Sri. Mallikarjuna temple, Kuruvatti

 The trail to Golden Era...Part 3

Kuruvatti is a village in Hoovina Hadagali taluk, Bellary District is 35 km from Haveri, and 30 km from Harihar. It is a picturesque village on the bank of river Tungabhadra and a pilgrim centre in the district. Legend has it that, Kuruvathi got its name because the Lord Basaveshwara (Nandi) came here to heal the Kuru - the wounds of the devotees. The holy temple is dedicated to Nandi who is in the form of a bull. It is believed that Lord Nandi came here in search of Lord Shiva (Mallikarjuna) found him on the bank of Tungabhadra River, sat in front of him and started worshiping him from then on. The Kuruvatti temple is particularly noteworthy for its exquisite bracket figures, carved screens, polished pillars, and tiers of friezes showing  rows  of  birds,  animals,  dwarfs,  and  figures  of  musicians  and  dancers.

The earliest rulers, known from inscriptions, were the Chalukyas of Kalyana (Western Chalukya). All of the Chalukya inscription are from the reign of Vikramaditya VI. Few inscriptions are from the Gutta kings also ruled under as the subordinate of the Chalukyas. When the region came under the Hoysalas, Kuruvatti became an important center as their rajguru, Lokabharana, made this village his abode. Many inscriptions of the Hoysala period mentions Lokabharana as the Rajguru of the Hoysala king Ballala II. The chief queen of Ballala II, Padumaladevi, also made a grant at Kuruvatti to god Ahavamalleshvara. The village would have acquired quite a reputation during that period that it has been referred as Dakshina Varanasi in one of the inscription. According an inscription of 1099AD. mentioning a grant of land, taxes and money made for the service of the god Abhinava Somesvara. The memory of Somesvara I’s voluntary drowning amidst din of waves and of all manner of musical instruments, seems to have been kept particularly alive during the region of his son, Vikramaditya VI, who considered himself the heir to his father’s empire and also it records elaborate institutional arrangements for upkeep of the temple Abhinava- Somesvara, gives detailed genealogies of the political participants in the town and establishes Kuruvatti as an important Kalamukha center.

This east facing temple is consisted of a garbhagriha, an antarala, a sabha-mandapa with two mukhamandapas on north and south and a detached Nandi mandapa in front of the sabha mandapa. The two mukha-mandapas on north and south are the two entrances into the temple; the third entrance is from the east. The Nandi mandapa has the original Nandi now under a modern construction.

Garbha-griha is a square room with no decorative element inside. It enshrines a Shiva Linga resting over a large Pitha. The pillars inside must have been made by using a lathe. There is no comparison to the richness of this pillar base. The pillar head at the entrance is sculpted with beautiful aspires.

 The temple framed by a looped Torana whose lineage can be traced back to the Kashivisvesvara temple at Lakkundi. However they conceptualize the motify differently. In Kuruvatti the looped Torana is isolated as adistinct motif, a Makara Torana with makaras spewing the loops upward.

  The Torana with Makaras spewing the loops upward. The Torana is also treated as part of the wall, so that the spewing Makaras are shown perched on wall pilasters and the loops, taking a much more triangular profile around the wall shrines tower, only reach the lower edges of the superstructure. That the idiomatic distination between Lakkundi, Ittagi and Kuruvatti was made by craftspeople can be understood in the treatment of the same idea in 3 different temples.

 The walls of the room have been divided into two halves by inserting a horizontal slab. This slab would have used to keep ritual paraphernalia and movable images. The Antarala does not have its door but instead it has a Makara-torana supported on two free standing circular pillars. The niche formed by loops emerging from Makaras has Shiva in middle and Brahma and Vishnu on his either sides.

 Few images are kept inside this Antarala. Two images of devotees, one showing a couple and one showing two ladies, an image of Bhairava and Shiva. The Sabha-mandapa is supported on four massive central pillars which has square block at the base. This square block is exquisitely carved on all its four faces. There are three entrances to this Sabha-mandapa, one each on south, north and east. All the entrance doorways are profusely carved. The Kuruvatti temple is particularly noteworthy for its exquisite bracket figures, carved screens, polished pillars, and tiers of friezes showing  rows  of  birds,  animals,  dwarfs,  and  figures  of  musicians  and  dancers.

 There are three bracket figures left on the eastern entrance. The other bracket figures have been moved to various British museums during their rule. These bracket figures have been considered among the best specimen of the Hoysala period. James Fergusson writes ‘All the details are sharp and the carving so good that even at Halebid it would be difficult to prove out any individual piece showing more complete mastery over the material than the brackets representing female figures with encircling wrath on the fronts and inner sides of the capitals at the east entrance’.

 There is a royal image put near one of the entrance. Many scholars have suggested that this could be the Western Chalukya king Someshvara with his two queens. As no inscription is found over it hence nothing can be said with certainty however as the temple probably was constructed in memory of this Chalukyan king so it will not be odd to carve out this image also in his memory.

 The lintel of the Sukanasi entrance has a highly embellished Makaratorana mounted on two round pillars. There are three niches in the center of the lintel in which an image of Sira is kept in the centre flanked by Vishnu and Brahma on either side.

 The outer walls of the Garbhagriha have niches decorated by pilasters and miniature Sikharas.The niches have image of gods flanked by Madanika images mounted on Dwarps. The walls which have those elegantly executed art objects are considered to be an excellent example of Chalukya style of Architecture. On plan, the temple consists of a Garbhagriha an Antarala,a Sabhamandapa, two Mukhamandapas on either side, and a detached Nandimantapa in the east.

 When the region came under the Hoysalas, Kuruvatti became an important center as their kings, Lokabharana, made this village his abode. Many inscriptions of the Hoysala period mentions Lokabharana as the Rajguru of the Hoysala king Ballala II. The chief queen of Ballala II, Padumaladevi, also made a grant at Kuruvatti to god Ahavamalleshvara. The village would have acquired quite a reputation during that period that it has been referred as Dakshina-Varanasi in one of the inscription.

Tarakeshwara temple - Hangal

 Hangal is 35km frmo the district headquarters Haveri. .It is on the left bank of the Dharma River, and has ruins of some fortification on the river bank; the town has a huge lake near Billeshwara temple called Anekere.  Hangal was the capital of Hangal Kadambas feudatories of the Kalyani Chalukya. It is mentioned as Panungal in early records and identified by tradition with Viratanagara of Mahabharata days. The town has a huge Tarakeshwara temple. Other temple in the town are Ganesha temple, Virabhadra, Billeshwara and Ramalinga are the important temples.

The Tarakeshvara temple on plan consists of a Garbhagriha, Antarala, Navaranga, Sabhamandapa and a Mukhamandapa is a good example of the Kalyana Chalukya architectural style. Originally the Navaranga had Praveshamandapas on north, south and eastern sides. At present the north and southern Praveshamandapas have been converted into Garbhagrihas. The Garbhagriha has indented plan and enshrines a tall Shiva linga installed on a Panipitha having Kadambastylistic futures.

The intricately carved decorative doorways of the Garbhagriha has Panchashakas. On either sides of the decorative doorway of the Antarala has trellis (Jalandhras). The lathe turned pillars inside the Antarala has a decorative ceiling (Bhuvanesvari). The entrance way has intricate carvings.

In front of the garbhagriha is the Sukhanasi with four intricately carved pillars and a Nandhi is placed in the middle. The Sukhanasi situated on the right and left sides has a Linga and Parvathi sculpture respectively.

The main Garbhagriha enshrines a Linga which is called Tarakeshvara, sculptures of Vishnu, Brahma, Kartikeya and Nandhi. The exterior walls of the temple has bas-relief sculptures of Ramayana. The incomplete carved images of the Dvarapalakas are attractive. In the Mukhamandapa Hero-stones, inscribed sculptures and a few mutilated sculptures are kept. The Kadamba-Nagara Sikhara above the Garbhagriha has intricately carved decorations. It has a sculpture of hero fighting with a Lion resembling the Hoysala emblem.

The temple is famous for its very large domical ceiling in the main hall, which rises, in concentric circles of cusped mouldings, and then, at the apex, falling again in a great rosette or pendant. The Sabhamandapa with four entrance ways is stellar shaped and Hoysala styled huge pillars therein supports the upper beams. The rock is carved in the form of a lotus and is 30 feet in diameter, is a octagonalpiece of stone supported on 8 pillars.

The Kakshasana has polished pillars that are variously styled and shaped runs all along the Mandapa. The subsidiary ceilings (Bhuvanesvaries) found in the Sabhamandapa is plan while the centre one has the depiction of a flower-bud motif. The Mukhamandapa has also Kakshasana. The exterior wall of the temple is decorated with pilasters and Devakosthas. Garbhagriha ha four tiered sikhara with Sukhanasi projection. A tall stone pillar stands in front of the temple. 

 An inscription records a grant made to the Tarakesvara temple while another dated 1121 AD records the construction of Tailesvara temple and land grants made to it by the Mahaprashana Masana.

The Mystery of Soorya Temple - Kalkere, Haveri

The trail to Golden Era...Part 1

Sunday morning was very pleasant with bright sun in sky. On a fresh early morning we started our journey to visit few historical places surrounded to Haveri.  As per our plan first we visited to Kalkere village it is a small picturesque village historically it was an imperative place, as good number of temples and inscriptions have been found in the village.

 There are three beautiful temples in this village they are Somesvara temple, Basaveshvara (Jayasingesvara) temple and Lakshmi (Bhairavi) temple. The Basaveswara temple is the most important structure at Kalkere, which is full of ornamentation practically represents the whole Hindu pantheon are the finest examples of master craftsmanship.

 We spotted a few who were having a morning session of updating each other with latest worldly matters we interrupted them to enquire about the temple details and the whole group got so excited & few seniors were eager to help and guide us to Basaveshvara temple were in action full swing after half an hour of total excitement with villagers priest opened the temple. As soon as I went inside the main entrance, two virtues of this place caught our attention, cleanliness and calmness of the place. 

 Basaveswara Temple has four cells (Garbhagrihas) with a common Navaranga. The current disposition of images in the Kalakeri temple’s sancta indicates the disruption of an earlier arrangement.  At present main cell has a Shiva Linga and opposite to this cell has a crudely carved Surya figure. The Surya shrine opposite to the front hall is remarkable for its splendid sculpture it’s elaborate and fine carvings attracts the attention of the viewer.

 Approximately 6 feet tall, 77 cm wide and 12 cm thick, the Surya is carved from a single slab of dark green chlorite schist. Such fine grained soft metamorphic stones became the medium of choice of Karnataka’s artisans from the 11th to the 14th centuries, driving an aesthetic revolution in both sculpture and architecture.  An elaborate ornamental archway springs from columns behind the attendants and encircles the principal figure. The fertility of the design the through finish the richness of ornamentation and the hard stone had turned out to be pieces of vax in the hands of master craftsman Mandoja. The Surya image is exceedingly handsome and the sculptor has reached his pinnacle here the perfectly carved is awe inspiring.

 The other two cells don’t have original deities. In that place Naga stones and Vishnu figures are kept which is not original one, Naga-nagini images stand atop comparatively elegant, and much larger, pedestals. These images are mismatched to their pedestals physically, stylistically, and ichnographically. The pedestals bear central images of Visnu’s vehicle, Garuda, in the northern sanctum and Brahma’s vehicle, the Hamsa in the southern one. 

 The Hamsa pedestal in the temple’s south sanctum bears the emblem of Brahma’s vehicle, the goose. Its size and profile are well matched to the Brahma’s base.  In the western sanctum is a Siva Linga, while the occupant of the fourth or eastern sanctum and ties the evidence together. Here stands an extremely fine image of Surya that is a perfect match, both to its pedestal bearing the sun god’s seven horses and, more importantly, to the Museums Brahma!

 It happens that a letter in the Penn Museum Archives identifies just such a temple. Writing to Museum Director George Byron Gordon in 1922, the Brahma’s seller, Hagop Kevorkian, reports that the sculpture was removed in 1835 from “the temple at Kalkerry at Talook Kode, southern Mahratta County India.” in New York might be it. Purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Kevorkian in 1918—the same year he lent the Brahma to the Penn Museum—this image is not as close a stylistic match. Its inscription, however, associates its maker with the artists of the other two images, and another letter to the Museum Director indicates that the Brahma and the Kesava were brought from India together.  The quadruple shrine Basavesvara temple there was the Brahma’s original home.

 The Surya and the Brahma are essentially the same size with strikingly similar proportions, poses, and renderings of their figures. Their personal ornaments are nearly identical, as are many individual motifs used throughout the two sculptures. A particularly telling correspondence is the complex structure of their framing columns. Even the damaged inscription on the Surya’s base is strikingly like that on the Brahma’s in both orthography and content. 

 Given Kevorkian’s identification of the site; the physical, stylistic, and epigraphic similarities between these two sculptures and the tradition of housing sets of deities in multiple-shrine temples, it is almost certain that the Museum’s Brahma was removed from the Hamsa pedestal in this temple’s southern sanctum. But where is the missing Visnu for the Garuda pedestal in the northern sanctum? A well-known image of Kesava (Visnu). The theft of cultural objects affects developed and developing countries alike. The illicit traffic in cultural heritage is a transnational crime that affects the countries of origin, transit and final destination.

Museum’s Brahma was removed from the Hamsa pedestal in this temple’s southern sanctum.

 

The Navaranga has four niches. At present in one niche original Saraswathi figure is available in damaged condition. Further a huge and very elegantly carved Nandi is available in the Antarala in front of Surya cell.

 The brick work in top of the roof is the remnants of the original shikharas on four Garbhagrihas of the temple and the Hara portion of the superstructure. It may be remembered here that there is no Later Chalukya temple known to have brick superstructure in the country. Therefore, it is not only unique but also contributes to the history of architecture in Karnataka.

 Kalkere village provides a restful escape for those wanting to feel the powerful vibrations from the lord. This unique temple, which contributes to the history of architecture in karnataka, Villagers of Kalakeri took initiative have embarked on preserving and renovating the centuries old Basaveshwara temple.