Lakshminarasimha Devasthana, Vignasanthe

Vignasante along with three other Hoysala temple places had been on my list of places to see for about 3 years. The plan was to see the ancient temples of Turuvekere, Nagalapura, Araluguppe and Vignasante in one day. Subsequently Kadaba got added. The trip became a reality in the last week of Jan 2023.

Jan 26, 2023. The tour of temples started only around 1-30 at Kadaba which was pretty late. By 4-45 I had seen three temples- 1. Kailasanatha Devastana at Kadaba, 2. Kedareshwara Devastana and 3. Chennakeshava Devastana at Nagalapura. I decided to head to Tiptur to spend the night. While passing through Turuvekere I got to know about Mallaghatta Kere a huge lake in the vicinity. I happened to see a beautiful sunset over the calm waters of Mallaghatta Kere. I reached Tiptur by 7-30 or so, checked into Aadya Lodge. Then met with a long time friend for an hour or so. Since it was a hectic day, I decided to hit the sack early.

Jan 27, 2023. I left Tiptur around 6-00, it was still dark. On the way I stopped at Nonavinakere another big lake but smaller then Mallaghatta. By 6-45 I was at Vignasante, parked my car at the village square from which Sri Lakshminarasimha Devasthana is a stone's throw away, situated on the edge of the village, surrounded by coconut plantation on two sides. From a tea shop I got to know that the Archaka came only around 9-00, he happens to be from the neighboring village Nonavinakere. Well, I'll be seeing only the exteriors.

Though a ASI protected monument, the temple is not enclosed in a fence yet. There's a pair of gates, it wasn't locked. Between the gates and the temple was stony remains of platforms of a gateway. For some reason the gateway was left incomplete. 

So here stands Sri Lakshminarasimha Devasthana. As per a travel/history blog, this temple was completed in 1286 CE by three brothers Appayya, Gopala and Madhava serving as army officers under the Hoysala king Narasimha III. This north-facing temple is a Trikuta. It's three deities are Lakshmi Narasimha, Venugopala and Narasimha. The north-facing sanctum is graced by Narasimha.

This is one of the best preserved temples, not much of damages, natural or human inflicted. The temple design is like simple lower half and an ornate upper half. In fact this temple has a full fledged Shikhara too. The front has a Mukhamantapa as well and a pair of handsome elephants add on to the graceful looks of this temple. The Mukhamantapa has four turned pillars and a concave dome.

This pair of elephants reminds me of the elephants at Banavasi Madhukeshwara Devastana, more or less same size.

On the left hand side of the temple door is an inscription slab. Half the area of the slab is inscribed with Kannada text and the other half is blank.

This is the ceiling of the Mukhamantapa. Inside the dome is a three tier wheel. This is a very complex piece of work, precision and accuracy written allover it.

In this slightly zoomed in version, some more details can be seen. For example, the diamond shapes between the spokes of the wheel. Notice how proportionate the whole creation is... diameter of each circle, width of each tier, the diamonds... simply amazing. It looks like a highly sophisticated device... something that could communicate with human minds. 

This is a part of the turned column. Such fine details in a pillar of this size. Surely such complex shapes had a function, this is not just for aesthetics, I think.

The north-eastern view.

I've split the side view into two pictures. This is the front half. Most Hoysala temples, the popular ones, have their external walls covered with ornate sculptures. However, here we have a relatively simple exterior.  

The rear half. I feel the builders made sure the temple was completed, hence simpler exteriors.

The south-eastern view. The Shikhara is complete with a Kalasha. In this view the temple looks so compact but the interior would be spacious.

A closer look at the three tier Shikhara. Again, precision and accuracy all over the structure... the dimensions, proportions, alignment. Every aspect of the work is perfect. What kind of minds & bodies could produce such works. They can't be ordinary, they have to be extraordinary.

The south-western view. The external walls are not exactly bare. Our divine flower lotus have graced the walls. In Indian culture, Lotus has been sacred from the ancient times. Thankfully lotus is still held in reverence, it has a place even in the Indian Constitution. Here I would like to mention one thing- our nation's current ruling political party's symbol too is Lotus. Surely there were profound thoughts behind & under the party symbol. And, surely the party's mission is to uphold the values of our culture.

Wish I could've seen the inside of this temple but I had to move on. I had to visit two more places before 1-00 PM and then drive upto Dharwad. So off I head towards Turuvekere.

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