Kolar Someshwara Devastana - part-3

..continued from Kolar Someshwara Devastana - part-2.

Someshwara temple is probably the biggest temple of Kolar town. The temple's history goes back to XIV Century, it was built during by Vijayanagara rulers. The temple is as grand as any of the major temples in Hampi. The temple consists of the following-

• a grand gateway with a tall Gopura
• Maha Stambha, monolith pillar in front of the main temple
• the main temple dedicated to Lord Someshwara
• a smaller temple dedicated to Parvati Devi
• Vasantha Mantapa
• Kalyana Mantapa
• shelter along the western and northern walls for visitors
• a spacious yard around the temple
• Kalyani, stepped well

The temple also has a variety of trees which create a peaceful ambiance. Pushpa and I went around leisurely, looking at every pillar and wall in the main temple. Then we came to the rear side of the main temple to see the Kalyana Mantapa - the pillared wedding hall.

Its a  small structure but a very grand one. It has fourteen pillars, ten outer pillars and four inner pillars, a stage for performing wedding rituals and a staircase with a balustrade.

This is the balustrade with a spiral and an imaginary creature. Anyone climbing the stairs should feel and look important.

This is the pillared stage. While the pillars are yellowish, the inner pillars are grey in color. The grey stone seems to be harder than the yellow stone. This is like a Mantapa inside a Mantapa.

One look at the inner Mantapa can leave you stunned. The detailing of this complex form is so elaborate, you would be at loss of words to describe it. Except the stage floor and outer ceiling, every other part is sculpted, surely master sculptors' work.

Another view of the floor giving a glimpse of the shade and the ceiling.

This is the base of one of the inner columns. The pillar is held by strong men, so there are eight such characters in all. Check out the complex form of the pillar and platform. How the artisans of those days designed and made them is truly a wonder.

Slightly above the strong men are the vases filled with flowers. Vases similar to this can be seen in monuments at Bijapur and Bidar, both sculpted and painted ones.

Then there are Devatas with Kiritas. The crown seen here is somewhat like a temple Shikhara. The detailing of jewelry is marvelous. Then on the beams are these hive like formations, each beam has a pair of such work. Not sure what their function is. I do not remember seeing such work anywhere else, not even Hampi.

The projecting roof shade sculpted to make it look like wood. The beam like lines depict the rafters of a wooden roof. Notice the serpent slithering on the rafters? That's a nice little touch.

Coming to the stage. It has a boundary of dark colored stone. Each side has a floral pattern Rangoli like sculpture at the mid point.

These are the four designs. Each of them are lovely. With what tools did they get the precise measurements? Wondering how the sculptors were trained. Did they specialize in particular art forms.. like human figures, floral and geometrical forms, wildlife and imaginary creatures, etc.

This is the dome of the inner Mantapa. For some reason the dark colored stone has a white coating. Probably some intelligent guy applied lime. That's the only possibility I see. How sad.. will people ever realize lime damages stones! Octagon is one of the favorite for ceilings. Within the octagon are concentric bands and a hub. Surely there's some reason to make a wedding hall this grand. The reason could be to pull in cosmic energy.

We spent about 25 minutes admiring the Kalyama Mantapa. Time to move on. This is the view seen from the wedding hall- the main temple's Shikhara, the Natya Mantapa, Sabha Mantapa and the Gopura. Wondering how many it took to build this temple complex. 4 years? 8 years?

We checked out the sculptures on the outer wall of Natya Mantapa. Pushpa decided to shoot a video along the outer wall.

Here's a collage of few works which caught my attention. An ascetic attired in a panchi, eyes closed, arms raised, palms joined.. he's in bliss. The top-right image is a Kirtimikha sheltering a round faced man with big eyes, large nose and a gentle smile. The other image is of a tiny man holding up a beam.

Besides the main temple is a smaller temple which is dedicated to Parvati, Shiva's wife. This temple has simple but well built.This seems to be built much later, as an add on to the complex.

Of the three platforms here, one carries a pillar. Need to understand the purpose of these.

Having spent an hour and half in silence, it felt good. It was time to leave and head back home. As we stepped out of the temple gateway, I noticed the Kalyani on the left hand side, right besides the temple wall. This is the fort like wall of Someshwara temple.

The ill maintained Kalyani. If local people took some interest, formed groups and cleaned during weekends, the monument would be thankful.

It was a nice trip, worth the hours we spent. Back home while checking out Antara Gange on Google Maps, I discovered another temple in the hills west of Kolar. The temple complex is big and seems to be in fairly good condition. Should visit it once.

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