...continued from Kedareshwara Devastana.
January 26th 2023. After spending about 45 minutes at Kedareshwara Devastana, I and the temple caretaker drive to the opposite end of the village to see Chennakesahava Devastana. The temple is situated right next to the road, enclosed in a fence since it is under ASI care. The caretaker, an elderly man of the village, unlocked the gates and then the temple door.
The two temples here are more or less same size and have similar features, its natural to compare them. Both are Ekakuta meaning temple with one sanctum and floor plans are same. Both sanctums are east facing. However, Chennakeshava Devastana door is on the eastern wall while Kedareshwara Devastana door is on it's southern wall. Both temples do not have Shikhara and both are in incomplete state. It is said that Chennakeshava Devastana was built by Mahadandanayaka Somanna who was also instrumental is the making of Chennakeshava Devastana, Somnathpura.
This the Nritya Mantapa within the Sabha Mantapa. The turned columns are ornate and well finished. Overall the workmanship is good. Inside the Garbhagudi is a very well made idol of Keshava, a form of Vishnu. Hoysala rulers built Shiva and Vishnu temples.
A diagonal view of the Mantapa. The Garbhagudi entrance is flanked by two mantapas, a feature same as in Kedareshwara Devastana.
The Natya Mantapa ceiling dome is decorated with a very complex wheel which in turn is enclosed in a star. The transition from a point (center of the dome) to circle to star-shape to octagon to square is truly amazing.
Possibly there's some code concealed in this design.
A collage of pictures: a lotus with three rings, another flower, jewelry designs on a turned column and a much recent engraving of Huli-Mane Aata. Huli-Mane is a game of two players in one is a tiger and the other a shepherd. The objectives are obvious, the tiger has to capture as many sheep as possible and the shepherd has to save as many sheep as possible.
Coming to the exterior, the design is exactly same as Kedareshwara Devastana. Walls have three sections- base, mid and top. The base consists of five tiers, actually six include the blank band. Let's take a look at the tiers starting with the lowest. Tier-1 is made of elephants signifying strength. Tier-2 has cavalry & infantry signifying speed/agility. Tier-3 is Kirtimukha between creepers, probably to ward off evil eyes. Tier-4 is blank - any other sculpture could sculpt anything better than what is already here. Tier- 5 consists of Yali, an imaginary creature with mixed features. And the last, Tier-6 is peacocks signifying grace.
The middle section of the exterior walls consists of idols of characters from our legends. Most of the idols are common between the two temples. For example- Narasimha, Ganapati, Brahma, etc. One difference is while Kedareshwara has more images of Shiva in different postures, Chennakeshava has images of Vishnu. Here we have a seated Narasimha. The character on the right.. is it Govardhana Giridhari?
In the middle is a pair holding an egg like object. They are standing to the right of Vishnu. A similar pair can be seen standing next to Shiva's idol in Kedareshwara Devastana.
On the right is the mighty Garuda carrying Vishnu-Lakshmi on his shoulders. Garuda's wings are seen on his back.
We have reached the southwest corner. I have to mention that this temple has undergone restoration work by the archaeological department.
Here we are looking at Brahma, three of his four faces are visible. On the right, in the dancing posture must be Shiva. Some vandal has put in lots of effort to etch his initials. This is just one of the examples.
I have no idea who the dancing lady is. I think there's a lotus in one of her four hands. In fact all the female characters here are holding lotus in their hands.
This is the rear view of the temple, the sanctum. The Garbhagudi plan is star-shaped, the form is clearly seen right from the base to the roof.
The character with horse's head must be Hayagriva, the god of knowledge & wisdom. Hayagriva is a form of Vishnu. All the idols of Vishnu can be identified by the presence of Shankha & Chakra. The pair on the left side must be Lakshmi Narayana. If you have noticed, the decorative bases & arches of the idols are blanks, yet to be worked upon. Relatively Chennakeshava Devastana is behind Kedareashwara in terms of completeness.
The female character on the left wielding Trisula, Khadga and Damaru has her right foot over a male character. I have no idea who this is.
A serene looking Vishnu in Dhyana pose. On the right is standing Vishnu holding his mace. Take a closer look at his hand on the mace. Atleast seven rings can be seen on those fingers. Also, this is a grand form, decked in heavy jewelry, as though he is about to attend a function. Now, look at Dhyana Vishnu, he his relatively simple.
Here we have Ugra Narasimha slaying Hiranyakashipu. Also we have Vishnu holding Shankha, Chakra and a mace. One of the hands is missing. In the previous picture, the mace was lowered, here it is raised. Wondering what the positions signify.
Next we have very grand looking characters, all clad in lot of beautiful jewelry. Earlier we saw a seated Narasimha and Ugra Narasimha. Now we have a Soumya Narasimha. In this picture you can see the different stages of sculpting i.e. incomplete vs complete. The arch & base of Narasimha are completed but the same of Vishnu are blank.
This is the northwest corner. The temple is symmetrical except for the Garbhagudi outlet.
In this collage we have a lady holding an object which looks like maize cob. On the left, the character with his arms on hips must be Vittala. And the other character is clad in a robe like garment and wearing platform shoes. Kedareshwara also a has one character with platform shoes.
Having done with the tour of Chennakeshava Devastana, I thanked the caretaker and left. He locked the temple doors and gates immediately, he was sure there wouldn't be any more tourists.
From here I head to Turuvekere with a plan to proceed towards Tiptur to spend the night in a hotel. Of the five places planned, I could see only Kadaba and Nagalapura. The remaining three- Turuvekere, Araluguppe and Vignasanthe would be for the morrow. While at Turuvekere, I had a phone call with a friend who suggested me to check out Mallaghatta Kere. I could see the Sun set over a vast sheet of water if I make it on time. Yes, I did see sunset at Mallaghatta Kere.
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