Mandaragiri - part 3

 ...continued from Mandaragiri - part 2.

In the earlier two parts I'd covered the hill climb, the temple enclosure, rainwater harvesting ponds and an aerial view of Mydala Kere. The last item to see is this Mantapa built in front of a boulder.

This is a marvelous creation. The framework is ready, roof is missing. The Mantapa has 14 pillars supporting the beams, and two more free standing. Going by the looks of the pillars, a grand Mantapa had been planned here.

The idol, rather the remains of the idol which is part of the boulder itself. Going by the colors of the stones, the damage seems to be recent.

A closer look at the idol. It looks like a man on a seat, sitting in Padmasana, probably engrossed in Dhyana. It seems like a Jain Theerthankara's idol. The part above the head must've been an serpent hood. The three lions below the seat seems like Hoysala design.. there's a good chance this was sculpted during Hoysala reign. On the top-right, within the frame of the sculpture, are three bas-reliefs which appears like flowers but are not. Lets take a closer look at them..

The closeups of the three works.. they are palms, two individual and one pair. In Hindu culture downturned palm of left hand is called Varada Hasta or Varada Mudra. Usually its an empty palm. An upward pointing palm is called Abhaya Hasta or Abhaya Mudra. While Varada Mudra signifies granting a boon, Abhaya Mudra is a gesture of protection & reassurance. In the picture below the pair of Varada Hasta has something in it.. can't say what it is.

View of the Mantapa in the opposite direction. Notice the small pits on the left hand side column. I remember seeing the pits only on this face of the pillar. No idea how such pits are made without disturbing the surrounding material. I guess this was meant to be a meditation hall. For some reason it remained incomplete without a roof.

Two date palm, all alone in this hill. Looks like someone here had discarded seeds which germinated, took roots and grew into handsome date palms. 

Taking a second look at the rainwater harvesting pond. The pond could be 5' deep and 40' in diameter. Probably the water stays fresh through out the year. The pond has a overflow arrangement on the left hand side i.e. water flows out on the rock so that the mud bank is not eroded.

The huge boulder seen earlier.. one face is covered with a painting of three anthropomorphic images. Since the painting measuring approximately 10' wide and 12' high has faded. I'm guessing the three figures are Jain Theerthankara. Whoever the artist was (artists were) had taken up a challenging work.

Wish I could spend one or two more hours exploring the hill and lake but decided against it. Hunger was one reason, and the other was not to get stuck in peak hour traffic while entering Bangalore. The descent was quick, probably five minutes. People of Tumkur are lucky to have these wonderful hills, so many getaways, so much to explore. However, expanding cities- Bangalore and Tumkur -are wrecking havoc. Its scary to think how this place will be in the next 10 or 15 years.

This building here is close to the base of Mandaragiri. It is shaped like a peacock feather fan, the type Jain monks carry to brush away insects in their path. From the looks, it seems like a meditation hall. The hall was closed, so was the gate in the fence. Probably the management had shut the place due to Covid restrictions. I was wondering if the interior was plain or special like its exterior. Anyway, I decided to have lunch here since the place was peaceful.

Found a cool spot close by, freshened up with a quick face wash, and finished off the remaining chapati, tomato curry & cucumbers. Hunger taken care of, I was ready to continue my journey.

One last looks at Mandaragiri. Lovely place!

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