Kyarkoppa Basavanna Gudi

 October 28, 2021

Having ridden daily for a month the regular routes were getting monotonous. So I decided to check out a new trail. I'd driven towards Kyapkoppa but not up to the village. Kyarkoppa village is situated in the hills & valleys between Dharwad-Haliyal road and Dharwad-Goa road. Dharwad-Kyarkoppa road is more or less flats with gentle slopes. At the entrance of the village is a hillock, atop the hillock is a shrine dedicated to Basavanna.

This is the arch at the base of the hill. For those who wish to go by stairs, this is the way.

At the side of the hill is a dirt track which goes right up to the temple. I pedaled up the 100+ meters slope which gets steeper towards the top. These pictures were shot between 6-40 and 7-00 AM. The shrine is ancient but the structure is a recent construction. Morning Pooje was in progress when I reached the place.

That's my Montra hybrid bike. The ride was pretty comfortable for this route- mostly tarred roads.

As you see this shrine too is an east-facing one. The hill top is a small plateau. There's space enough for a small fair or a wedding. Most of the open space is on the temple's side where the slope is less steeper.

Behind the temple, right at the base of the hillock is a pond fed by rainwater. The road passing next to the pond goes towards Kalkeri village which is deeper into the ghats.

Panning to the right, we are looking towards west i.e. towards Mugad village. The waterbody seen in the distance is Mugad Kere, a manmade water tank. In between its mostly farmlands... mostly mango orchards, paddy fields.

Paddy is almost ready for harvest. Reaping will start as soon the thunderstorms stop. The trees seen in the foreground are plantations done on the slope of the hillock consisting of eucalyptus, cashew and other trees. 

The beauty of the place is breathtaking. During the few minutes I spent here I saw a number of groups of herons take flight from their nesting trees. Peacocks are aplenty here, you may not see them often but you'll hear their melodious cry. I was eager to come here again for our Sunday morning rides.

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Kalgudi, Degulahalli, part-2

...continued from Kalgudi, Degulahalli, part-1 where the exterior was covered. Now, lets see the interior. 

This is the four pillared, circular staged Natya-Mantapa or the Nritya-Mantapa. This temple was meant to be a grand one. The Sabha-Mantapa is spacious and has a comfortable Sukhanasi (seating planform) on three sides. Between this hall and the sanctum is the vestibule, Antharala in temple terminology. The Antharala doorframe is a complex piece of art- its a perforated mesh work. Also at the base of the entrance is a Rangoli like motif on the floor.

The perforated mesh screening the vestibule. The deity is faintly visible here. 

A pair of pillars support the grand mesh screen and door frame.

This picture below was shot during my previous visit in 2010- the grand rangoli like art on the floor in front of the Antharala. 

The deity- a Shiva Linga. Om Namah Shivaya. The Garbhagudi doorframe too is a rich piece of art work. The deity idol.. I'm not sure if its the original one.

Flanking the Antharala doorway, are two niches. One of them has an idol of a sage seated in Padmasana. The sage is shown with a flowing beard. And the head appears to be covered in a big turban, or it could be hair tied around like a turban. The idol is made of grey stone but it seems that people had poured oil on it which has left a dark patch.

One of the four pillars of the Nritya-Mantapa carries an inscription in Kannada. Probably it's about money granted to this temple.

Diagonal view of the Sabha-Mantapa with the Nritya-Mantapa pillar in the foreground.

As seen from the Antharala doorway. The deity, the eastern entrance and Nandi's left eye are aligned in a straight line. 

This is a sight of solid construction- beams, columns, self aligning mechanism, seating platform with backrest and sloping canopy. The restoration work has been executed immaculately. I wonder where the source of stone is. Granite is not available in the vicinity of Degulahalli, probably stones were brought in from far off places.

Now lets turn our attention to the ceiling which is covered with some amazing sculptures. Each of the sculptures are highly complex designs & shapes. This is a sculpture depicting nine lotuses, eight arranged around the central one. Each of the eight lotuses are identical and arrangement so precisely. How did the sculptors achieve this kind of precision!! 

The other pieces of arts.. a 16 spoke wheel like lotus.

To truly see the artworks in the ceiling, one must lie down on the floor and look up. They artworks are so complex that one needs lot of time to observe the details. This is another 16 spoke wheel, a variant of the previous one.

Yet another variant of the 16 spoke lotus. This has a miniature 8 spoke lotus at its center.

This is probably the simplest lotus here- a three tiered lotus. I feel a piece is missing which should've been fixed in the square hole at the center. It could be a bud-like object seen in the next image. The limps attached to the stone seem like wasp nests.

Compared to the previous wheel, the complexity level has increased in this one. 

Again, compared to the previous one, this wheel is even more complex. It awe inspiring to see the varieties these guys have produced. If we compare these to similar arts in other temples, we may not see anything exactly identical- only unique pieces. 

This appears like a small wheel but its the same as the previous one. Lime coating has been applied to the ceiling as well. I wish it could be sandblasted and restored to the original raw stone finish.

Done with the quick tour of the temple, we stepped out. Pushpa wanted a picture with Basava. She's whispering a wish into Basava's ear. The wish has to remain a secret for it to come true.

We left Degulahalli and headed towards Kittur to see the events at the Utsav.

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Kalgudi, Degulahalli, part-1

After seeing Kamala-Narayana Devastana at Devgaon, we drove down to Degulahalli just like how I'd driven 11 years ago  during a solo trip. The village hasn't changed much, except for well laid roads inside the village. In fact, I felt the village hadn't grown much since Kalgudi the only ancient temple of Degulahalli still remained on the border of the village. Kalgudi means "a temple made of stone." The term is relatively new, the temple's original name seems to be lost. As the temple came into view, it was a pleasant surprise- a renovated temple stood in place of the ruined temple. The beautiful Nandi idol had its own Mantapa and the temple was protected by a fence & gates. Once a crumbling monument has been restored and placed under protection.

The Basava which sat in sun & rain for who knows how many centuries, is now sheltered in a simple but a sturdy Mantapa.

The Nandi Mantapa as seen from the southern side. As you see, beyond the temple site its open farm lands covered with ready to harvest paddy and sugarcane. The tree next to the Mantapa is a Jamoon tree.

The 4+ feet high (including the pedestal) black stone idol of Nandi. The features look like a year & half old calf. The idol has all the standard features like its lying down, one leg slightly raised, head turned slightly to the right and adorned with jewelry. Nandi's left eye looks at Shiva-Linga inside the temple and the right eye is supposed to be seeing Shiva's better half but there's no temple for Parvati here. 

A decade ago, the hind portion of the temple had almost collapsed, the innards were exposed, vegetation had taken over the ruins. Now, the structure looks good, the restoration work has been carried out by skilled hands.

This picture below was shot in 2010, the southeastern corner of the temple, The canopy slabs have dislodged and slid. Probably effects of heat-cold cycle or shock forces during an earthquake.

The temple as seen from the southwestern corner. The restoration work has transformed the ruins into a beauty, not that ruins are any less beautiful. The structure is 19 meters in length and 14m at its widest including the canopy projections. The temple exterior is simple, just dressed stone blocks. The only decorative item seen from the outside are the columns and the seating platform backrests. 

Going around the temple in clockwise direction. The niches seen in the side and rear walls are standard design. Each of the niches are mini-shrines dedicated to particular gods.

Here we see remnants of a Shikhara. It looks like this temple had a prominent Shikhara which somehow has gone missing. Either that or the Shikhara was left incomplete. 

Lot of hard work has gone into the restoration of this temple. 

This is another picture of 2010. See the ruined condition of the temple.

The structure would've been super grand had the Shikhara was present. Right besides the temple is an ancient monastery of Madiwaleshwara Swami. This is one of many monasteries associated to Madiwaleshwara with the main one near Garag village, about 22 km from Dharwad.

The monastery has a resident Swami and disciples. Some of the disciples are school going children. When we reached the Swami & his disciples were sitting in the shade. The kids had books, revising their lessons. After a while, the Swami left but the kids remained. A few kids were trying to memorize arithmetic tables.

Architecturally, Kadamba and Chalukyan designs are almost similar. I guess the sculptors had standardized the designs but allowed flexibility to customize certain features.

Closeup of shot of an elegant floral motif... this flower enclosed in a rhombus is a classic design, it can't go out of fashion, as long as it stays in stone. This motif can be seen in almost every other Chalukyan and Kadamba temples.

The corridor below the canopy which runs around the front half. The slanted wall is the backrest of the seating platform. The temple has three entrances- one on the front and two on the sides.

The rhombus-flower motif is present on the side wall here as well. These are much bigger and orientation is vertical.

This is the view of the interior from the northeastern corner. The pillared hall has a circular stage in the center. This can be called as Sabhamantapa (meeting hall) and a Rangamantapa (arts hall). 

This is the space between the Rangamantapa and Sukhanasi. On the right is the northern entrance. At some point of time, villagers have smeared lime onto the pillars and beams. Hopefully they have realized the damaging effect on lime on stone and not repeat it.

There's more to see in this temple, I'll continue the article in Kalgudi, Degulahalli, part-2.

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Kamalanarayana Devastana, Devgaon

A few days earlier I heard of Kittur Utsav dates i.e. October 23rd & 24th. This is an annual event held at the fort. On 23rd evening was a musical fest which was the main item of the event. On 24th were dance programs and exhibition at the museum. Back in May 2009, I'd seen paintings of Rani Chennamma by various artists displayed at the fort a few months after the Utsav. We planned to check out the event and I was hoping to see new paintings this time. Since we were going to Kittur, I included the nearby two ancient temples at Devgaon and Degulahalli villages.

October 24, 2021

We left home by 10-30 am. By 11-05 we were on the outskirts of Kittur. We decided to see the temples first, starting with Kamalanarayana Devastana at Devgaon. I was seeing this village and the temple again after 11+ years. Not much had changed. I parked my car at the same spot as last time, not much space on the narrow lanes of Devgaon. As we approached the temple gates, the caretaker emerged from his house and unlocked the gate. The temple is situated well above the road level but the enclosing walls are too close. This is the temple's façade. Unlike most other temples, this temple's width is more than its length i.e. approximately 20m x 14m. In the façade are two entrances but entry to both are barred by horizontal cylindrical stones. One could step across but that wouldn't be polite.

One can enter the temple by the door on the northern side. As you see the temple is richly decorated with sculptures on the exterior. The temple's sloping canopy is a signature of Kadamba architecture. Such a sloping canopy is needed to drain out water during heavy downpours in monsoon months here. One can see similar sloped canopies at Naregal Sarveshwara Devastana, Banavasi Madhukeshwara Devastana, Hooli Panchalingeshwara Devastana, Kundagol Shambulingeshwara Devastana, Kamala Basadi in Belgaon fort, and few other temples in the Malnad & Karavali regions.

This is a close up view of the right side of the façade with one of the entrances seen here. This temple is a Trikutachala, meaning a temple with three sanctums. Normally in other temples, the sanctums face different directions, the principal sanctum facing east and additional sanctums facing north or/and north. Here we have three east facing sanctums, one each for Narayana, Lakshminarayana and queen Kamala Devi.

This is the northern face. As you see the side walls have been given importance. A clever mix of geometric designs and floral art decorate decorate these walls.

This is the rear wall, in fact these are the walls of the right hand side sanctum. Its customary for a sanctum to have mini shrines- consisting of pillars, canopy and Shikhara -around it on the exterior. There are three such mini-shrines around two of the sanctums. One thing we noticed here- one of the ribs has been cut to make space for the miniature Shikhara's tip -see the inset. The same is repeated in all miniature shrines. Pushpa and I were talking if this was a mistake by the builders which the caretaker overheard us and said that was the case. Ancient builders rarely make mistakes. This is probably one of the few in thousands of creations.

Zoomed out view of the sanctum projection.

The two sanctum projections seen together. Earlier I said this temple had three sanctums. So where's the projection of the middle sanctum. No, there's no such projection on the exterior. The middle shrine projects inside, into the Sabhamantapa of the temple.  The two insets here highlight two things which could be missed. One is the finish of the miniature Shikhara, the subtle finishing touches are consistent in all the Shikharas. The other sculpture is the image of Anjaneya on a stone placed on the floor. Its a beautiful little sculpture.

This is the view from the southwestern corner of the temple site. The temple looks well preserved from afar however if you check closely there's lot of damage. The female figurines have been targeted and vandalized. 

The southern face is dominated by a captivating sculpture of a pair or entwined serpents. Its a clever piece of art.

The façade as seen from the southern side. The temple has a Sukanasi, a platform to sit, along the entire width of the temple. The platform has its marks of people before it came under ASI protection. One can find pits and board game grids on the slabs. Of course now, no such thing happen.

A close look at one of the walls packed with miniature pillars and Shikharas. These are replicas of real pillars found inside.

A peek into the Sabhamantapa through the northern door. Pushpa's shooting a video of the interior. Such a handsome row of pillars. At the middle is a circular stage right opposite the sanctum. From this point on the caretaker did not let me shoot with my DSLR. The interior photos are shot with my Moto Z2. Some weird verbal rule these ASI people have formed. They allow shooting with a high res mobile phone but have issues with DSLR!

Profile of a pillar assembly. On the left is the seating platform Sukhanasi. On the right is the principal Garbhagriha dedicated to Lakshminarayana. The other two Garbhagriha are not seen in this angle.

The principal sanctum's grand doorframe. On either sides are two inscriptions which have been shielded by glass panes. I guess these inscriptions are very important, hence the protection.

Side view of the principal Garbhagudi and the northern doorway.

This Garbhagudi is dedicated to queen Kamaladevi. Sadly this sanctum has been made a store room of construction material & tools. Apart from the sanctums, there are a number of niches for deities other than the principal deities.

The more you look at the pillars, the more you want to look at them.

Wondering what kind of minds designed them and made them. It would be interesting to learn about the evolution of pillar designs. How many years did they evolve in? BTW, this temple was built in the XII Century by an architect named Tippoja under the patronage of Kadamba queen Kamaladevi. The caretaker mentioned that the temple construction went on for 4o years, it was completed around the time Basaveshwara attained Aikya i.e. left this world.

A closer look at the upper assembly of a pillar. This self aligning assembly is designed to absorb shock forces and maintain equilibrium. 

The square sectioned pillars have faces depicting elegant jewelry art.

This temple's star attractions includes very complex circular sculptures mounted into the ceiling. The sculptures complexity is mindboggling.  It looks like some kind of gear system. This wheel like artwork is supposed to depict a lotus.

This indeed is one of the most valuable temples of Belgaum district!

Next on our list was Kalgudi of Degulahalli which is approximately 5 km away, on the other side of Kittur-Bidi highway.

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