Belur was initially the capital of the Hoysala Empire. Belur is one of the major tourist destinations in Karnataka. As per inscriptions it was referred to as Velapuri. The main attraction is the Chennakesava temple. Belur is located at 13.17degreeN 75.87degreeE and has an average elevation of 962 metres.

Some of the famous spots of Belur:
Chennakesava Temple
This temple is dedicated to Lord Vijayanarayana, an incarnation of Vishnu. It is believed that this temple was built in order to commemorate victory of Hoysalas over the Cholas.

This temple was built by the greatest ruler of this empire the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana Raya, furthered by his son Narasimha Raya and later on completed by his grandson- Veera Ballala. It took 103 years to complete this temple. Kappe Chennigaraya Temple behind the Mandapa

Kappe Chennigaraya Temple:
This temple is dedicated to Kappe Chennigaraya and was consecrated by Shantala Devi, the queen of King Vishnuvardhana. This temple has two sanctums, one for Chennigaraya and other for Venugopala. It has five niches in the hall and enshrines sculptures of Ganesha, Saraswati, Lakshmi-Narayana, Lakshmi Sridhara and Durga.

Veera Narayana Temple
This temple is located on the west of Chenna Kesava temple and is dedicated to Veera Narayana. The outer wall is decorated with large images; the most impressive is the image of western wall that shows three crowned heads: Vijaya Narayana, Chenna Kesava and Lakshmi Narayana.

Vishnu Samudra:
The Big tank of Belur is also called Vishnu Samudra. It was built during the rule of Narasimha Raya under. It was later converted into a comfortable Pushkarni for the devotees to use the sacred water for the daily austerities. In the midst of Pushkarni an island Mandapam was built for the sake of the sacred Float Festival.

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