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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