Maari Kanive Dam and Vani Vilas Sagar

Though we had driven past Hiriyur several times since my childhood days, we couldn't make a trip to Vani Vilas Sagar. I fact I'd not even seen a photo of it until 3 or 4 years back. When I read about the place, the urge to visit it got stronger but it was still a pending item. Then in the third week of January 2023 during my inquiry for Ficus Krishnae trees I heard from my cousin's husband that there was  a tree in a park near Vani Vilas Sagar dam. Around the same time, a long pending trip to Bengaluru was being planned, the Ficus at Vani Vilas Sagar was a catalyst in finalizing the trip.

Jan 23, 2023. I left Dharwad around 3-45 AM; my first stop was Sri Revana Siddeshwara Gudi at Dodda Bathi where I spent about 20 minutes; the next item was Sri Basaveshwara Gudi, Anekonda which I reached by 7-15, spent about 45 minutes looking in & around the XII Century artifact; then I drove out of Davangere towards Bengaluru. During my previous drive on this highway, I'd seen the new bypass around Chitradurga was being constructed. Now the new bypass road was open to traffic, we don't even get to see Chitradurga, a number of rock hills have been leveled to make this new road, its quite scenic but hurts to imagine the original state. That's the cost of development. At Hiriyur I got off NH48, drove through the town, found the road to Vani Vilas Sagar, which is a 20 km drive. By 10-30 I was at the spot, the dam came into view, on the left was a big Ficus with hundreds of aerial roots and on the right was Kanive Maaramma Devastana. 'Kanive' means valley, since the shrine of Maari is situated in a valley, the deity is called as Kanive Maaramma. And vice versa also applies... since Maari shrine is present here, this valley is called Maari Kanive.

I parked my car under the Ficus, next to which are a row of shops and tourism department park. Both park gates were shut which was little disappointing. How would look for Krishna Ficus without entering the parks? Luckily the tourism department park has a side entrance which is always open. I explored the park completely, no sign of Krishna Ficus here. The forest department park didn't seem to have any other gate, I thought may be today's not the day. So I headed towards the dam.

There are two flights of steps on either end of the dam wall and on either ends of the walls are two pillared halls, they are the viewing galleries built when this dam was constructed. One of the stairs starts just behind Maari Devastana and ends at the top of the dam. There's a fence restricting people from venturing beyond the viewing gallery. However on the opposite site, the staircase continues beyond the gallery, the elevated views from that side are captivating. This view below is from the gallery level.

At the base of the dam is a board which describes the dam as below:

ವಾಣಿ ವಿಲಾಸ ಸಾಗರ (ಮಾರಿ ಕಣಿವೆ) : ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಪ್ರವಾಸಿ ತಾಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿರಿಯೂರು ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕಿನಲ್ಲಿರುವ ವಾಣಿವಿಲಾಸ ಸಾಗರವೂ ಒಂದು. ಮಾರಿಕಣಿವೆ ಎಂಬಲ್ಲಿ ವೇದಾವತಿ ನದಿಗೆ ಅಡ್ಡಲಾಗಿ, ಮೈಸೂರಿನ ಮಹಾರಾಜರು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ಅಣೆಕಟ್ಟು ಇದು. ಇದು ಹಿರಿಯೂರಿನಿಂದ 20ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಹಾಗೂ ಚಿತ್ರದುರ್ಗದಿಂದ 60 ಕಿ.ಮೀ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಇದನ್ನು 1898 ರಿಂದ 1907 ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿರ್ಮಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಎಚ್.ಡಿ.ರೈಸ್ ಮುಂತಾಗಿ ಹಲವಾರು ಇಂಜಿನಿಯರುಗಳು ಇದರ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ವಿಶಾಲ ಜಲಾಶಯವು ಎತ್ತರದ ಒಂದು ಬದಿಯಿಂದ ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಭಾರತ ಭೂಪಟವನ್ನು ಹೋಲುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದರ ಉದ್ದ 1330 ಅಡಿ ಎತ್ತರ 162 ಅಡಿ ಇದ್ದು, ಅದು 25,000ಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಎಕರೆ ಭೂಮಿಗೆ ನೀರುಣ್ಣಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾರಿಕಾಂಭಾ ಮತ್ತು ರಂಗನಾಥಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳಿವೆ. ಅನೇಕ ಭಕ್ತರು ಇವಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಟಿ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. -ಜಿಲ್ಲಾಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರು, ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಪ್ರವಾಸೋದ್ಯಮ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಸಮಿತಿ, ಚಿತ್ರದುರ್ಗ.

Vani Vilas Sagar (Maari Kanive):It is one of the famous tourist spots of the Chitradurga district, situated in Hiriyur taluk. This reservoir is built across the Vedavathi river by the Maharaja of Mysore. This is 20 kms away from Hiriyur and 60 kms from Chitradurga. This was built during 1898 to 1907. Mr. H.D. Rice and other engineers took part in constructing of this reservoir. The water looks like India map when it is viewed from the top of the hill on one side. The length of the dam is 1330 feet and height 162 feet. It feeds water to the land more than 25,000 acres. Here are two shrines of the deities Marikamba and Ranganathaswamy which attract so many devotees. - Deputy Commissioner and Chairman, District Tourism Development Committee

The description however doesn't mention that Rani Kempa Nanjammani Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, the widow of king Chamaraaja Wadiyar, was one of the promoters of this dam project. It is said that Mysore KIngdom royal family has financed such projects even to the extent of pledging their personal jewelry to borrow money. 

The still waters of Vani Vilas Sagar. The reservoir is 16 km & 7.5 km at its longest & widest, and its gross storage capacity is 30.4 TMC i.e. when the waters have reached a height of 130 feet. This reservoir has 3 canals namely left canal, right canal and high level canal. In the picture below, on the left-bottom corner is the roof of the gallery.

View of Maaramma Devastana, a community hall and forest department park. According to one of the locals, Krishna Ficus trees should be situated in this park.

The dam gates are situated close to the left bank, next to the right angle bend in the wall.

Around the dam are several pumping stations supplying water to the three canals. The white speck just above the water surface is one such station.

The staircase is an artistic creation. The retaining walls porous, holds the earth yet allows rainwater to seep through. Such a construction actually prevents landslides and are long lasting. Assuming this was constructed a few years after completing the dam, this is almost a century old.

With a partially shaded staircase, climbing wasn't tiring. Also flanking the stairs are small terraces where I could catch my breath as I admired the elevated views. In fact these little shaded terraces is a nice place for picnic.

The right bank staircase ends at a the PWD Guest House gate which is usually kept locked. With the dam gates shut, the water surface was almost still. Any unevenness seen is due to air movement. A pleasant breeze would blow over the water from time to time.

This is the path along the PWD Guest House wall. This stretch too offers nice views, especially early mornings & evenings. The guest house seems to be well maintained. Once could obtain permission for accommodation from the head office at Bangalore.

This is the left bank staircase as seen from ground level. The dam wall must be at least 100' at its base, of course the foundation would be much wider. Wish I could see construction time photographs.

The old Ficus, spreading its wide, providing more shade below and accommodating more birds on its branches. Ancient superstitions around trees like Ficus, Banyan, Tamarind were justified because they kept unwanted people away, which was conducive for the trees' growth.

This is the staircase to Maaramma Devastana, situated close to the right bank.

A heroine-stone next to a Neem tree near the temple stairs. Looks like this warrior lady was martyred while protecting this shrine or a village close by. It was a practice in olden times to honor warriors with such memorials.

Despite all the modern facilities, this shrine has still retained some of its ancient features. I believe an annual fair is held here which attracts thousands of people.

Lastly, the forest department park entrance. I wasn't ready to leave the place without finding the Krishna Ficus. On my way out, I stopped here to peep though the gate grills. First I noticed the gate slightly ajar, I went closer and confirmed it. Yes, the gate wasn't locked.

I explored the park, starting from the left hand side and lastly coming to the right side. This park, a few years ago was superbly maintained. At some point after 2018 the neglect had begun. I could still see boards of theme parks like Nandana Vana, Gulabi Tota, Japanese Udhyana Vana, Ashoka Vana, Shiva Panchaya Vana and Bruhat Panchavati Vana. This is on the same concept as Deve Deva Vana near Bidar. The board "Bruhat Panchavati Vana" gave me hope, and to my delight there were four Ficus Krishnae trees. The discovery was a bitter-sweet experience, happy to have seen the divine trees and sad to be seeing their plight. To see pictures of the Ficus Krishnae, read the article on Ficus Krishnae trees at Mari Kanive Park.

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Basaveshwara Devastana, Anekonda, Davangere

This temple had been on my list of temples to see for a few years until the last week of Jan 2023.

January 23, 2023. I left Dharwad around 3-45 AM; by 6-30 I was at Sri Revana Siddeshwara Devasthana, Dodda Bathi; the poojari was preparing for Monday morning pooje; I got a glimpse of the deity; by 6-50 am I was heading towards Davangere town. My next planned stop was Anekonda Basavanna Gudi which is close Davangere food grains market.

It is said that there was a large pond close to this area which was frequented by elephants. So it was called Aanae Honda which eventually transformed to Anekonda.

Monday being Shiva's day, rituals are elaborate. Poojaris at Basavanna temple too were busy preparing for Abhisheka. Again I got a glimpse of the chief deity a Shivalinga. Also a small group of people had come to participate in the Abhisheka, the Garbhagudi was crowded. I started my tour of the temple. This pillared hall is the Sabhamantapa with Sukhanasi, a meeting hall with raised seating platform. The pillars are exquisitely sculpted, similar to the pillars of other Chalukyan temples.

A little further inside is the Ranga Mantapa or the Nritya Mantapa, a square space enclosed by four similar looking columns with a lot of turned sections. 

The ceiling of Ranga Mantapa holds a Navagraha sculptures. The beams supporting the ceiling piece are also elaborately sculpted with miniature temples and divine figures.

The sanctum's brass doorframe is the original multi-tiered stone doorframe. This temple has been renovated with modern materials, but thankfully the stone parts aren't painted or coated with lime. One of the videos on this temple states that this temple was built in the XII Century by a person named Tribhuvana Malla Pandeshwara.

 Flanking the chief sanctum are two relief mantapas; Parvati Devi occupies the mantapa on the left and Subramnya Swami on the right.

This is an east-facing Dwikutachala, a temple with two sanctum, the chief sanctum is east facing (on the right hand side in this picture) and the secondary sanctum is north-facing. The secondary sanctum has no deity in it.

Another view of the Sabha Mantapa and Sukhanasi. Opposite this temple is a smaller shrine dedicated to Nandishwara.

External view of the temple. Adjacent to the main temple is a smaller shrine dedicated to Navagraha.

The smaller shrine dedicated to Nandi. The same video also states that this temple was completely buried in dirt and remained hidden. Then dirt covering the Nandi idol somehow cleared and people started worshipping it. As time passed, the hidden Shiva temple was discovered. I think our ancient temples were intentionally covered in dirt to hide them from Muslim armies. I've heard similar stories of other temples which were under mounds of dirt for centuries before being discovered.

Nandi looking at his Swami with his left eye. Just behind Nandi is another Garbhagudi with a smaller Shivalinga. This arrangement of two Shivalinga, one in front and another behind Nandi is unique, can't remember seeing it anywhere else.

Let's take a quick look around the temple. The sloping canopy and half walls are typically Chalukyan. Ah, canopy slabs have been painted... our people have this craze for painting stones... probably they don't like the raw look of stone.

A portion of the wall has been repaired, stones wall has been replaced with brick & mortar wall. The original walls features three tiers. The bottom most is grooved; the middle tier being miniature mantapas with divine figures and the upper tier featuring humans in various postures separated by pairs of miniature pillars.

The space around the temple is rather tight because the surrounding ground is elevated. I think when the temple was discovered, the dirt was excavated in a way that left the temple sitting in a pit. Now, the design of the external walls is clearly Chalukyan.

This is the northern wall, with a spout projecting from the sanctum.

The temple is at least 4' below the surrounding ground which might have been at the same level originally i.e. when this temple was constructed.

A closer look at the pillars, miniature pillars & mantapas on the external walls. Hoysala walls are slightly different, they have slightly more floral relief works.

A closer look at the Sukhanasi wall. The raw material being sandstone, there's lot of wear & tear. Of the seven characters in the top tier, three from the left seem like hunters and the other four are artists- musicians and dancers. The middle tier are divine figures seated in mantapas. Though the sculptures are damaged, one could identify the characters if studied with patience. One of the dozen plus characters seems to be Ganesha.

This is how the temple looks from the road. Within the premises is a Banni tree, one of the sacred trees.

This is the opposite side. This entrance is more or less in level with the temple floor. This locality, though part of Davangere city, it still retains the rural ambiance. It was peaceful, people going about their morning chores in silence.

This east facing Gopura is the gateway to Anekonda Basaveshwara Devastana is a recent construction. In the Chalukyan culture, the concept of Gopura didn't exist, all the attention was focused on Shikhara. Gopura tradition gained prominence during Vijayanagara times. 

I'd read about another ancient shrine here called "Vishwanatha Devastana" which also had a Kalyani. I tried to get the location of it from local people but the few I spoke to had no knowledge of it. Perhaps its known by a different name. I did not pursue it since I wanted to move on to the next time on my itinerary. People did ask me to check to Kalleshwara Devastana at Yelebethur, which is about 2.5 km from here. I'd already visited it a few years ago, a very nice little temple surrounded by paddy fields and arecanut plantations.

Next on my list was Vani Vilas Sagar, a place I wanted to see since early 80s.

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Ficus Krishnae trees at Mari Kanive Park, Vani Vilas Pura

It was in the third week of January 2023 I heard from a cousin (actually cousin's husband) that there were Krishnae Ficus trees in a park at Vani Vilas Sagar dam. This dam has been on my 'list of places to see' since primary school years, somehow I never made it. Now, my hunt for Krishna Ficus trees could fulfill the long pending wish. So a plan was formed- drive down to Bangalore and see a few historic spots on the way.

January 23, 2023. I left home around 3-45 AM, reached Dodda Bathi at 6-30 AM. I spent about 20 minutes at Revana Siddeshwara Devastana, weather was pleasant and it was peaceful. Then I went into Davangere city, visited Anekonda Basaveshwara Devastana a temple built during Chalukyan times. Then I headed towards Hiriyur, reached the city by 10 AM. I got off NH48, entered Hiriyur town and took the road to Vani Vilasa Sagar, a 20 km drive. It was around 10-30 AM when I parked the car under a huge Fucus opposite Kanive Maramma Devastana. The dam and its two parks are in sight from the Ficus. Since the primary object of this trip was to find the Ficus Krishnae tree, I decided to check out the parks. Though both parks' gates were closed I decided to check out Karnataka State Tourism park since it had some semblance of a park. I scanned the park area completely, no Ficus Krishnae here. The other park "Aranya Elakhe Prakruti Vihara Vana" looked more like a jungle, as though the place has been abandoned. Even the entrance looked shabby with trash littered all over and the gates were shut. I assumed the gates were locked. I was disappointed and decided to move on... let me check the dam and any other garden at the hill top guest house.

Maari Kanive dam is 43m high, it was built from 1897 to 1907 to impound river Vedavathi, a tributary of river Tungabhadra. The dam's reservoir Vani Vilas Sagar is named after its proponent Rani Kempa Nanjammani Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, the widow of Raja Chamaraaja Wadiyar of Mysore Kingdom. The name Maari Kanive is derived from the Maari shrine situated next to the dam. Kanive means valley. I drove up the hill and parked at the guest house gates. It's a small premises, I scanned it quickly, found no Ficus. My disappointment went by a few more degrees. The view of the dam, hills and the sprawling reservoir kept me distracted for some time. On asking the guest house caretaker about my subject, his answer was little encouraging.. he asked me to check out the forest department park. I told him about the locked gates and told him that I might check at the forest office close to the park.

Before leaving I stopped to take a few pictures of the park's entrance. Since I had stopped I decided to freshen up with a quick face wash and have water. I noticed the smaller swing gate slightly ajar, and went closer... it wasn't locked! My hope was up again.

I stepped into the park which was mix of a trash yard and a jungle. I ventured with slight hesitation... place looked perfect for a stick up. After a few minutes of exploring I shook of the hesitation. This park, a collection of theme gardens, had been developed on the same concept as Deva Deva Vana near Bidar. There were boards which read Nandana Vana, Gulabi Tota, Japanese Udhyana Vana, Ashoka Vana, Shiva Panchaya Vana and lastly Bruhat Panchavati Vana. The moment I saw "Bruhat Panchavati Vana" board, hope of finding Ficus Krishna rose again. The requirements of a Panchavati Vana are five types of trees: Ashwatta, Banni, Bilwa Patri, Neem and a country fig i.e. Ficus. Also the Panchavati Vana at Bidar has four Ficus Krishnae.

A shepherd grazing sheep came into sight. I asked him if there's a tree with cup-shaped leaves. No. The moment he answered coincided with me spotting a tree with familiar leaves. I went closer and lo it was a Krishna Ficus! I thanked my cousin's husband in my mind. 

A closer look at the buttercup leaves. Some of the leaves were still velvety and some smooth.

Then I called the shepherd and showed him the leaves, he was surprised to see the cup-leaves and remarked that he never paid attention to them. Next I asked of there were any more such trees. Yes, there are four such trees here. At the center of this 'Vana' is a Mantapa, around the Mantapa at 90° interval are four Ficus trees and along the perimeter are a dozen Amla trees. Also in this garden are two Bilva Patri and one Ashwatta tree, however I couldn't find Banni and Neem trees here. May be those trees are lost. For now, lets take a look at the other three Ficus Krishnae here.

Going by the girth of the stem and branches, these trees could be 15 to 25 years old. They seemed to well cared for in their earlier years. None of the trees have developed aerial roots yet. 

Of the four trees, this tree has the most branches.

This one took a slanting stance, probably while it was very young.

Here are a few close up shots of leaves.

Its sad to see the state of this park. Going by the weeds, the park hasn't been cared for in the past two years. While researching, I happened to see a few pictures of this park uploaded between Aug 2014 and Dec 2017. One of the pictures show Panchavati Vana Mantapa with a Krishnae Ficus in the background however it is not recognizable. Also there are photos showing murals of Chitradurga fort on the park's entrance walls. Apparently there is a plan to revive this park and a budget has been sanctioned. I hope Karnataka state forest department revives the park at least for the sake of the rare Krishnae Ficus trees.

Truly this tree is rare because I have managed to locate just five sites in Karnataka including this place. The other four sites are:

1. Botanical Garden inside Karnataka University, Dharwad

2. Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, Bengaluru

3. Deva Deva Vana near Bidar and

4. Discovery Village resort, Vaderahalli, Bengaluru-Kanakapura highway

There could be other sites as well... until their discovery. While we are talking about rare trees, I would like to mention Baobab trees as well. In the past 15 years of traveling, I've seen Baobab trees in just seven places. Here's a link to the article on the Baobab trees of Karnataka and Telangana.

Dear reader, if you happen to come across any other Baobab or Krishna Ficus tree or any other rare tree, do share the location details as a comment.

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Baobab tree of Shirala fort

On the morning of December 30, 2022 I happened to share the link to "Baobab trees in Karnataka and Telangana" with Vijay Menon, an acquaintance through this blog. Vijay Menon and a few of his friends are fort experts - the group has visited 580+ forts, 500 in Maharashtra itself. The group is undertakes regular expeditions to forts, explore them thoroughly identifying the key spots within, participate in restoration work and conduct photo exhibitions. Having shared the link, I fely Vijay might have seen a Baobab or two during his explorations. My intuition was right. Vijay responded that he would read the post and a few moments later he shared pictures of a Baobab with a caption "In our recent trip ...boabab tree in Shirala fort- Sangli district." I was elated. We spoke over phone, I wanted to know more about the new discovery. During the chat I learned about Vijay's interest in Banyan & Peepul trees... basically huge and rare trees.

Shirala is a town in Sangli district of Maharashtra state. The ruins of the fort marked as "Bhuikot fort" is situated on the southwest side of the town. According to Vijay just a couple of bastions and rampart walls remain of the fort. Besides the fortification, there are couple of shrines and an ancient well in the fort area. One of the shrines is a Shiva Mandir close to which is this Baobab tree.

I zoomed into the picture to get a closer look at the bark and compared it with barks other Baobabs. They are almost same, any difference seen could be due to different lighting. Going by this Baobab's form, it is closer to the Baobab of Ogapur near Vijayapura. As to its age, it could be 200 to 300 years old.

In the fort area are offices of forest department. I assume the round platform around and benches around the tree are forest department's contribution. People can sit under / near the rare tree and appreciate its beauty. However, the round platform around the tree's stem might restrict the tree's growth. Unlike other trees, Baobabs grow newer stems which merge with the main stem thereby increasing its girth over time - this is the reason for their long life spanning 1000 to 3000 years. Perhaps it would be wise to remove the round platform altogether, create open space around the stem and fix a fence so that people do not step on the open space.

Hoping the people of Shirala and the forest department take good care of their town's living heritage. Thanks to my friend Vijay Menon for discovering this rare tree.

Before closing this post, I would like to mention that Baobab is originally from Africa. Between the XIV and XVII Centuries CE, groups of Sufi ascetics who travelled from Africa to India carried Baobab saplings and planted them wherever they camped for long periods. Baobabs though a rare tree in our country, thousands of trees are said to be existing in the western parts i.e. Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh. Baobabs made their way interior regions i.e. the Deccan plateau and even down south to Tamil Nadu. For the reader's benefit, below is a list of known Baobab trees of India-

1. Hilltop Nightclub, Vagator, Goa
2. Cabo Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula, Goa
3. Quepem, Goa
4. Bamboo Motels, Goa
5. next to Yogapur mosque, Bijapur
6. Mahalakshmi Gudi premises, Martur, Kalburgi district
7. Dodda Hunashe Matha, Savanur, Karnataka
8. Near the aquarium in Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru
9. inside Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashaala, Yadavagiri, Mysuru
10. Purana Qilla, Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana
11. Attapur, Hyderabad
12. Vansthalipuram, Hyderabad, Telangana
13. near Chappel Road, Hyderabad, Telangana
14. Ranganath temple at Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, Telangana
15. Shivalaya on Balachandruni Guttalu, Nalagonda, Telangana
16. Uppal in Chengicherla Reserve Forests, Hyderabad, Telangana
17. Nellore, Andhrapradesh
18. Theosophist Society Gardens, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
19. The American College campus, Madurai, TN
20. Chinmaya Vidyalaya's campus at Ilanthope, Rajapalayam, TN
21. Mangaliawas near Ajmer, Rajasthan
22. Vadodara, Gujarat
23. Dayapur, Gujarat
24. Kutch, Gujarat
25. Bhanagar, Gujarat
26. Baroda, Gujarat
27. Victoria Garden, Sukharamnagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
28. Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra
29. Byculla zoo, Mumbai, Maharashtra
30. Outside the Vasai fort, Maharashtra
31. Tilak road and Ghokale road, Pune, Maharastra
32. near Aurangabad, Maharashtra
33. opposite Mandvi Darwaza at Vasai Fort, Maharastra
34. Nana Fadnavis Wada premises, Menawali, Maharashtra
35. Mandavgad or Mandu, Madhya Pradesh
36. near Sangam, left bank of the Ganga, Prayag, Uttar Pradesh 
37. Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Bihar

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