Fern house, Cubbon Park

These pictures were shot on March 21 2020, the day before Covid-19 lockdown. My high school friend Anil and I met at Cubbon Park's Corporation Circle gate for an early morning walk. The sights brought back primary school memories... when I was in VII standard, our class had represented our school in the year's Kannada Rajyotsava function at Kantirava Stadium. After the function we had walked into Cubbon Park and found a spot to rest around this very place. Back then the paved foot-path wasn't there.

The little red structure was a kind of nursery to as I remember. There was a collection of potted plants including hanging pots.

On Google Maps this structure is marked as Fern House. Probably this was once a fern nursery hence the name. As you see it's basically a mantapa with mesh screens on it's sides. Once could call it a greenhouse too.

Anil and I approach the greenhouse for a closer look. On the grill framework was a cover of creepers. On these platforms were rows of potted plants, can't remember what plants but surely it would be show plants.

There still are flowering creepers here. I think it was Anil who noticed the engraved slab on the lintel.

That's the inscription, it's in Kannada which reads as: ಸುಂದರ ನಗರ ಗೌರಿ ಮಂದಿರಂ ~ Sundara Nagara Gowri Mandiram. Also there's a date.. 23-3-1___ ..the year's numerals are unclear. I feel this is a XIX Century structure so the year could be 1884 CE. The name raises a question if this was a temple originally. Quite possibly yes. On the other side of the road is an active shrine named Sri Dakshinamurthi Devastana.

Close to the fern house is a tree with a kinky trunk. The formation is unique, never had I seen such a trunk. Wondering what caused the tree to take that form.

After a relaxing walk, we headed to Kantirava Stadium, not for sport but for snacks. There's a self-service eatery within the stadium premises which is not crowded at this time of the day. We chatted and snacked for a while and headed home. For the next month and half the entire country was locked down to contain the spread of Covid-19. A totally new experience for the urban world.

.........

Shilpavana, Kannada University - part 4

The only visit to Kannada Vishwavidyalaya, Hampi was in December 2013. We had spent a couple of hours at the campus appreciating artworks, both ancient and contemporary. Most of the ancient art was displayed in the colonnades of at the library building Akshara. Contemporary art was spread around the natural settings of the campus. Though it was a memorable experience I somehow could not visit the university again despite going to Hampi / Anegundi several times. Anyway, here are a few pictures shot in 2013 which weren't published earlier.

As I know artworks did not have names displayed with them so I named as saw them. This is my uncle M S Patil looking at an assembly of stones which appears like one single unit. The sculpture stands on the road close to the campus university. In the background is the library building.

On my left hand side was a building housing the offices of Directorate of Distance Education. The structure is a fusion of ancient and present designs.

Our next stop was at the library. The building's central tower is an imitation of temple Gopura / Shikhara crown. The long staircase gives a nice look to the building. It's a great place for shooting pictures, individual or group.

An ancient idol of Nandi facing the northern direction adorns the first landing. Wondering if there's a Shivalinga in Nandi line of sight.

At the end of the staircase, at the library floor level is a pair of cannons placed on pedestals. As I know, these are the only two cannons in the entire campus.

Around the library is a colonnade in which ancient sculptures are exhibited. It's like an open air museum. Of the several dozen sculptures, I took shots of just a few which I regret now.

Here we have two Jaina sculptures and one LakshmiNarayana. These seem like sculptures of the Hoysala period.

Here's a standing form of Vishnu, a sitting Ganapati and a Thirtanara. These two seem like Hoysala time creations.

Another Thirtankara with an expression of bliss. Someone took the liberty of drawing Tripundraka - that's a symbolic merging of Jaina and Lingayath beliefs.

This one seems like a sculpture of Vijayanagara period. And it seems like a sculpture of Sri Krishnadevaraya astride a horse and accompanied by three men, bearers of the royal flag, umbrella and a fan. At the top is a Kirtimukha, the face to dispel evil eyes.

Here's another beautiful sculpture of a warrior defeating a soldier in a fight. The warrior, seemingly of royal blood is holding a spear and his assistant is holding an umbrella. The umbrella bearer seems out of place considering the situation but then it may not be appropriate to show a king without the regal paraphernalia. My guess is this sculpture was made in memory of victory in some battle.

On one end of the colonnade are a couple of inscription slabs. 

Then we have a wooden temple chariot called 'theru' in Kannada. The chariot must have been retrieved from one of the ancient temples at Hampi. This is an example of a small chariot. Major temples have really massive chariots with huge wheels which require hundreds of people to get them rolling. With this our tour of library museum ends.

From the library we went deeper into the campus. Here's one eye-catching painting. This is Shiva for sure. To be specific, it seems like a depiction of Veerabhadra, a form of Shiva.

Then we enter the garden of sculptures Shilpavana. That's Mama trying to understanding what the sculpture means.

Before I end this post I urge to take a look at the sculptures of Shilpavana, really creative stuff from budding artists.

.........