Gange Bhavi, Yettinahalli

It was September 2010 when I first heard of Gange Bhavi. It was from a colleague, and a friend too, who's father's native is nearby village Yettinahalli. Gange Bhavi is 2 km from Yettinahalli and 6 km from NH 48 at Shiggaon. In 2018, my friend shared a few pictures of Gangebhavi. The place looked so serene, lot of greenery, a kind of place which one would to visit. Though I drove through Shiggaon a few times, I could not plan a stop over. Finally, on June 24, 2021 evening a decision was made. In fact Gangebhavi would be the only place I would be seeing during the journey. My niece Durga would be traveling with me to Dharwad for a vacation.

June 25, 2021
We left Bangalore around 5-30 am, stopped once between Hiriyur and Chitradurga for breakfast of cheese sandwiches, reached Shiggaon just before 11-00, turned off the highway and took Gangebhavi road. An arch belonging to Karnataka State Police Training School welcomes travelers to this road. The country road is flanked by fields, some green with new crops, some still brown waiting to be sown. In minutes we were entered Police Training School campus. The campus too is green.. a very nice place for a school. A couple of hundred meters from the other gate is Gangebhavi... a twin well in one enclosure, an ancient temple dressed in concrete walls, a huge Ficus, a sloped roof monastery building, a large pond, and a temple with a Shikhara on elevated ground ...is what one sees from the road. 

I decided to check out the temple first because its pillars looked interesting.

This is a picture from 1995 or 1996 of my friend at the temple. Back then the temple was an incomplete structure. The Garbhagudi would be there, may the Antharala too but the Sabhmantapa was a framework of ancient columns and beams. The side walls were about four feet high. Manjula is posing next to her favorite pillar, the pillar is quite unique, I don't remember seeing it in any other temple.

The present day temple. Any passerby new to this place might ignore the temple unless the columns are noticed.

This is the Sabhamantapa, the pillared hall. The pillar in the foreground on the right is the pillar seen in Manjula's photo. From afar it looks pretty simple, almost plain because its vertical ribs are very spaced closely. The pillar on the left is impressive. I remember seeing a similar one at Bagali Kalleshwara Devastana.

Here's the ribbed pillar. This design looks simple but elegant. Try to imagine how this was made.. the engineering skill to produce this is master level... assuming its was hand sculpted, the level of concentration has to be intense.. very difficult to maintain that accuracy and precision. The columns seem to be coated with some kind of paint which is not really thick, luckily. A long low bow to the ancient temple builders of our land.

This is the adjacent pillar. Plain and simple yet elegant. I think originally i.e. before being painted, was mirror finished. The doorway connects to the small hall which is between the Sabhamantapa and Garbhagudi. The five level door frame is the original one. So are the idol of Nandi and the pedestal on which it is mounted.

Side view of Nandi & its pedestal. Also seen are two more objects- 1. a stone tub and 2. a pyramidal block. I'm guessing the former could be used to store water and the latter for placing offerings like coconuts and plantains. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

This is Garbhagudi's doorway, a relatively simple one but very elegant. On the side wall is an idol of Umadevi, a form of Parvathi.

The temple deity. A Shiva Linga. Compared to other temples Linga is big, its almost three feet tall. Thankfully the Garbhagudi is tidy.

We turn our attention to the main item of this place, the two sources of water- a well and a spring. The enclosure also has three tiny shrines of which one is dedicated to Hanuman. One has a female deity with four arms, two of the hands are holding a Shankha and a Chakra which are symbols of Vishnu. The third shrine's deity is something I missed seeing. The waters from both sources are fresh. The larger of the two is the spring which flows continuously. The smaller one must be a well, it doesn't overflow.

Gangebhavi is closely connected with the great sage Jahnu Rishi. In the Hindu legend Mahabharatha, in the story of Ganga descending from heaven to earth, the turbulent waters flooded Jahnu Rishi's ashram and disturbed his penance. The angry sage drank all of Ganga's waters thereby stalling her journey. The worried gods pray and plead Jahnu to release Ganga so that objective of her coming to earth is met. It is said that Jhanu Rishi came to this spot once and he wanted water for Sandhyavandane ritual. The sage called Ganga to give him water. Ganga came from Kashi to this spot. The larger of the two ponds which is a continuously flowing spring is said to be Ganga's waters. This place is called as Dakshina Kashi since Gangamatha flows here.

I think the spring water feeds this tank. The niches in the enclosure wall are used for performing rituals. In Hindu tradition, a person performing a ritual first purifies himself/herself and then starts the ritual. Pooja is performed right next to the source of water instead of trying to go to another place and get defiled on the way. Many such wells and Kalyanis can be seen in temples across South India. Two good examples of such places are Hosa Mahakoota and Halea Mahakoota near Badami.

A noisy group of boys from Shiggaon were diving in and out of water as if this was a public swimming pool. They were conversing in Hurdu.. no need to tell what community boys. It was irritating to see them at a place which is considered holy and sacred. The noisy scene here reminded me of the scene at Nandi Baavi close to Arvattu Kambada Gudi at Nagavi in Kalburgi district. That community people are indifferent to other's feelings. Disgusting people with a disgusting culture. Wish there's a way to quick clean way to get rid of such people.

This is one of the three little shrines. Durga standing on the steps is shooting pictures with her camera. I felt her vacation had a good start with a visit to a historical place. 

The large pond next to Gangebhavi. The water from the spring flows into this pond and then flows out as a stream. A dirt track runs along the pond shore which goes to paddy fields. This area is Malnad i.e. part of the Western Ghats.

Scene from the road. Young paddy saplings cover the slopes. Few farmers have planted palm along their field borders. I happened to talk to a farmer who's home is next to the pond. He told that the annual Jathre (fair) takes place on the day of Sankranthi. People from surrounding villages and towns attend the fair with great enthusiasm.

Gangebhavi is also known for a monastery named Shri Jagadguru Panchachari Matha. It is said that Sri Gangadhar Swamiji (Rambhapuri, Muktimandira) stayed at Gangebhavi for some time. Sri Rajendrayogi is the head of Jagadguru Panchachari Matha. He's affectionately known as Gangebhavi Ajja. He attained Kailasa recently. Om Shanti.

I skipped the Matha and resumed the journey. It was a mistake which I realized after returning home and chatted with Manjula. She shared a few pictures of a cave shrine and a temple behind the Matha building. I felt I cheated myself. Anyway, guess it wasn't destined for this trip. Hoping to see it another time, So, this is the entrance to the little cave shrine.

A short tunnel to reach the shrine. Such a lovely place. One could sit here with eyes closed and float away.

The other shrine is a temple dedicated to Jahnu Rishi. Gorgeous artwork gives the temple façade a very warm look.

I must come here one day just to see the Matha interior, Gavi and Jahnu Gudi.

On the way back, we stopped to take a picture of Ganga's idol at the police training school. It's a beautiful idol, very nicely made. It would've been more beautiful if the water was falling from Ganga's pot.

If you are passing by Shiggaon and have an hour to spare, take a break, visit Gangebhavi.

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