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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