December 15, 2021
The plan for the day was to visit Raamteerth hill, Machigad fort, Kadamba temples of Halasi and one more ancient temple near Golihalli. The first two places needed both time & effort, half a day was spent there. The trips has drained me, I was on the verge of exhaustion. It was around 2 'O clock when I arrived at Bhuvaraha Devastana which is the center of Halasi village.
It was 11 years ago I saw these temples first. They have been maintained as it is. Kudos to the caretakers. This complex has eight or nine temples and one Kalyani. The chief temple is BhuVaraha Narasimha Devastana. The remaining are dedicated to Shankarnayana, Lakshinarayana, Ganesha, Shiva, Vittala, Radhakrishna, and other deities. This is a protected monument with a full time security guard and two or three caretakers.
Lets start with the main temple. I'll quote the small para from ASI Dharwad Circle on BhuVaraha Devastana: This dvikuta temple, built on a high jagati, in granite has on plan two garbhagrihas, two antaralas and a navaranga. The prakara has four doorways and within the prakara, abutting to it. Two garbhagrihas face each other and the one that faces east has an image of standing Bhuvaraha that was constructed and consecrated in 1186-87 by the Kadamba king Jayakesi III. Sivachita Permadi, the Goa Kadamba king built this temple in 1169 CE. From its build, it looks like a temple with one sanctum, but it has two sanctums. The east facing shrine has a Shikhara but the west-facing shrine is sans Shikhara. I feel originally a ekakuta temple was planned or built here. Later the second sanctum was added making it a dvikuta temple. The other unusual feature of this temple is the closed navaranga. Most of the other Kadamba temples have open navaranga. Hence this temple has no sukhanasi as other Kadamba temples like Tambdi Surla Mahadeva, Banavasi Madhukeshwara, or Suvarneshwara Devastana at Halasi.
This is the eastern end of the temple. The temple has sukanasi on the outside, one each on the northern and southern sides. The usual Kadamba design has one continuous sikanasi excluding passages at the entrances.
As seen from the north-western corner. Truly its an handsome structure. Anyone looking at this picture will feel its a ekakuta. There are two entrances, one each on the northern and southern faces.
These are the simple steps to the temple interior. On the first step is an engraving which depicts a Sashtanga Namaskara i.e. lying prostrate with arms extended and hands joined. The third step has an inscription in Devanagiri text.
This is the navaranga. A circular stage enclosed in a mantapa. At the center of the stage is an idol of tortoise with its head towards BhuVaraha garbhagudi. An hour ago I saw a real tortoise at Machigad, only the shell since its limbs and head were withdrawn.
The garbhagudi doors were shut. I guess they are open from morning till about noon, then closed during lunch time. However, one can see the deities through the holes in the doors - made for people to see the deities. The painted wooden doors are little distracting, they seem to affect the effect of the mesh screens flanking the antharala. I took a quick look at Bhu Varaha idol... its made of black stone, worked to perfection, it's finish is mindblowing!
This is the garbhagudi of Vishnu. Also there are idols of Suryanarayana & Mahalakshmi. All idols are made in black stone and of the same quality. You can take a closer look at the mesh screen in this picture (see inset).
This little temple is called Sri Raghunathateertha Vrindavana. The idols shown in the insets are not of this temple but they are fixed in niches in the wall around the temple complex.
One of the caretakers asked me take a look at this pair- Radha Krishna. He wanted me to see the ear pendant in particular which happens to carry the royal Kadamba logo.
Here's a closer look at amazingly sculpted pendant enclosing the Kadamba lion logo. Just imagine the same in real, in the same scale, made in gold. These idols are approximately 3' tall and the pendant 3" in dia. Assuming a adult of 5' the pendant would be 5" dia. and ½" thick. A gold pendant of that size should weigh 250 grams. Wow!
This would be the third largest temple of the complex. Its is dedicated to a Shivalinga. The temple's façade has low door and two niches. The niche on the left hand side has an idol of Ganesha. The temple is simple, built like a solid box with the most basic touches of decorative art.
The Shivalinga mounted on a pedestal. Nice to see morning rituals happening on a regular basis.
The second largest structure here. This is dedicated to Lakshminarayana. It seems the temple construction was incomplete. Looks like a grand little temple was planned, for some reason work stalled forever. The rear side of the temple is just plain stone walls.
There are three other shrines, one in a simple box like structure and two other in tiled roof structures. The last item to see was the Kalyani.. on the way stood this Arlikatte. Yes, every temple complex must have one Arlikatte. In the background is the Kalyani. If you notice the walls, they are built of laterite blocks which are pretty commonly seen in Belgavi district.
The stepped well is also lined with laterite blocks. Isn't it amazing that every type of stone has its own beauty. Coming to the water, its filled with moss. I guess the cleaning will happen during dry months.
.........
No comments:
Post a Comment