Besides the Chalukyan realm, the most visited place of the Year 2023 has been Bhogasandra where I could taste the remote rural life in Tumkur district. I was happy to visiting it again, Bhogasandra is another home for me.
December 4th morning I met Sridhar again at Mysuru. We were at Mysuru to attend a wedding. The venue was in a rural location, some 17 km away from Mysuru city center, it was peaceful, had a nice view of Chamundi Betta. Soon after lunch, we returned to Mysuru, checked out from the hotel and hired a taxi to drop us to Nittur. We had thought of going by bus, since we got delayed at the wedding we opted for a quicker mode for the 140 km journey. The cab dropped us off near Nittur bus-stand by 6-30 pm. From here we would be proceeding to Bhogasandra by Sridhar's scooter. We picked up groceries and then walked a kilometer to the lodge where the scooter was parked, a 15 minute walk. The 15 km scooter journey with two stops for more groceries lasted about 45 minutes. In between, we had to be really cautious on the diversion because of the ongoing canal work related to Yettinahole project. After being outdoors for almost 24 hours, I felt relieved to be home again. After freshening up, we prepared rice & rasam. The steaming hot rice-rasam mixture on banana leaves was a satisfactory meal. We hit the sack by 9-30, lying down in the dark, in complete silence barring the sounds of insects ...this is one of the things which pulls me to this place.
Being accustomed to waking up early, I was awake by 4-30 am but remained in the bed until about 5 am. I saw Sridhar stirring, wished him good morning, that ended his sleep. After freshening up, I made tea, we sipped the hot brew and chatted about work. As the first light appeared, we started removing wild plants which were taking over the open space in front of the house. We pulled the plants along with their roots and dumped them in small heaps. This work requires some effort, warming us up rapidly. One of the farmers wrapped up in a jacket and riding a bike to his plantation stopped by and asked us if the cold weather wasn't bothering us. Forget the cold, I was already sweating. We cleaned up the entire front yard by 7-30 or so. We called it a session and headed to the kitchen for another tea. This was a good way to start a day. Time for bath & breakfast. I prepared uppit, Sridhar fetched banana leaves and our friend Siddaramanna happened to come by, we had the slightly pasty uppit. After breakfast Sridhar and I picked tomatoes and chilies. Around 11-30 we went to the neighboring farmer Shivappa's home, just a casual meeting for an hour or so. Back home, we cooked rice & rasam, had them piping hot over banana leaves and napped till 3-30 PM. While we had tea, Sridhar planned a trip to Kote Gudda. Our friend Siddaramanna would be taking us there.
We left the farm by 4 PM, paused at Bhogasandra for Siddaramanna to join us. There are two routes to Kote Gudda, one via Sagasandra and the other one is an interior route. We opted for the former. About 1.5 km from Sagasandra towards Adalagere lake, there's a dirt road on the right hand side which goes towards the hill. The dirt track is suitable for walking, mountain bikes, motorcycles and SUVs. At one point I shifted from Sridhar's scooter to Siddaramanna's motorcycle. The dirt track surface was mostly hard, it was littered with pebbles, also there were patches of loose mud, riders had to deal with varying conditions. The track snakes it way up the eastern slope, since it was afternoon we were riding in shade. About 90% of the way up, we stopped to admire the views.
A minute's ride we reached the end of the path, Ranganatha Swamy Devastana was there. Bikes were parked close to the temple, we went to the southern side of the summit which gave a commanding view of the surroundings. The waterbody seen in the background is Adalagere lake.
Looking towards the south-eastern side, the aqueduct of Yettinahole project comes into view. The pale white band is the aqueduct. The project is still under construction phase which might on for another 3 to 4 years. Beyond the aqueduct are plains and then further away are hills and forest area. Bhogasandra is one of the few villages on the border between the plains & hills.
A hillock in the path of the canal has been cut open exposing the innards.
Panning to the right, now we are almost looking in the westerly direction. The waterbody seen here is Bhogasandra lake. The tiny white dot beyond the waterbody is one of the houses of Bhogasandra. mostly Channabasava's house, very close to Sridhar's farmhouse. Between this hill and the edge of those hills, the plains are covered mostly by coconut and betelnut plantations. Somewhere in the plains we spotted a herd of sheep, we could hear the shepherd's cry clearly.
This hill has some interesting flora, mostly planted by the state forest department. This tree full of dry beans caught my attention. I tried to find the name of this plant, the closest I could get is Indian Bean tree however I'm not sure if that's the correct name.
Around the temple were a few outcrops of lava rocks. The surface, due to the color and texture, has a woody look.
This is the temple Shikhara, the tower over the sanctum. The walls are made of granite blocks, has a thick layer of plaster and coated with lime. The Shikhara is made of brick and mortar. Going by the structure's design, this seems to be built during Vijayanagara time. Most of our temples histories date back to a few thousand years, however we tend to assign the period of structure's construction.
Coming to the front of the temple. There are two pillars, approximately 6' and 15' tall. The temple is situated on the highest place of this hill. The hill is about 2 km long (north-south) and 800 meters wide (east-west). The temple is situated close to the southern end of the hill.
The temple doorway had a metal gate and it was locked, however we could see through the gate, deity and guards were visible. This temple sees activity for a few days in a year, during festivals or significant days. Otherwise this place doesn't have any visitors, looks like even shepherds avoid this hill because of leopard attacks. Apparently bears used to take shelter in this temple during rains or cold winters. Hence a gate was installed and kept locked.
A peek through the gate. Nice to see the clean interior. The deity is a blur due to low light in the sanctum. The Dwarapala i.e. the guards are clearer. These three idols are quite big, approximately 4' tall. It's my guess that these idols date back to Hoysala period. May be the temple structure was smaller originally. Later during the Vijayanagara time the temple was renovated hence the brick-mortar Shikhara over the sanctum.
A zoomed in picture, the features are no better. One must come early in the morning when sunrays are directly on the idol, to get a clearer look. We offer our Namaskara from outside and leave.
Another view of the Stambha. The taller pillar has plain faces. The shorter pillar has a female humanoid sculpture close to its base (see inset).
Meanwhile, in the sky high altitude clouds had formed an interesting pattern.
The Shikhara is very interesting pyramid. The transition from a square base to circular top is smooth and elegant. I'm guessing it's a Vimananagara Shikhara. Vimana is an ancient flying machine often mentioned in our country's history. That's it about this temple. People here do not know much about this temple's history. We have to form our own opinions based on observations. Maybe talking to elderly folks in surrounding villages may yield some info.
The light and shadow game of clouds was a spectacle. A sight to behold.
Siddramanna said time to leave, this place is known for animal attacks. We start our downhill journey.
The downhill journey was smooth despite the pebble ridden track and the payload, thanks to Siddaramanna's expert riding. At Sagasandra we stopped at Kempamma Devastana, another ancient shrine however the structure has been renovated in the recent past. Having seen Sagasandra several times, I feel this village was a place of importance in the past. Close to the village's main junction (Aralikatte) is a hero-stone. Also, there seems to be another shrine dating back to Hoysala period. Something to checkout during my future visits.
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