Chatrapati Shivaji sculpture at Yadwad

Feb 12th 2024. The wait to meet the great traveler Pramod Potdar ended with his arrival at Dharwad. We met close to Pushpa's workplace, came home, rested for a while and planned to visit Yadwad village to see the sculpture of Chatrapati Shivaji situated inside a Hanuman temple. I was ignorant of this sculpture until Pramod mentioned it.

Yadwad is about 16 km north of Dharwad, off Dharwad-Uppinabetageri road. Hanuman Mandir is a stone's throw away from Yadwad bus-stand, one cannot really miss it. The structure is new but the deity is ancient. On inquiring, village folks pointed us to a spot next to the steps where Chatrapati's sculpture is kept.

The simple shrine housing the ancient and important artifact from the early 18th Century CE. This sculpture is special because it was made during Chatrapati's lifetime. The story goes like this: During the Maratha campaign, Belawadi a small kingdom in the present day Belagavi district was attacked. Belawadi king Ishaprabhu Desai died during a battle with Maratha army. Then Ishaprabhu Desai's wife Mallamma, daughter of Raja Madhulinga Nayaka of Sodhe kingdom, continued the war. However Mallamma had to concede defeat to the powerful Maratha army. Chatrapati Shivaji after meeting Mallamma, restored the kingdom to Desai family. Rani Mallamma, out of respect for Shivaji's kind gesture, got this sculpture made.

That's my friend Pramod bowing out of respect to his idol.

The three feet tall sculpture made of granite depicts Chatrapati astride a horse, wielding a sword and accompanied by his guards. The lower panel depicts Chatrapati and Mallamma engaged in conversation in the presence of two other people, probably their aides.

One thought is how or why this sculpture is at Yadwad instead of Belawadi. I'm assuming Rani Mallamma got the sculpture made at Belawadi since it was her kingdom's capital. So how did the sculpture reach a place 23 km away? Well, that's something to research about. While I was happy to be seeing this important artifact I was also concerned about the way it was placed. This sculpture deserves a better location and a small writeup for people's benefit. One point I would like to mention here is: Belwadi Rani Mallamma was Kittur Rani Chennamma's senior by at least seven decades. I do not remember seeing any ancient memorial of Rani Mallamma. Present day Belwadi is known for Sri Veerabhadreshwara Devastana.

Next to Chatrapati's sculpture, is this broken memorial-stone depicting a very handsome warrior engaged in a fierce battle.

Another artifact, a blank inscription stone is placed next to a building in a negligent manner. I wish villagers remove it from here, and place it next to the temple.

Having thanked the village people, Pramod and I left Yadwad. Since we were in the vicinity of Amminabavi, I felt Pramod might be interested in seeing the rock-cut underground temple and the massive open-well there.

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Memorial stone of Sagasandra

This memorial stone was discovered on January 27th 2023 as we drove through Sagasandra village. The hero-stone is situated on Sagasandra-Bhogasandra road, close to the village square which is dominated by a huge Araligida (Peepul tree). It is a standard 3-panel stone, the bottom panel showing the warrior in the fighting scene, middle panel shows the martyred warrior in a chariot accompanied by divine creatures and the topmost panel shows the warrior merging with the Supreme. Like all hero-stones, Sun and Moon are present. I think this signifies that the memories will live as long as Sun & Moon are there.

It's really nice to see the efforts taken towards by the residents of Sagasandra for protecting their ancient artifact.

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hero-stones of Chinnenahalli

..continued from quick stop at Madhugiri.

February 27, 2019
Anil, Nag and I were out on a day trip. Anil had some work at his village Thippagondanahalli. We arrived later than planned, agenda disrupted. We came to Chinnenahalli in search of a person Anil had to meet. As we waited in a tea shop in front of the government school, I noticed the neighboring temple. Tired of siting, I ventured into the temple premises to check out the cement sculptures atop the building. Normally we see Nandi but this seems like a goat, isn't it. Going by the hump behind the neck, it must be a bull but its snout makes its a goat :)

That's the temple facade, the pillars are ancient, probably 500 years old. Village people had kept this place clean, flowering plants taken care of.

The temple's walls are plain, simple structure it is. However, the temple premises has lot of open space which is used for village gatherings during festivals.

Opposite the temple is a Banyan tree with a rectangular platform where idols of Sarpadeva are kept. This is where I noticed a hero-stone camouflaged in the shadows. With e closer look around I found four of them. Hero-stones are basically memorial to warriors who had sacrificed their lives, in a battle or during some life-saving act.

This stone is the largest of four. It depicts a well built warrior wielding his sword and staff. The image on the left is a depiction of the warrior departing this world. Or, it could be showing two warriors.

The second hero-stone shows an archer holding a bow and an arrow. Going by his attire, he seems to be a prince as well. The accompanying female other character is  offering an object to the warrior. The detailing of the sculpture is interesting.. hair tied into a bun on the head, jewelry, footwear, hand clasping the arrow shaft and the arrow head. There's something special about this sculpture.

The third stone shows one warrior offering Namaskar. This warrior is attired slightly different, instead of kachche, he's wrapped the panchi around his hips and thighs. He's wearing heavy jewelry but there are no weapons at all. His face shows a serene expression.

The fourth stone is half buried in dirt and leaves. This seems to be the smallest of the four. The posture is similar to the previous warrior. The facial features have faded slightly. With this ends the historical research here.

The banyan tree and coconut leaves have created a nice scene. Going by the number of rings seen on the sawed off stub, this branch was about 20 years old, so the tree could be of the same age or more.

While Anil was busy with a meeting, as I was looking around, Nag had just ended a phone call. The village school had just closed for the day and students leaving the place. Nag quietly watched students while he was unaware of being watched :) BTW, villagers here usually rear cows and sell milk to dairies through collection points.

Chinnenahalli is a small village situated at a point where two groups of hill converge. One half of the village has a large rock formation on which few houses have been built. The green-colored house did not require any foundation work. I walked up the rock to get a better view of the surroundings.

The hill seen here is Midigeshi, its an historically important place, it was a power center. At the base of the hill is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Venkateswara and on the hill are ruins of fort and temples in Vijayanagra architecture.

On the northeastern side of the village is this rock hill. Check out the number of standing stones here, all of them seem to be leaning at one angle.

Panning to the left, the other side of the hill comes into view. Beautiful rock formations these are.

As I was shooting this hill, Nag and Anil hailed me. Anil's work was done and we were leaving.. our next destination was Thippagondanahalli and then to Seebi Narasimha Devasthana off Sira-Tumkur highway.
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Hero Stone at Lal Bagh

March 26, 2015
I was rather surprised to see this hero-stone (Veeragallu) and a broken statue of Nandi. Surprised because I don't remember seeing it during my countless visits to Lalbagh. The hero-stone and Nandi are partially buried in dirt at the base of the granite hillock, very close to the car parking area inside Lal Bagh.

Going by the remains of the Nandi, it must have been a large statue, probably 5 feet long.  It is possible it might have been created during Hoysala or Vijayanagara period.

The hero-stone, seems like a relatively recent creation, is a rough-cut job. The man attired in a kachche-panche and jewelry seems to be a warrior; he is wielding a spear; also a sword dangling from his waist-band. The woman is attired in a saree and jewelry; her hair is tied into a bun; she's is holding an object which looks like a dumbbell. Is she also a warrior?

Quoting a line from an article in Hindu:
..many veeragals (hero stones) have been found in various places of Bangalore. Hero stones found in Lalbagh and Kengeri (10th Century), lake in Krishnarajapura (11th Century), near Railway Housing Colony (13th Century), and near the band-stand in Lalbagh Glass House (13th Century) clearly show that the area was well inhabited and well settled.

During my next visit to Lal Bagh, one task would be to locate the hero-stone near Bandstand.

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Hero-stone at Veerabhadra Gudi, Tadakod

Tadakod Veerabhadra Gudi is an ancient shrine with a new structure. Within the temple premises are a few ancient sculptures. One of them is a memorial stone, probably dedicated to a warrior who was martyred in a battle defending the village or the temple.

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