bird's eye view of Bhogasandra

Sept 2024. Bhogasandra is another home. This visit I wanted to see the place like never before. That's where my DJI Mini 2 comes handy. I launched it from Sridhar's farm and sent it towards the village flying around 40 meters above ground level.

This is Bhogasandra's main junction. The straight line road goes towards Hagalavadi, the slightly curved road to the right leads to Sagasandra.

Pulling back a bit, the village Aralikatte comes into view. It's a Ficus with long curvy branches. Under it a lot of activity happens. The most important being peeling raw betel followed by cooking it. The tree looks pretty aged, hope it lives for many years to come. Talking about Aralikatte, it's an ancient custom which is fading now.

Pulling back again, more houses come into view. Most families of this village are related, it's almost like one big family.

Pulling back more. The mobile tower comes into view, covering the entire village, more or less.

Turning around 150° Bhogasandra Kere comes into view. It's a manmade pond. Part of the road connecting Bhogasandra to the neighboring village Bommarasanahalli runs parallel to the lake 's embankment. On the shore is Siddalingeshwara Devastana which was renovated about two years ago. The white line on the horizon is the aqueduct of Yetthinahole Drinking Water Project.

Now, DJI Mini 2 is hovering over Aralikatte.

Srishar's farm is in the greenery on the top-right of this picture.

The little house sits in Sridhar's farm. Notice the bamboo cluster?

Turning to the west. About a kilometer from here is forest land. In fact a small stream is a marker between farmlands and forest land.

DJI Mini 2 has a flight time of 12 to 13 minutes. So I had get it back and replace the drained battery with a fully charged one and start a new flight. This time I sent it beyond Bhogasandra towards our farmer friend Basavrju's plantation. At the middle of this picture next to the little pond is Basavaraju's betel plantation. I wanted to see a little further but the navigation screen froze with a black n white. The drone and remote controller had lost touch, no communication between the two. It was a tense few minutes when the drone homed in. The 'return to home' feature saved my Mini 2. Back at home I discussed this issue with brother and found the cause. Trees were a barrier between the drone and RC. Basically, Sridhar's farm is a good 10 to 15 meters below the village ground level. With the drone at 30 meters high and 500 meters away, the trees got into the way. While flying longer distances, it's better to maintain higher altitude. We err. Then we learn.

Here's the bamboo cluster. The shoots were swaying gently in the wind. What a beautiful sight that was.

That's Bhogasandra Kere.

Overhead shots of neighboring fields.

A geometric pattern of a well prepared field.

That's Basavraj on his Bajaj Pulsar. Raju and I had ridden that bike to the edge of the forest to see a shrine called Bhutappana Gudi.

This is Sridhar's farm. Another farmer, Siddaramanna is ploughing the aisles. This is one way to control weeds. Unfortunately, two sides of this plantation are vacant and neglected lands covered with all kinds of vegetation which is a big source of weed seeds. Those seeds get thrown into this farmland and thrive.

Raju noticed a peacock. I followed it from a safe height. Judging by it's movements, the peacock was confused... where's that buzzing sound coming from. Not once it looked up but kept moving around,

Sunset seen from an height of 25 meters above the farmhouse.

Lastly a view of us- Srishar, his son, son's friend and I.

Do check out our short visit to Bhutappana Gudi.

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Bhutappana Gudi, Bhogasandra

Sept 16th 2024. This was my third day at Sridhar's farm at Bhogasandra village. One of the resident farmers Raju turned up at the farmhouse early morning. We had a plan to visit his betelnut farm which happens to be on the other side of the village. A walk would've been great but we had to come back soon so we had to go by bike. It was a five minute ride to Raju's betelnut farm where we spent about twenty minutes. As we looked around and chatted Raju asked if I wanted to see Bhutappana Gudi. I was fine and we hopped on the bike. We were riding on dirt paths which got rougher as we went deeper towards forest land but Raju didn't let up on riding speed. Carrying a load of 160+ kilograms, Raju's Pulsar showed no sign of struggle. The ridable path ended at the base of a hillock where we parked. The tree was a stone's throw away.

Here's the tree sheltering the shrine. This tree is called Tugali Maraa in Kannada. Its Botanical name is Albizia amara , also called Mimosa amara. That's my take based on a an hour long research which landed on this page. Tuggali leaves are small and dark green. It bears whitish-yellow powder puffs with long stamens and golden pollen. Tuggali Mara is a live pharmacy; its roots, leaves and flowers are used to treat several maladies including poisonous bites.

Here's the open-air teemple- Bhutappana Gudi. Basically it's a collection of naturally polished stones, probably picked up from a stream nearby. Bhogasandra people come here by walk carrying offerings and perform simple rituals.

People have tied brass bells out of Bhakti.

That's my host for the morning Basavaraju standing next to Tuggali Maraa. His Bajaj Pulsar is somewhere on the right hand side, out of frame.

These are Tuggali leaves. I think this foliage is quite new, matured recently. These leaves can be confused with many trees like Tamarind or Copper pod tree (peltophorum ferruginea) or any other tree with similar leaves. Tuggali Mara doesn't have thorns - this is to be noted.

We must've spent 15 minutes at Bhutappana Gudi. I was taking pictures and Raju had disappeared. To my call he responded that he was looking for Kaadu Bikke Hannu, a seasonal fruit relished by kids and elders alike, even peacocks love it. Bikke Hannu is a fruit of Gardenia latifolia family. Raju couldn't find any since the season was almost done. Perhaps had we moved deeper into the woods, we might've found some. The fruit has thick skin, inside is brown pulp which can be eaten raw. Several videos show up if you search on YouTube.

That's our man- Raju. He's an expert coconut peeler. I've seen him in action. He can dehusk a coconut in 8 seconds. Not just that, he can maintain that pace for hours. One of the other famers told me that he has peeled 3000 coconuts in a day!

Here's a Bikke Hannu tree, a small tree though.

We are on the slope of this hillock. Raju asked if I wanted to explore deeper. I declined, several reasons behind it. This is off our plan. Sun was rising and blazing, we weren't carrying water. We were hungry and supposed to be picking up Ragi Rotti from Raju's home and have it with Sridhar. And last of all, I'd worn a flip-flop. We dropped the idea.

That's the neighboring hill. In the valley between the two hills flows a stream. 

We started our return journey. About a kilometer from Bhutappana Gudi is this smaller stream which feels like an oasis. We stopped for a couple of minutes to shoot pictures. This spot is good for a pinic. Perhaps, next visit we could spend a few hours here.

Bhutappana Gudi is on the other side of this stream. In fact this stream marks the border between farmlands and forest land.

That's Raju on his Pulsar.

We passed by Raju's plantation. Let me talk about it now. Raju's betelnut trees were just two years old but to my eyes they seemed like four. The plantation was almost weed free and the trees were rooted into 4 feet deep pits. The pits will be filled in gradually as the trees grow taller. That's Raju and a neighboring plantation owner.

That's Raju's rocket.

We headed back to the village, picked up Ragi Rotti & Chatni from Raju's home and reached Sridhar's farm by 9-30. All three of us famished, we attacked the box without any delay.

The following post will be dedicated to a few aerial shots of Bhogasandra farmlands, do check it out.

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Shri Channakeshava Devastana, Arakere

Sept 17, 2024. Sridhar and I were on a day tour of Hoysala temples of the northern part of Hassan district. Before the first temple of the day, we stopped at the historic stepped well called Aiyyana Baavi situated 6 km from Tiptur. The well probably was constructed in the XVI Century CE at the behest of a wandering Veerashaiva monk to overcome water scarcity problems of the village nearby. Next was Chandramouleshwara Devastana at Arasikere followed by Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Devastana which is a couple of kilometers from Chandramouleshwara. Then drove to Lakshmi Narasimha Devastana at Javagal followed by Viranarayana Devastana at Belavadi which happens to be part of Chikmagalur district. We had lunch at Belavadi and then started our return journey. 21 km away was Arakere the last place of the day.

Arakere is a peaceful little village with two historic temples- Channakeshava Devastana and Rameshwara Devastana. While the former is at the village center, the latter is situated on the village's pond shore. The locality in front of Channakeshava Devastana is an Agrahara, community of priestly Brahmins. The temple caretaker was present with the temple gates open.

One of the sources says this east-facing Trikutachala dates back to XIII Century CE. It was built by a wealthy merchant named Damodara Setty from Kerala who had settled in this region during the reign of Hoysala king Narasimha II. This is supposed to be mentioned in an inscription present inside the temple.

An inscription slab stands at the temple entrance. The temple's Mukhamantapa is missing but the platform and a couple of columns have survived.

On the left hand side of the temple entrance are interesting sculptures- a young woman, a sitting Ganapati, a woman warrior holding sword & shield. Take a closer look at the young woman's attire- there's a checkered pattern. Folds of flesh have also been depicted beautifully. Sadly layers of the stone has eroded.

A closer look at the woman warrior. Her lower garment too has a checkered pattern. The shield somehow reminds me of Roman army shields. Turning attention to the other sculpture.. whether it's a man or woman, I can't say. On the right leg is a garment which seems like short pants but the other leg doesn't have anything like that. Wondering if this sculpture is incomplete.

Going round the temple in Pradakshina way. This temple's decor is less intense compared to other Hoysala temples in this region. The sculptures are less detailed but effective.

Going left to right: Narayana seated on Adishesha. Next is a man armed with sword and wearing pant like garment. Next is Vishnu's Varaha Avatara.

The man with raised sword and curly hair, holding a bundle in right hand... who could this be? The dancing woman with let out hair seems like a powerful character. I found this sculpture to be the most interesting here.

Here's that dancing woman. Holding a staff in right hand and an unrecognizable object in left hand. Her straight long hair spread out like a fan. Also there's a rope like garment hanging from her shoulder.

Moving on, we have Lakshmi Narayana attended by two ladies with chamar. The standing figure seems like Narayana, features are unclear. Also the faces have been vandalized. The caretaker was with us all the time, he mentioned that people of khommunity come here with ill intentions. They deface sculptures or take demeaning pictures with sculptures. I wonder why those people have such deceptive & destructive mindsets. 

Moving on to the next corner. Here are well built men, probably warriors. The sculptures are damaged.. hands and weapons are missing. Two of them are sporting long hair tied like a ponytail.

Here's a man astride an animal seemingly like a bison. This could be Yamaraj. In the middle, a woman in dancing posture. Despite the damages, finer details are still visible, like the design on the fabric. On the right is a young man.. his posture I don't know what it is. His left hand is upright, like a Abhaya Hasta.

The next corner. The man on the left seems to be drummer.  The middle and left men seem to be a team, their attires are similar, even their hairstyles are same. The other two sculptures depicting a man and woman seem incomplete besides the damages. The woman is holding an object which seems like a corn cob which can be seen at other Hoysala temples too.

At the middle of the next wall is Ugranarasimha. On the right are Garuda and Narayana sculptures, I think. On the left is a gigantic man on whose shoulders are a man and woman. This sculpture seems to be depicting a story from Mahabharata.

The next wall is totally occupied by images of Narayana,

As you see, even the Shikhara is quite simple compared to other Hoysala temples. Strange thing is that not one sculpture of Hoysala is present in this teemple.

The next set of sculptures is to Vishnu's three avatars. Matsya, Kurma and Varaha.

The next corner seems to be continuation of the avatars- Narasimha and Vaman. Next to Vamana doesn't seem to be Parusharama. So who is that? On the other wall is a couple, that could be Rama & Sita. The lone standing figure is Krishna? Not sure. Lastly, the headless sitting figure should be Buddha.

On the foremost northern wall is Krishna dancing on serpent Kalia's head, flanking him are two woman bearing Chamara (fan). On the right edge is a warrior armed with sword & shield. And close to the left edge is a woman with long straight hair.

Side view of the full temple. 

Coming to the last corner. Here we have a woman squatting in birth-giving position. In the corner are two warriors, one of them is holding a severed head and the other one is holding some unrecognizable object.

Two more warriors, while one is armed with spear & shield the other is armed with sword & shield. All warriors seen so far seem to be of royal blood. Assuming that based on the attire featured on them.

Back at the temple entrance. On the facade is Govardhana Giridhari, the act of Krishna lifting a mountain with cattle with his little finger.

The more I look at this temple, the more I feel this may not be Hoysala creation. It could've been built before the Hoysalas, and later the sculptures were added during Vijayanagara rule. Well, that's my thought. If an inscription has mentioned this temple was built during Hoysala reign, that can't be false.

Lastly, before we exit the temple, I noticed the etchings on the well worn soapstone steps. All English letters. One of them is H.G.S 1.10.60. I'm assuming this was engraved in 1960, that's 64 years ago. Someone wanted to make a long lasting impression, and succeeded.

With this we called it a tour and prepared to head back home, to our rural home at Bhogasandra. We reached home just before sunset, that was our plan. No traveling after sunset is our motto and we intend to stick to it as much as possible.

Back home I realized that we missed the second temple at Arakere which happens to be Sri Rameshwara Devastana. Also, we missed out another village completely which happened to be Haranahalli. It was just 9 km south of Arasikere. Anyway, there are a few more ancient sites I unearthed recently. The missed out temples will be covered during a future tour.

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