Mar 2, 2024

Sri Gangadhareshwara Devalaya, Kaidala

Right besides Kaidala Chennakesaava Devalaya is Ganagdareshwara Devalaya, a relatively smaller structure. This too is a protected monument.

A board planted in front of the temple describes this temple as below:

Sri Gangadhareshwara temple, Kaidala, Tumkur

Gangadhareshwara temple on the east of Chennakesavatemple is also of Dravidian style. Its Navaranga has nice pillars of black stone carved in the Hoysala style. On the four sides of the pillars are inscriptions depicting the deities of Brahma, Vishnu, Bhairava, Krishna, Ganapati and Veerabhadra in plaque reliefs the outer zone of the Navaranga is decorated with elephant and floral four Shivas and other walls. - Commissioner Dept. of Archaeology Museums & Heritage Mysore.

An inscribed stone plaque embedded into the temple wall gives additional info, mostly of recent times.

||ಓಂ ಶ್ರೀ ಮಂಜುನಾಥಾಯ ನಮಃ||

ಸ್ವಸ್ತಿಶ್ರೀ ವಿಜಯಾಭ್ಯುದಯ ಶಾಲಿವಾಹನ ಶಕವರ್ಷ ೧೯೩೪ ನೇ ಶ್ರೀಖರನಾಮ ಸಂವತ್ಸರದ, ಉತ್ತರಾಯಣ, ಗ್ರೀಷ್ಮ ಋತು, ಜೈಷ್ಠ ಶುದ್ಧ ದಶಮಿ, ಹಸ್ತ ನಕ್ಷತ್ರ, ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ.೧೧ ೦೬-೨೦೧೧ ರ ಶನಿವಾರದಂದು, ತುಮಕೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ, ಕೈದಾಳ ಗ್ರಾಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲಾತ್ಮಕವಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಗಂಗಾಧರೇಶ್ವರಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಾಲಯವನ್ನು ಸಂರಕ್ಷಿಸುವ ಉದ್ದೇಶದಿಂದ ಶ್ರೀ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಥಳದ ಶ್ರೀ ಮಂಜುನಾಥೇಶ್ವರ ಧರ್ಮೋತ್ಥಾನ ಟ್ರಸ್ಟಿನ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾಗಿರುವ ರಾಜರ್ಷಿ ಡಾ||ಡಿ.ವೀರೇಂದ್ರ ಹೆಗ್ಗಡೆಯವರು. ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ದಾರ್ಮಿಕ ದತ್ತಿ ಇಲಾಖೆಯ ಸಹಭಾಗಿತ್ವ ಹಾಗೂ ಶ್ರೀ ಗಂಗಾಧರೇಶ್ವರಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಾಲಯ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧಾರ ಸಮಿತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಭಕ್ತಾಧಿಗಳ ಸಹಕಾರದೊಂದಿಗೆ ರೂ. ಐದು ಲಕ್ಷಗಳು ವೆಚ್ಚದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಶಲತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞರ ಮೂಲಕ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧಾರ ಕಾರ್ಯವನ್ನು ನವೆಸಿ ದೇವತಾಕಾರ್ಯಗಳು ಸಾಂಗೋಪಸಾಂಗವಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯಲೆಂದು
ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಸೇವಾಸಮಿತಿಯವರಿಗೆ ಈ ಮೂಲಕ ವಹಿಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟಾಗ ಬರೆದ ಶಿಲಾಶಾಸನಕ್ಕೆ ಮಂಗಳ ಮಹಾ ಶ್ರೀ ಶ್ರೀ ಶ್ರೀ

In the facade the most interesting part is the balustrade. 

The temple's external walls are mostly plain except for floral motifs on the front walls.

A diagonal view of the balustrade.


The temple gates were closed, we had to limit our tour to the exteriors. Going by the temple plan, this is a Dwikutachala meaning this temple has two sanctums. The sanctums are opposite to each other, facing east and west while the temple entrances are in the northern and southern sides. Only the east-facing sanctum has a Shikhara over it, in which is the main deity i.e. Shivalinga.

The temple is symmetric in plan in both axis except for the Shikhara which is present over the west-facing sanctum and absent on the east-facing sanctum.

A view of the Navaranga, the pillared space described in the board. These pillars are made of a stone which is darker & harder compared to granite. These pillars are fine examples of Hoysala design and can be seen even in Chalukyan temples which underwent renovation during Hoysala period.

That's it about this temple for now. Besides Chennakesava and Gangadhareshwara, Kaidala has another ancient temple which is dedicated to Rameshwara. The last temple is a few minutes walk away and I completely missed it. Hoping to visit Gullur and Kaidala again between Ganesh Chaturti and Navaratri to see Maha Ganapati and also Rameshwara Devalaya.

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