Kalleshvara Swamy Devastana, Bagali - part 1

February 16, 2020

Three ancients temples of Davangere district were on the day's itinerary- Neelagunda Bheemeshwara Devastana, Halavagalu Kalleshwara Devastana and Bagali Kalleshwara Swamy Devastana. The first two were done and I arrived at Bagali around 1-00 PM. The temple is situated outside Bagali village, next to a man made water tank which seems to be ancient as well. This is the view of the temple (complex) from the road, its a good 20' below the road. The temple complex looks well maintained, the greenery enhances the ambiance.

The main temple is a L-shaped structure in plan. The temple has two Garbhagudis, one on each of the arms. Surrounding it are four or five smaller temples and a Kalyani. It would be an hour long tour at least.

This would be the pillared hall common to the two shrines. This somehow reminds me of Kakatiya Ramappa temple, north of Warangal. Ramappa lake is huge, its bund is much higher, wider and longer. Also, Ramappa temple is a furlong away from the lake bund. Here's right next to the bund.

The bund slope is covered with a nice green carpet. This place will be awesome in the soft morning light. Happy to see the peaceful place, not many people around. The first thing I wanted was to rest in the cool shade and quench my thirst. Nice to see the Banni tree with a round platform around its trunk.

As I entered the temple premises, the temple caretaker greeted by saying that photography wasn't allowed. What a nice welcome! Anyway, the person was polite and apologetic, unlike the rude man at Bheemeshwara temple. For some reason ASI officers have verbally banned shooting with DSLR. We sat on a stone bench in the shade, had water and requested the caretaker to call his officer. The call with the ASI officer went well, obtained permission to shoot. I thanked the caretaker and started my tour. A board planted at the entrance describes the temple as follows:

Kallesvara Swamy Temple, Bagali
Bagali, medieval Balguli, was an important Agrahara right from the times of Western Chalukyas of Kalyana who were succeeded by the Hoysalas and Vijayanagara.
The Kallesvara temple was constructed during the reign of the western Chalukyan king Ahavamalla in 987 AD, and constructed by Duggimayya. Inscriptionally the main deity is known as Kalidevi. The temple, facing east, is constructed close to the embankment of a huge tank of the village Bagali to its North. The temple on plan consists of a Garbhagriha, an Antarala, a Mahamandapa with an entrance to the south and east, a huge open Sabhamandapa, a shrine for Surya with an Astylar Mukhamandapa built slightly away from the main entrance, all of which are in the east-west orientation. A shrine of Narasimha with a separate Antarala and a passage is added to the north of the Sabhamandapa of the main temple.
The Sabhamandapa is well known for its fifty four ornate pillars supporting the highly decorative ceiling. Of these twenty four pillars are located over the Jagati provided with Kakshasana.
The temple is also known for its intrinsically carved doorways with multiple door jambs. The eastern end of the Sabhamandapa accommodates an ornate well executed couchant bull.
There are eight subshrines built around the main temple. Excellent sculptures of late Chalukyan style are kept in the Mahamandapa of the temple and they include Siva, Umamahesvara, Ganesa, Karttikeya, Surya, Anantasayana, Sarasvati and Mahishamardini.
There are as many as thirty six inscriptions in the temple assignable to the tenth-eleventh century A.D. which record donations to the God Kalideva and Narasimha.

While one arm of the L-shaped temple is east-facing, the other one is south-facing. The smaller temples around the main temple are also east facing except one north-facing temple. On the immediate right is the north facing temple dedicated to Veerabhadra Swamy, an avatar of Shiva. This is the right hand side of the main temple, the pillared structure at the end seems to be a Mantapa, to be used as a lodge for travelers.

On the left hand side of the main temple are two or three open Mantapas and three bare-walled temples. The two cuboid structures with domes seemed to be restored recently.

The Mantapa in the middle has a door frame but no walls. Looks like construction work was abandoned for some reason. Opposite the door the floor has a circular stage normally meant for dancing.

A four pillared Mantapa. Probably this was a shrine as well. Presently the deity must be kept at some museum.

Besides the four-pillared there's a 20-pillared Mantapa adjoining a well built temple. Going by the build of these two Mantapa which is quite primitive, they seem to be much older than the main temple. The pillars are rough cut, purely purpose made, no attention to aesthetics. However, they are well built. One can see many such Mantapa at Jyotirlinga temple complex, Aihole.

Now we'll enter the main temple starting from the south-facing Garbhagudi side. The temple has Sukanasi (raised seating platform with backrest) all round the temple. The workmanship is excellent.. every feature of the temple exudes quality stone-work.

This is the south-facing Garbhagudi. Its Antarala has a mesh wall with a pair of Dwarapala, its door frame is simple but elegant. The pillar in the foreground is a classic one that can be found in Chalukyan temple. The flower vase on the pillar is some that can be seen in Adil Shahi buildings at Bijapur. Above the vase's mouth is a circle with tongues of flame coming out. Not sure if it represents Sun.

The other side of the pillar. All four faces of the square section have vases. The backrest's profile can be seen. Every surface and edge is precisely sculpted so that it fits in perfectly. These sculptors did not use laser guided equipment to mark/measure but whatever technology they employed was much more advanced.

View of the interior from the outside. The column seen here a complex one both in terms of design and sculpting it. The brilliant minds of ancient times could imagine designs that were functionally fit, aesthetically pleasing and viable for production. Probably what we see as complex must've been simple for them.

This hall is said to have fifty-four pillars, surely each pillar would be unique but the basic form can be categorized into seven to eight groups. In this picture five types are seen clearly.

Every pillar is a vertical assembly of four sections. The base, the column and self-aligning pair which connects the column to the beams. Wonder how the builders achieved the perfect matching levels of all pillars. The foundation has to be well set to achieve the uniform level.

The Sukhanasi platform is supported by miniature pillars and the wall is decorated with four petaled flowers. This flower is a classic item in Chalukyan temples. The size varies with the context. This is probably the largest I've seen. I'm wondering why the Sukanasi is not straight, what was the need for the bend, thereby adding three sides. Probably the north-south part was added at a later point.

Here we can see pillars with circular, square and octagonal bases.

This is Shri. Ajay Adigi, the temple priest. He is also a bus conductor by profession. He carries out his priestly duty on rotation basis with other priests. Happy to see young people carry forward our traditions.

This is the point where the two arms of this temple meet in a right angle. The door frame seen in the distance leads to the east-facing Garbhagudi. The Mantapa I'm standing in is supported by four pillars which are different compared to the rest. The bottom part of the pillar has special layer held by slender cylindrical connectors. The special sculptures feature legendary characters.

This tour will continue next weekend.. Kalleshvara Swamy Devastana, Bagali - part 2.
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