caste system. The Brahmans are professors, doctors, almost all politicians inc. the Ghandis and currently Modi. There is only one Brahman temple in all of India and that temple is in Pushkar, Rajasthan State. We had the privilege of visiting that temple 2 years ago. All other Hindus choose to be followers of either Shiva or Vishnu. Every other temple in India is either a Shiva or Vishnu temple. Today we visited one of each.

The first was the Shiva temple in Halebidu, India. Construction began in 1121 and though not completed, ended 109 years later with a Muslim invasion. Much damage was done to the temple by the Muslim invaders. This temple is not a religiously functioning temple. All thousands of  carvings are done in sand stone, same as at Ankor Wat in Cambodia. Though not shown on this blog 😞, numerous carvings are erotic depicting the Karma Sutra.

The second temple was a religiously active Vishnu temple in Belur, India. Construction began in 1117. Religious ceremonies were happening inside but not OK to photograph. The photos shown are a mix of the two temples.

Celeste with our guide for the day, Rena.

Check the skulls and skeletons.

As a Hindu priest leaves the temple, he gets a little procession.

A couple of color shots for the day.

Tomorrow we have a long 7 hour drive to Hospet. The temples we saw today are not UNESCO Heritage sites. Our guide says they have applied but there are so many like these two in India. Two days from now we visit Hampi which is a UNESCO Heritage site and the crown jewel of UNESCO sites in India.