Buddha Vihaara, Kalburgi

Jan 29, 2011

Trying to recall memories of a trip fifteen years ago. The trip was with three of my maternal uncles covering the three northern districts Bidar, Kalburgi and Vijayapura. On the last day of the trip, the last destination of the day was Buddha Vihaara situated just outside of Kalburgi city. Back then, the Buddhist center was newly finished and open to the public recently.

Vihaara is a residence of Buddhist monks and nuns. This is the symbolic arch at entrance of the monastery. Flanking the arch are Buddhist Torana. Posted on the gate was a detailed instructions to visitors asking them to treat this as a solemn tour. Every visitor was expected to remain silent and behave with dignity. Photography was prohibited beyond this point.

Visitors had to take of footwear including socks and enter barefoot. Inside the campus, visitors had access only to the main hall and the walkway around it. The dome seen here is the crown of the meditation hall.

At the entrance of the hall was another set of instructions and supervisors made sure people remained silent. The circular hall was simple and bare except for mats / cushions for seating. I must've remained inside for about 15 minutes. I saw some people so restless that could not even remain seated for a couple of minutes. Honestly, tourists must not enter such a place if they cannot connect with its sanctity.

Kalburgi is the hottest district of Karnataka state. I remember seeing terrain devoid of greenery when we drove on the ring road. Here there's an attempt to grow trees around the Vihaara which was appreciable. Surely, after a decade and half these sapling would've grown up, a live green screen around the Vihaara.

In the mid 2010s, we drove through Kalburgi a couple of times but somehow never thought of another visit to the Vihara since we had tight itineraries both times. Perhaps it's time for another visit to this city and catch up with this monuments again. 

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Wagangera fort western gateway

During the only visit to Wagangera fort on Nov 27, 2013, I had seen most of the fort, not all of it. Being a seldom visited place the fort has a wild feel. There was a group of grownup langurs spread out within the ruins of the fort. They were being langurs every bit occupying high points, watching the surroundings and then suddenly shift to another spot. I was wary of their presence, kept my fingers crossed and wished they left me alone. I'm sure there were a plenty of nocturnal wild creatures, tucked away in their dens. With such thoughts I explored the ruins right from the fort's main entrance which is east-facing to the western entrance.

The western gateway is at a lower elevation and less grand. However, at some point of time, when Wagangera fort was taken over the invaders, some sculptures were embedded into the gateway walls. The intent of that is obvious; for the invaders westerly direction has religious importance and they wanted to assert their beliefs on the local people. Directly above the doorway is this inscription which seems like Arabic.

To the right of the inscription is a relief sculpture depicting a pendant dangling at the end of a short chain. I've seen this pattern / design at monuments at Vijayapura, Kalburgi and Bidar. This might be an emblem of Adil Shahis or Bahamanis.

On the left hand side of the doorway are two square tablets with geometric patterns. Both are aesthetically pleasing, surely made by skilled hands. Again, such pieces of artwork can be seen at monuments at ancient capital cities.

Lastly, I have to mention this: Wagangera kingdom was established in 1636 CE by Gaddipidda Nayaka, son of Jakkappa Nayaka Desai. In May 1705, Waganageri kingdom reaches its end when Pitambari Bahari Piddanayaka establishes Surpur kingdom.

This post can't be closed without saying thanks to my host at Wagangera, Venkatesh Bappargi, and his friend Kanakappa Waganageri a dedicated school teacher.

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Sri Venkateshwara Devastana, Nargund

My first and last visit to Nargund Sri Venkateshwara Devastana was in October 2010. As you see, the temple Gopura is a handsome seven tiered structure. Even though Gopuras feature sculptures and are colorfully painted, plain white colored Gopura are not uncommon. It's the matter of financial backing the temple possesses, or maybe just to keep it simple. Anyhow, this Gopura is elegant. For that matter, the whole building is all white, a peaceful looking structure.

The mural on the crown shows Vishnu, his consorts Bhudevi and Niladevi, Adisesa, Hanuman and Garuda. It is said that this temple was built in the XVII Century by Maratha Bhave dynasty.

During the visit I did step into the temple. The interior showed signs of neglect. I remember seeing a lot of woodwork, but everything was in a state of disrepair. Maybe the temple was going through a bad phase financially. Also I remember there was a very elderly poojari about to start the morning rituals. The poojari didn't look happy and I didn't make conversation. I did a quick namaskara and left.

Opposite the Gopura is a smaller temple with a pyramidal Shikhara. The Shikhara doubles up as a Deepastambha. The little niches on the pyramid are for placing oil lamps. Imagine the pyramid aglow with a hundred lamps under a dark sky. It would be a sight to behold.

This set of photos has evoked a thought of another visit to Nargund which should happen soon. I did check out photos on Google Maps, the recent photos show a well maintained temple. Glad to know that this ancient temple is being cared for.

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Hanuman seated on coiled tail

This picture was shot almost nine years ago at Ranga Devastana close to Elephant Stables at Hampi. The relief sculpture was on one face of one of the outer pillars. The sculpture is a depiction of Hanuman sitting on his coiled tail. It's a story from Ramayana.

After Ravana abducts Sita from Pachavati inside Dandakaranya forest, he brings her to his kingdom Lanka. Ravana keeps Sita at Ashoka Vatika as a prisoner. Meanwhile Rama and Lakshmana searching for Sita arrive at Kishkinda the kingdom of Vanara people. They become acquainted with Sugreeva the brother of Vanara king Vali. They also get acquainted with Sugreeva's colleague Hanuman. Due to a feud between the brothers, Sugreeva is in exile while Vali reigns. Rama and Sugreeva arrive at an understanding to solve each other's problems by helping each other. A search team of Vanaras spread out in different directions. Hanuuman follows leads and arrives at Lanka and happens to see sad and lonely lady in Ashoka Vatika. In a subtle way Hanuman approaches the lady and confirms her identity as Sita. Then he tells that Sita about Rama's rescue campaign and takes permission to return to Kishkinda. However before leaving Lanka Hanuman with an intent to get Ravana's attention wreaks havoc in the city. The Rakshasa soldiers were no match for Hanuman. Ravana's son Indrajit enters the scene. Using his special powers Hanuman is captured and presented at Ravana's court. However, the invisible force restraining Hanuman has expired.

Hanuman identifies himself as an emissary of Rama and asks to be treated with respect but the Rakshasas mock him. That's when Hanuman elongates and coils his tail into an elevated seat higher than Ravana's throne. Seated high up he then warns Ravana to return Sita.

So that's the story of Hanuman's coiled seat. What follows is more mockery; Hanuman's tail being set afire. Hanuman gives them a taste of their own medicine by setting fire to Lanka itself and returns to Kishkinda.

With a story behind every image, our ancient temples were like books to impart cultural values.

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four faces of a pillar

When you see places like Hampi, Badami, Aihole and the likes, one could photograph them at macro and micro levels, relatively. A scene from an elevated spot to a group of temples to an individual temple to a pillared hall inside a temple to a large statue to a tiny sculpture on a pillar. One could find countless subjects to shoot. Many a times, I've appreciated sculptures more on my laptop screen than at the site. At the site, a small image catches my eye, I look at it for a second or two, I shoot it and move on. At home I look at pictures of those tiny sculptures for minutes, trying to figure out so many things... what's that expression or the talent of the sculptor or the purpose of that image. One could get lost in that world of sights and thoughts.

Now, coming to a particular pillar in the VIII Century CE Chalukyan monument Durga Gudi at Aihole. There's a pair of heavily decorated pillars in the Mukha-mantapa. However, the middle part of the pillars is eye-catching. Plains surface with a circular image on each of the four faces. It's so elegant. The plain surface highlights the circular image. One might imagine that the other two faces have similar sculptures.

No, the opposite faces have blank circles. Why these are plain.. possibly incomplete. Was it meant to be polished to mirror finish. Or, was it like a blank canvas for another sculptor. I remember one of the guides say that blanks were left to invite foreign sculptors in a way of challenge or, a simple display of talent. There could be other reasons.

The more I look at these sculptures, the more I wonder how the sculptors achieved the forms, those straight lines, right angles, perfect circles, the precision, those expressions. It's a big question- how? And another question- why? Why these elaborate designs?

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