Rickshaw Run Autos

This is a 9yo memory of seeing two gaily painted autorickshaws at Sabala Heritage Home, Vijayapura on Aug 18th 2017. Pushpa and I were traveling from Dharwad to Hyderabad, on the way we had stopped to see two historical monuments of Vijayapura. We had entered the historical city from the southern side and stopped to see the huge cannon named Landa Kasab Tope. Then we headed to the northern edge of the town to see the canon on Aldi Buruj. Unfortunately the tower was not tourist friendly, there was no way to climb the tower without the help of ladders. Also it was almost dusk, darkness was setting in. I moved up to a slightly elevated ground and got a glimpse of the canon which is quite long. We were tired and just wanted to find a lodge for the night. I guess we found a place just outside the city limits, a lodge situated inside a farm called Sabala Heritage Home.

We liked the heritage home's ambiance instantly. The hosts, lady owner and her colleagues, were friendly. Our first floor rooms had a view of neighboring fields, the only sounds we heard were insects. We had had lemon-grass tea and freshened up. The dining was on the ground floor. Menu was jolada rotti oota which included salad and sweets. Food prepared by village ladies was home food, no other word or phrase to describe it. There were a few other guests and their presence was hardly felt. We hit the sack early and woke up early to start the journey towards Hyderabad.

We chatted with the owner and found that she had good knowledge about plants. She grew vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers and other crops. One of the herbs was a five in one spice. When we sniffed at the crushed leaf we got aromas of clove, pepper, cinnamon.. can't remember the other two. After the pleasant chat we said our byes and headed to the parking area where found two gaily painted autorickshaws. A group of young western foreigners were on a tour of India. Journeys would be slow but they weren't in a hurry, I guess.

On this flaming rickshaw was poster with website address rickshawrun.com which redirected to The Adventurist. Until now I never knew that touring in rickshaws was a craze among western tourists, particularly in Rajasthan. Do check out the website, it's big phenomena at another level.

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a few relief sculptures at Chitradurga Kote

There are a few places which require more than one visit to see the place in detail. For example- Aihole, Badami and Hampi. These places have multiple monuments spread around a large area hence it requires multi-day trip or multiple visits. Now, one other place place that requires multiple visits is Chitradurga fort. I say that because the fort itself encompasses several hills, valleys and countless rock formations. And within that rugged terrain are several monuments built over centuries. In the past it was like a town within the fort having gateways, turrets, bastions, pathways, water tanks, canal system, a gun powder mill, oil tanks, temples, a mint, palaces, barracks, and maybe prison too. Apparently there was a stage for cultural events. So far I've visited Chitradurga fort 3 times yet a lot remains to be seen. Also, the time of the day is important to get glare-free pictures and to not tire out quickly. Early mornings would be ideal. One can get good shots in late afternoon light but one must be prepared to tolerate the heat radiating from the rocks. All my visits were late morning to little past noon. Here are few pictures from my last visit that's in March 2014.

A relief sculpture shrine dedicated to Shiva, Parvati and Nandi. Small are the sculptures but the details are admirable. Notice the Kirtimukha on the arches. The Shivalinga arch is damaged hence the Kirtimukha is not there.

The Hoysala emblem depicted by this warrior-lion duel. I guess this sculpture dates back to Hoysala period. Below the emblem is a pair of elephants, they too seem to be engaged in a fight. On the right is another sculpture of a warrior astride a horse with a weapon raised up. This seems like a memorial of some battle.

A fish couple. Relief sculptures of fishes, tortoises, lizards, elephants and other creatures can be seen at monuments of Hoysala and Vijayanagara period. This reminds me of relief sculptures at the temple complex on Vindhyagiri at Shravanabelegola, Malyavanta Raghunataha Devatsana, Krishnadevaraya memorial at Anegundi and Veerabhadra Devastana at Lepakshi. These are just a few examples.

Then we have another fish pair facing in opposite directions.

Another fish couple. A woman squatting on a platform. Usually this sculpture is seen on outer walls of temples.

A niche in one of the massive walls. It could be a few inches high, max one foot high. This is about nine to ten feet from the ground level. Wondering what the purpose was.

Unlike the previous niche with the rounded top, here's another niche with a pointed top. This too is about eight to nine feet above the ground.

Next we have an unintended sculpture created by the impact of a canon ball fired into the fort. I heard that there are many more impact marks on other parts of the fort. I must look for them during my next visit.

Lastly, a life-size sculpture of a woman offering her Namaskara. I have no idea who this idol depicts. Is it a Hindu goddess or a member of one of the royal families that ruled Chitradurga. The idol is being worshipped to this day, so it is of importance. Must discover the details.

Let me end this post here. For the next week's post I have thoughts of posting a few more unpublished pictures of fortifications & rock formations.

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reflections at Kankumbi

These pictures of Sri Ramlingeshwara Swami Gudi pond were shot on Feb 28, 2014. For some reason I had not posted them in that day's post Kankumbi, birthplace of Malaprabha Nadi. It was at the end of a a warm sultry day. The pond surface was so still that it looked like a mirror and reflected the walls, sky and everything else in between.

The temple was surrounded by barren paddy fields. A big tree and a bamboo cluster next to the pond added charm to the picture.

This one looks like a water color painting as it is, meaning the picture is unaltered except for being resized. If not for the one floating yellow leaf this would've been the perfect picture of the day.

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Fern house, Cubbon Park

These pictures were shot on March 21 2020, the day before Covid-19 lockdown. My high school friend Anil and I met at Cubbon Park's Corporation Circle gate for an early morning walk. The sights brought back primary school memories... when I was in VII standard, our class had represented our school in the year's Kannada Rajyotsava function at Kantirava Stadium. After the function we had walked into Cubbon Park and found a spot to rest around this very place. Back then the paved foot-path wasn't there.

The little red structure was a kind of nursery to as I remember. There was a collection of potted plants including hanging pots.

On Google Maps this structure is marked as Fern House. Probably this was once a fern nursery hence the name. As you see it's basically a mantapa with mesh screens on it's sides. Once could call it a greenhouse too.

Anil and I approach the greenhouse for a closer look. On the grill framework was a cover of creepers. On these platforms were rows of potted plants, can't remember what plants but surely it would be show plants.

There still are flowering creepers here. I think it was Anil who noticed the engraved slab on the lintel.

That's the inscription, it's in Kannada which reads as: ಸುಂದರ ನಗರ ಗೌರಿ ಮಂದಿರಂ ~ Sundara Nagara Gowri Mandiram. Also there's a date.. 23-3-1___ ..the year's numerals are unclear. I feel this is a XIX Century structure so the year could be 1884 CE. The name raises a question if this was a temple originally. Quite possibly yes. On the other side of the road is an active shrine named Sri Dakshinamurthi Devastana.

Close to the fern house is a tree with a kinky trunk. The formation is unique, never had I seen such a trunk. Wondering what caused the tree to take that form.

After a relaxing walk, we headed to Kantirava Stadium, not for sport but for snacks. There's a self-service eatery within the stadium premises which is not crowded at this time of the day. We chatted and snacked for a while and headed home. For the next month and half the entire country was locked down to contain the spread of Covid-19. A totally new experience for the urban world.

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Shilpavana, Kannada University - part 4

The only visit to Kannada Vishwavidyalaya, Hampi was in December 2013. We had spent a couple of hours at the campus appreciating artworks, both ancient and contemporary. Most of the ancient art was displayed in the colonnades of at the library building Akshara. Contemporary art was spread around the natural settings of the campus. Though it was a memorable experience I somehow could not visit the university again despite going to Hampi / Anegundi several times. Anyway, here are a few pictures shot in 2013 which weren't published earlier.

As I know artworks did not have names displayed with them so I named as saw them. This is my uncle M S Patil looking at an assembly of stones which appears like one single unit. The sculpture stands on the road close to the campus university. In the background is the library building.

On my left hand side was a building housing the offices of Directorate of Distance Education. The structure is a fusion of ancient and present designs.

Our next stop was at the library. The building's central tower is an imitation of temple Gopura / Shikhara crown. The long staircase gives a nice look to the building. It's a great place for shooting pictures, individual or group.

An ancient idol of Nandi facing the northern direction adorns the first landing. Wondering if there's a Shivalinga in Nandi line of sight.

At the end of the staircase, at the library floor level is a pair of cannons placed on pedestals. As I know, these are the only two cannons in the entire campus.

Around the library is a colonnade in which ancient sculptures are exhibited. It's like an open air museum. Of the several dozen sculptures, I took shots of just a few which I regret now.

Here we have two Jaina sculptures and one LakshmiNarayana. These seem like sculptures of the Hoysala period.

Here's a standing form of Vishnu, a sitting Ganapati and a Thirtanara. These two seem like Hoysala time creations.

Another Thirtankara with an expression of bliss. Someone took the liberty of drawing Tripundraka - that's a symbolic merging of Jaina and Lingayath beliefs.

This one seems like a sculpture of Vijayanagara period. And it seems like a sculpture of Sri Krishnadevaraya astride a horse and accompanied by three men, bearers of the royal flag, umbrella and a fan. At the top is a Kirtimukha, the face to dispel evil eyes.

Here's another beautiful sculpture of a warrior defeating a soldier in a fight. The warrior, seemingly of royal blood is holding a spear and his assistant is holding an umbrella. The umbrella bearer seems out of place considering the situation but then it may not be appropriate to show a king without the regal paraphernalia. My guess is this sculpture was made in memory of victory in some battle.

On one end of the colonnade are a couple of inscription slabs. 

Then we have a wooden temple chariot called 'theru' in Kannada. The chariot must have been retrieved from one of the ancient temples at Hampi. This is an example of a small chariot. Major temples have really massive chariots with huge wheels which require hundreds of people to get them rolling. With this our tour of library museum ends.

From the library we went deeper into the campus. Here's one eye-catching painting. This is Shiva for sure. To be specific, it seems like a depiction of Veerabhadra, a form of Shiva.

Then we enter the garden of sculptures Shilpavana. That's Mama trying to understanding what the sculpture means.

Before I end this post I urge to take a look at the sculptures of Shilpavana, really creative stuff from budding artists.

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Tunguska incident

A day ago I stumbled upon a century old incident which is still a mystery. The incident commonly known as "Tungsuka event" occurred June 30, 1908 i.e. 117 years ago near Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (presently called Krasnoyarsk Krai) in Russia. The incident location is a wild country, the terrain is mostly large mounds and hillocks covered in pine tree woods. On the said day, an area of more than 2000 sq km was charred. Trees were knocked off and lying flat on the ground. At some spots bare trunks stood. It looked like the area was torched. Being a remote area with hardly any inhabitation and resources, the incident was not investigated for almost twenty years.

Investigations resulted in theories. It could be a meteor hit, but neither there's crater nor meteor fragments. Another theory suggested that an asteroid approximately 50 to 100 meters in diameter of carbonaceous composition exploded 5 to 10 km over the site. Eyewitness as far as 800 km have said to witnessed a massive fireball glowing over the horizon. At the epicenter of the site fallen trees were pointing radially outwards. The impact of the explosion was so great that hardly any vegetation grew over the epicenter for two decades. Based on one of the images the spot seems to be barren to this day.

There's another theory which suggests that an asteroid bounced off site. This theory is less convincing compared to the explosion theory.

Coming to think of this incident, it happened on a sparsely populated area. Apparently three people and tens of thousands of trees were killed in the incident. Had it happened over a well populated area the effect would've been unimaginable. Now, imagine if the incident had occurred at the center of Sahara desert. Would it have resulted in a massive sand storm? Or if it had happened over a remote spot in Pacific Ocean or the South Pole?

Below are two YouTube Shorts about the incident in Carl Sagan's words.  

 

  

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trip with Karun and kids

Aug 2024

A long time wish of visiting Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal with my Guru, architect Karun Kumbera came true. Karun wanted to take his kids on a trip and I had suggested the historic realm of Chalukyas. It was a two day trip and we could cover only Aihole and Badami, that too only the main spots.

atop Badami northern hill

upper Shivalaya

prehistoric burial chamber on Aihole hillock

I was hoping to get architect Karun's perspective of these relics, however there were a lot of distractions. I think the kids did not enjoy as I hoped for. Nevertheless this trip would remain memorable to me.

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locations of Hoysala temples

The prominent empires originating from the Kannada lands are Kadamba, Ganga, Western Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Kalyani Chalukya, Hoysala, Vijayanagara and Keladi Nayaks. Each of these kingdoms patronized arts & culture of our land. The rulers invested significant amount of their resources in temple building and subsequent preservation of those temples. In those times, temples were centers of social activity. Temples are where leaders, prominent members and general people gathered for meetings. It was also a place for education, celebrations and other constructive activities. Rulers had got temples built to celebrate victories in battles, to honor a family members' wish, or to promote arts. The byproduct of temple building was construction sources of fresh water like wells, tanks, ghats on river banks, etc. Then mantapas (pillared halls) for travelers were constructed and development of roads happened. Temples received grants and donations many of which have been recorded in stone inscriptions. Temple building was one of the economic drivers in those times. While newer temples were built the older temples were renovated and repaired. That's how temples built during the earliest periods have survived to this day. For example; temples built during Chalukya times have been renovated in the Hoysala times or Vijayanagara times. That's the naturally ingrained cultural continuity plan of our Dharma. After the collapse of Vijayanagara empire, the empires formed by invaders tried hard to disrupt that continuity but failed. Thousands of our temples were desecrated and destroyed yet we have thousands of them in the present age. It is not luck that our temples escaped destruction, they were protected fiercely. People sacrificed their lives trying to protect our cultural heritage. We, in the present age, are fortunate to be experiencing the freedom of our culture.

It's nice to see people visiting our ancient temples. Unlike the predigital times, today we have the luxury of seeing the sites virtually, not just photos but also the locations. However, everyone may not have the time to research the required info. That's where blogs come to people's help. Here's an embedded map which will show you the exact locations of Hoysala temples, not all temples but a good number have been included. The map will be updated as and when new sites are discovered.

Alternatively you can open this map directly by clicking the linked text here: Hoysala temple locations.

It's my opinion that stone sculpting reached it's peak during the Hoysala times. The creativity and intricate details are bound to leave anyone flabbergasted. Most of the Hoysala temples are active i.e. poojas are performed daily and visitors can participate in the rituals. Many of the deity idols in these temples are original i.e. those idols were the ones installed centuries ago. The few idols I have seen are so beautiful that one cannot take their eyes off the idols. So do plan your trips, visit Hoysala temples and see the exterior beauty along with the inner beauty.

Before closing this post, I would like to add links to earlier map-based posts for the benefit of readers:

• Shivasharanara Aikysthalagala Nakshe
• Inscription stones of Bengaluru district

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Chachadi Desai Waade

Jan 25, 2026

The day started with a stopover at Bokyapur Kere near Garag to see the ancient Veerabhadreshwara Gudi. Bokyapur is a ghost village. Local people say that the settlement ceased to exist after a plague epidemic. The only remanent of the settlement is Hanuman shrine. Then we proceeded to Belavadi to see the ancient shrine of Veerabhadreshwara, and also to see the memorial of the warrior queen Malamma. Rani Malamma, widow of Belavadi king Isha Prabhu, had faced the Maratha army in a battle field, and lost. However, Malamma was reinstated by the Maratha chief Chatrapati Shivaji - this has been recorded in the form of a sculpture which is presently at Yadwad Hanuman Mandir. We drove further northward, passed through Bailahongal and reached another historical place- Veerashaiva Madiwala Machayya Aikyasthala -the tomb over mortal remains of the XII Century social activist Machayya. It was almost noon when we headed to the last item on our list - Chachadi fort.

The fort is better known as Chachadi Desai Waade. Waade means a fortified mansion. Unlike other Desai-Waades, Chachadi Waade is a proper fort with stone walls, bastions and a massive doorway for the entrance. The entrance is on the northern wall and this cylindrical structure is the northeastern bastion. In Vaastu Sastra, north-east is considered as the most ideal hence entrances are placed there.

Usually bastions have solid walls but this one has a passage. A village person asked us to go in to see the temple. I was surprised to know about the temple, never had I seen a shrine inside a bastion.

One view of the interior I was left astounded. It's an ancient temple with a Ranga Mantapa as well. And, it was unbelievable to see there were three sanctums. So this is an east-facing Trikutachala, that too inside a bastion. Amazing. The deity of the east-facing sanctum is Shiva Linga, cannot remember the deities of the other two sanctums.

How did the builders even design this. It's my thought that the temple existed here before the fort. Then for some reason when this fort was built, the builder raised a fortified wall around the temple to conceal it. Maybe the temple needed to be kept hidden and protected. Coming to the temple elements here, it seems like a Chalukyan, may be a IX or X Century creation. The fort walls are relatively ancient too, maybe XII or XIII century creation.

This is a view of the fort entrance. We got introduced to the person seated on the scooter who happens to be Sri Nagaraj Nayak Bhadhur Desai, the present owner of this Waade. We chatted for a minute or two and then asked if we could see the inside. Yes, the Waade is open to visitors except the inner part where family members reside.

Mr Desai accompanies us for a tour of the Waade. As soon as we passed through the north-facing passage we come to an enclosure with another passage to the right. The second entrance is east-facing. By the looks of the construction, it seems like the east-facing door is the original entrance of the fort. Then a few walls and the north-facing entrance were added. The idea of this small space between two entrances is to trap anyone attempting to breach the fort.

Another view of the enclosure. Behind Pushpa is the north-facing entrance. Next to the entrance in the corner are a few pieces of ancient sculptures. In the diagonally opposite corner i.e. behind me is a small door which opens up to the cattle shed. 

Another surprise- there were about 20+ cows, buffaloes & calves, all of them tethered to hooks on the walls. Every animal had a name, that shows how close Desai family was to these animals. This little calf was the newest member of the family, it was just a day old.

In through the second gateway we come to this enclosure. A good amount of space is taken up by life size statues of Sangolli Rayanna, Raja Veerappa Nayaka and other warriors of our land. To my right is a shed which houses a museum. The museum too open for visitors. Beyond the small gate at the end of this enclosure which goes to another enclosure.

This open hall is the star attraction of this Waade. For that matter almost every Waade will have such a hall, it's called Chowdi. This is akin to a Darbar hall of a palace. Pushpa was in awe at the sight of the massive pillars, the intricate sculptures, the balconies and paint work. She confessed that she had never seen a Waade before, particularly a Chowdi.

The other gentleman standing with Mr Desai is a long time acquaintance. He's associated with Chachadi family for several decades and has a plenty of stories to share. Mr Desai was kind enough to let us see the inner hall which is reserved for family. Also we were introduced to Mrs Desai.

At the museum. I wasn't really expecting to see this huge a collection. Mr Desai spent time describing the artifacts and stories behind them. It was an humbling experience for us. Here are photographs of ancestors, group photos and Desai family members with political leaders. Accompanying the photos was a very detailed family tree starting with year 1126 CE. The tree has several layers, hundreds of names and at the bottom is Sri Nagaraj Nayak Bhadhur Desai, his brother, cousins and their children. After the family trees at Hampi and Kittur museums, this is the next big family tree I've come across. Truly impressive work of preserving historical info. Besides family records itself, the other source for genealogical information would be Helavaru.

Among the artifacts are a palanquin, easy chairs, awards presented on social events, etc.

A part of the museum is occupied by kitchenware like earthen pots & vessels, stone wheels for making flour, brassware, wooden trays for preparing dough, measuring cups, cane baskets and many more. Many of the items were labeled for viewers' benefit.

Mr Desai sharing his memories with us

One shelf was filled with modern gadgets like radios, cassette players, cameras, etc. Then we had musical instruments of every kind.. percussion, stringed and woodwind. Many of these have been passed down for generations and preserved to this day. So much of work taking care of these artifacts!

This was an unexpected experience. Truly memorable.

It was time to leave, we bid bye to Mr Desai and headed back towards Bailahongal. We were hoping to find a nice little spot for lunch break... we found one near Vakkunda, a village on the left bank of river Malaprabha. We stopped in a barren field, ate our home-packed lunch and then rested for a while. While Pushpa napped, I launched my DJI Mini 2 and took a few shots of island of Vakkund. We reached home by 5-30 pm, well before sunset.

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