Inscription stones of Bengaluru district

A nice little discovery was made while looking cycling photographs in my archive on Jan 5th. The photo was shot at the history-based Republic Day flower show at Lalbagh held between Jan 20th and Jan 30th 2023. The text on the map caught my attention - it was a map of inscription stone locations in Bengaluru district. The map, published by The Mythic Society, is a part of the project titled "Bengaluru Inscriptions 3D Digital Conservation Project." The printout exhibited at the flower show was to evoke curiosity about inscriptions. Those interested had to go online and open the weblink shown on the exhibit which in turn lead to the map The Incredible Inscription Stones of Bengaluru on Google Maps. The locations of inscription stones are marked on the map, one could click a particular pin to see the  details of that inscription. The map has hundreds of locations classified into three sections- 1. inscription present at the site, 2. inscription is missing from the site, and 3. inscriptions whereabout is unknown. The map also has marked areas based on time period. One has to appreciate the efforts of the team behind this endeavor. This is a significant contribution towards documenting our heritage.

Here's a preview of the map. You can open the map directly by clicking the second link of this post.

The century old Mythic Society was established in 1909 to study the culture of then Mysore state. Today the organization nurtures studies related to heritage of southern India. The society's library with over 40K books is one of the best in the world. This library is the key aspect of The Mythic Society and treasure trove of historical information.

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inscription-stone hunt at Bhogasandra

During the Dec 2023 visit to Bhogasandra, while at Kote Ranganatha Swami Devastana, our friend Sidramanna mentioned about the presence of an inscription stone outside the village. The only person who would be able to show me that artifact would be Sidramanna's uncle Eshanna. Since that was a busy month for coconut farmers here, we could not find a convenient time. Even on normal days Eshanna is busy, always on the move by foot from one plantation to another. With a bag full of tools and pipeline spare parts, Eshanna checks drip irrigation lines daily. Besides the pipelines, he also checks the trees and fallen coconuts. Basically very dedicated to work, lives up to Jagatjyoti Basaveshwara's quote "Kayakave Kailasa" which means "work is worship."

In the third week I visited Bangalore, just a day. The following day Sridhar and I travelled to Bhogasandra with a short detour near Tumkur to see historical monuments of Gulur and Kaidala. Later in the day Satyaprakash, our friend from Bengaluru, joined us at Bhogasandra. The following day Venugopal from Mysuru joined us. It was a gathering of four primary school friends at Sridhar's farm, deep inside a rural realm. That evening we four went to Bhogasandra lake by walk. On the way we saw  a flock of peacocks & peahens.

Sridhar, Venu, Satyaprakash

Jan 19, we all went for an early morning walk deeper into the farm lands. Purpose of the outing was to pick & gather a citrus fruit called Yeralikayi. We happened to meet Eshanna near the target tree. He helped us pick two bag full Yeralikayi and accompanied us till Sridhar's house. On the way, the matter of inscription stone came up and luckily Eshanna obliged to take us to the spot. After breakfast. Satya left to Bengaluru and we went to catch up with Eshanna.

Venu hauling two bag full Yealikayi

After walking for about 15 minutes we reached a barren spot next to a coconut plantation. Eshanna looked around, under the bushes but unable to find the slab he had seen. Apparently the place had been disturbed by an excavator during while making a trench here. Eshanna felt the slab might've been buried when the trench was closed, he was disappointed. So was I. However, there was a rough granite slab with engraving on one face.

Eshanna and Venugopal

This is the best I could do with sunlight blazing down. Since the surface is coarse, the engraving is kind of camouflaged.

Here's a cropped version. On the top is a Shivalinga, surely Sun and Moon would also be present. Below the Shivalinga are five or six horizontal lines, between the lines there seems to be some text. As per Eshanna, a habitat existed here once upon a time. The place was abandoned during a scrouge. Looks like the habitat was mainly temporary structures since there are no ruins here except for this stone inscription.

That rear view of the slab. Geologically this stone is a fusion of granite and some other stone. Between this block and the bush were a few slimmer slabs buried in dirt. We tried to dislodge one of them but it wouldn't budge. To excavate we would require a lot of tools including a machete to clear the bush. A work for some other time.

Hoping to unearth the inscription some other time, we left and headed towards another coconut plantation of Eshanna. On the way we passed by a pond. On the pond banks was this anthill.

That's the pond. Eshanna said this pond was fed by canal water and rainwater too. This anthill with so many spikes has a special look.

From the opposite side it feels as though we are looking at a bull's horns.

Another 15 mins walk, we reached Eshanna's plantation where he plucked tender coconuts and opened them for us. The fresh cool drink was rejuvenating. We were thankful to Eshanna for taking out time from his busy schedule. I feel he walks 8 to 10 km daily and his mind is always engrossed with work. BTW, Sridhar tried to install a steps tracking app in Eshanna's smart phone, unsure if the installation was successful.

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minor inscriptions in Badami north fort

Well known inscriptions at Badami are the following: 1. Mangaleshana Shasana, 2. Kappe Arabhattana Shasana, 3. Pulakeshiya Shasana, and 4. Pallava Shasana. Then there's one inscription in shell script which is yet to be deciphered by archaeologists. Apart from these five there are several minor inscriptions of sculptors' names & tally marks mostly found near the four rock-cut temples which is the southern fort side. Across the Agastya Tirtha is the northern fort side. On these rocks are ruins of three structural temples, two Mantapas and fortifications connected by a maze of narrow pathways. On the rock faces there are minor sculptures and inscriptions which a very few tourists notice. I too hadn't noticed the ones seen here during my past visits.

The first one is a drawing of Hanuman and Vishnu's Chakra situated on a rock face close to the top-most doorway. It was spotted by a fellow tourist we had met a few minutes back. On the left edge of the picture is Vishnu's Chakra. In the middle is Hanuman with his tail looping over him. This could be from the late VI Century CE i.e. the period during the making of Vishnu shrines Cave-II and Cave-III.

That's the discoverer Shankar from Vijayapura. This rock face is about 6 feet away from the footpath, barely visible from here unless one has a sharp sense of observation. The inscription is encircled using a photo editor.

The next inscription is a Trisula close to the last but one gateway. This image is about 7 to 8 feet above the ground level.

A little further away from the Trisula inscription, on the opposite rock face is a group of writings consisting of a few names and tally marks. The tally marks seem to indicate the number of days or weeks or months worked by sculptors.

There could be other such inscriptions hidden despite being in the open. Looking forward to another visit to Badami, the Chalukyan capital.

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shell script inscription at Badami

Badami, the ancient capital of the Chalukyan empire is known for rock inscriptions. The most important ones are Kannada inscriptions dating back to VI Century CE namely-
1. cliff inscription of Pulakeshi in North fort,
2. inscription of Mangalesha besides Cave III,
3. Pallava inscription near Pulakeshi's cliff inscription and,
4. Kappe Arabhatta inscription.

Apart from these four there are several minor inscriptions on the rock faces between the rock-cut cave shrines. Some of the inscriptions are probably names of the sculptors who worked here. Then there are groups of short vertical lines lines etched on the rocks which could be sculptors work log. Lastly there's one inscription which doesn't resemble any known script known to common folks like us. This inscription is on the rock next to the steps between Cave III and Cave IV. I noticed the inscription during my visit in July 2023 and then happened to see its photo in the booklet published by The Department of Archaeology, Museums & Heritage. It is referred to as "inscription in shell script."

There is no other images on the web like this inscription. However there's a page dedicated to Shankhalipi on Wikipedia which features a picture of an pillar inscription at Deogarh in Nepal. The scripts are not alike, there could be different types of shell scripts.

Readers, please do share any information you are aware of.

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inscription stone at Veerabhadreshwara Gudi

I found this picture was while rummaging through a collection of pictures shot with my Yashica some time 2003 or 2004. This is an ancient temple dedicated to Veerabhadreshwara, a form of Shiva. The temple is situated near Bokyapur tank, a man made water body 2 kms northwest of Garag village in Dharwad district. I had shot this picture mainly for the inscription slab. The inscription is in Kannada. Going by the looks of the columns, this could be built during Vijayanagara times. The two boys seen here are from a near by village called Hangarki.

Garag is known for Karnataka Khadi Gramaodyog Samyukta Sanga, a handloom center where the fabric for Indian flag is produced. Garag is also known for its ancient Jain Basadis and Madiwaleshwara Matha. The Basadis have been on my list for quite some time, hoping to see them during this year.

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