This is one of the most popular Jain pilgrimage center in South India, and is known for its colossal monolithic statue of Gomateswara, on top of a hill. Sravanbelagola is at a distance of 93km from Mysore. The nearest railhead is Hassan (49km). Belur is at a distance of 86 km from here.

The temple to Gomateswara is built on top of a hill, in between two hills - at a height of 3000 feet above sea level. A flight of 600 steps provides access to this temple. Views of the neighborhood from the top of the hill are spectacular.The image of Gomateswara is an awe inspiring one. Carved out of a single block of granite, this 50 feet high statue, stands majestically on top of the hill. This image was created during the period of Chamundaraya, a minister of the Ganga King Rajamalla. The neighboring area abounds in Jaina bastis and several images of the Jaina Theerthankaras.

Belur and HaleBeedu

Temples at Belur and HaleBeedu represent the fine sculpture of Indian Architecture. Built by the well known sculptor Jakkanna Chari, these temples rev present some of the most delicate and intricate carvings reminiscent of Hoysala dynasty. "Poetry in Stone" is the exclamation of many, for these temples are indeed a challenge to the most skilled sculptor.

Located in the Hassan district, these temples are dedicated to Vishnu, the chief deity of the Hoysala dynasty. The sculptor Jakkanna tried out the Channa Keshava temple at Belur as an experiment to build the larger and more exquisite temple at Hale'beedu.

While the temple at Belur is still in use, the bigger and more exquisite temple at Hale'beedu was partly destroyed by the Mughal invaders who pillaged and destroyed this region. However, most of the artifacts and the temple itself is still open to tourists, to study and admire.

The twin Shiva Temple with a common platform and two garbhagrihas, one beside the other have a common broad navaranga. One of them houses Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleshwara Linga and the other Shanthaleshwara Linga. Infront of the Hoysaleshwara is the Nandimantapa and behind that is a shrine of Surya with a two-metre-tall image. The temple doorways are highly ornate and impressive. Outer walls have rows of intricate figures narrating episodes from epics like Ramayana, Bharatha and Bhagavata. The place has a Parshwanatha basadi with highly polished pillars in which on- lookers queer images are reflected.

Nanjanagud

This place is 25 KMs towards south of Mysore on the way to Ooty. This is a place of worship and is located on the banks of river "KAPILA" . The temple here is of prime importance, which is the temple of "Lord Shreekanteshwara" (Shiva). The temple here is one of the largest temples of south India. The temple is spread around 1 Acres. There are 121 statues of Shiva in different avatars, also there are 65 Lingas. There will be festival during March and April where lakhs of devotees gather for the occasion.

There is very good bus facility from Mysore City by KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) a government run bus service in Karnataka to Nanjangud and the journey is of half an hour and costs around Rs. 14/-. Since there is no good facility for staying in nanjangud, visitors stay in Mysore and visit nanjangud

Srirangapattana

This place is located about 15 KMs towards Nort-East of Mysore city and on the Mysore-Bangalore State Highway. This place is on the banks of river Kaveri. One specialty is that this place is an Island! Where River Kaveri splits into two parts as North Kaveri and South Kaveri and again combines near a village called "Ganjam" and the place in between the two parts of the river is the town of srirangapattanam.

Long back this place was the capital city of Mysore kings. This is the place where the legendary king "Tippu Sultan" who lived here. He fought and died while fighting against the British army. There are many places of interest here, of them the "Sri Ranganatha" temple is one of them and this temple is very huge and very artistic in construction. Here the idol of Lord Ranganatha is seen sleeping on "Kalinga" the seven-headed serpant. Tippu had a summer palace, which was known as "Dariya Daulat" , where the paintings, gardens are eye-catching and fantastic.

On the city outskirts near the small village of "Ganjam", there is the "Gumbaz" which is the burial place of King Tippu sultan, his father Hyder Ali and his mother. Also near this place is "Nimishamba Temple" which is on the banks of river Kaveri.

Ranganathittu bird sanctuary

This place is about 13 KMs towards North-East to the city of mysore. This bird sanctuary is located on the backwaters of river Kaveri. Nature has made small islands here to facilitate the birds to stay and breed here. Birds from far off places like Siberia, North America migrate here every year to breed new ones and fly back to their own place. The Department of Forests has made arrangements of boating inorder to watch the birds. Every year during May and September you can see large variety of birds here. There is separate entry fees for entry into the bird sanctuary and for boating.

Somanathapura

This place is 38 KMs towards east of Mysore. Somanathpur, a small village on the left bank of river Cauvery is an outstanding centre of tourist importance for its wonderful Hoysala temple, dedicated to Prasanna Chennakeshava constructed in 1268 A.D by Soma, an officer of the Hoysala Kingdom. The temple is built on a star shaped plan similar to other Hoysala temples at Belur-Halebid. It is a triple shrine temple, of which two are dedicated to Lord Janardhana and Venugopala, the two different forms of Lord Vishnu.

The Keshava temple is a trikutachala , situated in a courtyard 215 ft. in length and 177 ft. in width, surrounded by a prakara . It has a verandah along its interior, divided into 64 cells each formally housing a deity. Rows of lathe-turned pillars support the ceiling of their frontage. The temple proper stands on an elevated jagati, which is 3/4 mtr. In height and it is sufficiently broad giving the old structure the shape of a casket. The jagati enables the visitors to go round the temple and have a clear view of the fine sculptures on the outer walls. The jagati is designed with the projections and recesses in harmony with the contours of the outer wall as is common with any Hoysala temple. The outer wall is divided into two portions. The lowest having rows of elephants, another above having the moving cavalry, the third is a series of creepers and a fourth having a long sculpture gallery depicting the story of Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Krishnavathara. This place can be reached by private vehicle.

Shivanasamudra Water Falls

85 Kms from Mysore, river Cauvery gushes down a 75 meter deep gorge in form of two waterfalls (Gaganachukki & Barachukki). These falls are best during the monsoons, nevertheless their beauty mesmerises tourists throughout the year. Its a nature lovers paradise. Shivanasamudra has India's first Hydro-Electric Power Station which was set up in 1902 by the then Maharaja of Mysore.

The Shivanasamudra Falls is on the Kaveri River after the river has wound its way through the rocks and ravines of the Deccan Plateau and drops off to form waterfalls. The island town of Shivanasamudra divides the river into twin waterfalls. This creates the fourth largest island in the rivers course. A group of ancient temples are located here and there likely was a village.

This is a segmented waterfall. Segmented waterfalls occur where the water flow is broken into two or more channels before dropping over a cliff, resulting in multiple side by side waterfalls. It has an average width of 849 meters, a height of 90 m, and an average volume of 934 cubic meters / sec. The maximum recorded volume is 18,887 cubic meters / sec. It is a perennial waterfall. The time of best flow are the monsoon season of July to October.

Talakad

Talakad is a town known for its sand dunes, located near Mysore in Karnataka. A historic site, Talakad once had over 30 temples. It stands at a sharp bend of the Kaveri river eastwards from a southerly course. Sand dunes are formed here persistently, extending over a mile, burying a large number of monuments. Talakad houses the imposing temple to Vaidyeshwara - Shiva.

Talakad was patronized by the Western Gangas in the first millennium CE, and then by the Tamil Cholas from the 11th through the 12th centuries. Talakad came under the Hoysala in the 12th century. It was then patronized by the Vijayanagar rulers and the Maharajas of Mysore.

The Vaidyeshwara temple is built in the Dravidian style of granite. Much of the structure is here is attributed to the Vijayanagar period (14th century), although several Hoysala features are seen in this temple. The eastern doorway of the Navaranga is beautifully sculptured. Colossal dwarapalakas adorn the entrances.

The Vaidyeshsara temple along with four others - Arkeshwara, Vasukishwara or Pataleshwara, Saikateshwara or Maraleshwara and Mallikarjuna constitute the Panchalingams here. These five Lingams are said to represent the five faces of Shiva. The Pataleshwara Shivalingam is said to change colors during the day (red in the morning, black in the afternoon and white in the evening).

Panchalinga darshana is a rare pilgrimage occasion, occuring once in every few years. Tradition has it that pilgrims should first bathe in the Gokarna theertham, worship Gokarneswara and Chandikadevi, and then worship Vaidyeshwara, and then bathe in the northern eastern southern and western stretches of the Kaveri and then worship Arkeshwara, Pataleshwara, Maraleshwara and Mallikarjuna, returning to Vaidyeshwara after each worship, finally worship Kirtinarayana and conclude the pilgrimage in one day.

Several interesting legends surround this shrine. It is believed that an ascetic Somadatta headed out to Siddharanya Kshetra Talakad) to worship Shiva. Having been killed by wild elephants enroute, he and his disciples re-incarnated as wild elephants and worshipped Shiva in the form of a tree at Talakad.

Two hunters Tala and Kada, are believed to have struck the tree with an axe to find blood gushing forth, and upon the bidding of a heavenly voice, dressed the wound of the tree with thre tree's leaves and fruits. The tree healed, and the hunters became immortal. Since Shiva is believed to have healed himself through this incident, he is referred to as Vaidyeshwara. The Panchalingams here are all associated with this legend.

B. R. Hills

This picturesque hill range, at a height of 5091 ft.,is 90 kms.from Mysore and is home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. The temple on the hill, dedicated to Biligiri Rangaswamy attracts devotees round the year. Its a good trekking spot.
This place is a religious place, which is in "Chamarajanagar District" . The temple of lord Biligiri ranga is located on top of the main hill. For people interested in camping and adventure there is K.Gudi jungle camp located on the way to BR hills where they offer jungle trek and other adventure sports. There are lots of Tourist buses to this place and can be visited in one day.

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, is a hill (betta in Kannada) located in the Chamarajanagar district of the state of Karnataka,at a height of 1454 m India and is extensively wooded. It is also the highest peak in the Bandipur National Park. It lies in the core area of the Bandipur National Park and is frequented by wild life including elephants. Dense fog predominates and covers the hills round the year and thus gets the prefix Himavad(in the native language of Kannada) and the temple of Venugopalaswamy (Lord Krishna) gives the full name of Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta.

It is approximately 75 km from Mysore on the Mysore Ooty road -10 km away from Gundlupet,which is 60 km away from Mysore. There is a motorable road all the way to the top of the hill. Entry fee is collected at the forest depeartment checkpost at foot of the hill. Visitors are allowed from around 6am till 5pm. Overnight stay on top is not allowed. Trekking and videography in the surrounding hills are allowed only with prior permission and to be accompanied by the forest department guides.