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 Mandir, Navalur

Even though Navalur is just four kilometers from our home, I'd never entered it until mid 2023. I started exploring roads & trails for cycling one day I rode into Navalur and found the place interesting. The original name of this village was Naviluru meaning a place of peacocks. With time Naviluru became Navaluru. A small group of hillocks here is called Navalur Gudda. On one of the peaks is an ancient shrine called Basavanna Gudi which I'd visited in 2009. Back then the hillocks were bare, hardly any vegetation. Few years later, Karnataka Forest Department afforested the hillocks, now it's a beautiful jungle, a home to wildlife. During our early morning rides around the Gudda, we've heard peacock calls many a times.

On June 7th 2023 during a ride I noticed this south-facing Hanuman Mandir. Temple renovation project had just commenced hence broken walls and the scattered rubble.

The temple's Shikhara got my attention. I realized that the structure was ancient. I guessed the Shikhara and the walls below must be 500 to 550 years old, if not older. Also there was an ancient memorial-stone in the gateway - another piece of historical evidence.

Fast-forwarding to June 2026. The temple renovation had been completed months ago.

For the first time I saw the south-facing deity Hanuman. The stone sculpture is definitely ancient. The size and design is close to Hanuman idols consecrated by the XV - XVI Century scholar Vyasaraja. Perhaps, this idol too was installed during Vysaraja's time. In this sculpture, Hanuman is seen standing on a lying male character. 

As per the temple priest, the lying figure is Shanideva. I guess this is the reason why people visit Hanuman temples on Saturdays even though Tuesday is Hanuman's day.

Also, next to Hanuman's idol is a boulder which is also worshipped. According to the priest, and another person as well, a few years back a figure of Hanuman started appearing on the boulder on its own. When I glanced at the stone it was covered in flowers. Another time then.

The temple's sandstone arches gives a heritage feeling. On the two side walls of the Mukhamantapa are relief sculptures of entwined serpents.

These sculptures are a work of clever sculptors. The serpent pairs create a maze. Once could trace a finger from head to tail and vice versa.

A diagonal view of the exterior. The recently made front portion is an assembly of sandstone blocks. The rear portion i.e. the sanctum walls & Shikhara are ancient, and made of harder stone.

Rear diagonal views of the temple. Here you can see the small sculptures decorating the tiers. Also the rear wall has a niche with a miniature Shikhara over it.

Niche, miniature Shikhara and a Kirtimukha. The purpose of Kirtimukha is ward off evil eyes. One must read the story of Kirtimukha as told by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

A closer view of the 7-step pyramidal Shikhara. See the sculptures at the middle of each tier. The topmost tier has Kirtimukha.

A much closer view of the Kirtimukha and the brass crown.

This sculpture has Hoysala sculptors' touch, saying that because of the creepers flanking the bejeweled woman. I feel these sculptures were not a part of the original design. They seem to be inserted later.

Next we have a warrior armed with a mace. Could this be Indra.

Then we have a man-woman couple, can't say what they are doing. Here we have the same type of creeper seen earlier.

Here's a collage of four more sculptures. Let's go around clockwise starting top-left. A Shivalinga with two lady attendants. Sri Lakshminarayana. A female deity, unsure who it is. A dancing lady wearing heavy jewelry. These seven sculptures are from one face of the pyramid. I haven't seen the sculptures on the other two sides.

These sculptures are evidence enough to say Navalur Hanuman Mandir is ancient, probably six to seven centuries old. The additional historical evidence is the memorial stone fixed in the entrance.

It looks like this stone is in memory of a woman warrior. Can't say who it is but it's a member of a royal family.

The temple's gateway is still incomplete. Lastly, I must mention the boulder placed on a pedestal. I asked a villager if this boulder was a challenge to weight lifters. No clear response.

Besides this ancient temple, there are more ancient temples but the old structures have been replaced with contemporary structures. The other temple I happened to visit was the Ramlingeshwar Gudi which is about 300 meters from here. There the deity is a large pedestal mounted Linga which too is ancient.

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Down to earth Dwarapalaka at Mahakoota

Usually in temples the gatekeepers (Dwarapala) are warrior-like characters wielding spears or clubs, some are fierce looking too. However, there's one temple which has a simple looking gateway. This temple is at Mahakoota temple complex, a group of ancient shrines whose history goes back to the early Chalukyan times. The stone structures at Mahakoota date were built by Chalukyan builders but the shrines themselves are much older. Coming back to the topic of this post. here's that temple which I assume is Sangameshwara Devastana.

Let's take a closer look at the gatekeeper, a bald man sporting a long mustache. Posing with him is Sridhar with a similar mustache. When I shot these photos I hadn't paid much attention to the sculptures. Thanks to the similarity of the sculpture's and Sridhar's mustaches! Two down-to-earth characters here.

Now, I'm not sure if this sculpture is original or a cleverly camouflaged recent creation. If you go back to the first photo, the Dwarapala on the left hand side has been vandalized but it looks like a standard type of Dwarapala. What do you think.

Here's the deity, a big Shivalinga which I assume is ancient, meaning it was installed during the Chalukyan times. Shivaya Namah Aum.

Opposite the Shivalingu shrine is a honey colored Nandi idol matching in size. As I know there are two Nandi idols made of honey colored stone.

This is one of the most beautiful idols of Nandi in my opinion.

The unique Nandi is housed in a befitting Mantapa.

This temple and mantapa are situated in the southern most part of the complex. In the background, across the wall is a small structure which happens to be the gateway of Mahakoota. People coming from Badami enter Mahakoota through that gateway. Since that gateway is guarded by the emaciated pair Kaali and Kaala, I call it Kaali-Kaala gateway.

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Ramlingeshwara Devastana, Navaluru

The name  Navalur is derived from Naviluru which literally means a place of peacocks. Navalur is situated on the border of Malnad and Bayaluseeme (hilly region and plains) besides a small hill range 6 km southeast of Dharwad. Back then Dharwad and Navalur were two distinct settlements but now the village is on the verge of being urbanized. Yet, the village retains the original feel. Memories of Navalur village go back to my childhood years.. railway crossing, mango & guava plantations, even grape orchards. With times the number of gardens has diminished. The railway gate made way for a flyover in the 80s. Changes are inevitable, yet Navalur retains a strong rural ambiance which is why I started frequenting the village for early morning bicycle rides which led to exploring the surrounding areas too.

At Navalur's northeastern corner is a temple dedicated to Hanuman. In the beginning I would just pause the ride for to take a look at the deity, a almost 6 feet tall stone idol. Once I happened to notice the deity sans flower decoration. The stone idol of Hanuman was so much like the ancient idols associated with the XV Century philosopher Vyasatirtha. That means, we have an ancient temple. Also in the temple gate is an ancient memorial stone (hero-stone).

Besides the Hanuman Gudi, there are a few more temples in the older parts of Navalur. The temples are Mallikarjuna Gudi, Banashankari Gudi, Dhyamavva Gudi, Basavanna Gudi, and a Jaina Basadi too. Then there's one Garadi Manae as well. Garadi Manae is a gym where wresters trained with the blessings of Hanuman. The more I learn, the more interesting Navalur gets.

June 16th morning I reach to Navalur Hanuman Gudi and start taking pictures of the structure. The stone walls, stone Shikhara and sculptures on the structure seem like XV or XVI Century CE. One of the temple visitors was curious about my shooting. I told him about my interest in ancient monuments which led to the person sharing a lot of historical information. According to him, Navalur was a fortified village, a moat ran around the perimeter as well. I had no clue a fort existed here!

The person, Shri Bhyrappanavar, asked me to go along with him to another ancient shrine dedicated to Shiva Linga. I guessed its location but I was surprised to know it was ancient. Well, here we are at the Ramlingeshwar Devastana.

A lovely idol of Parvati & Shiva.

It's an ancient belief that we must see Shiva Linga between Nandi's horns.

While Shiva Linga idol is ancient Nandi idol is a recent creation. The original Nandi idol was removed because it was damaged. As you see, the older temple structure has been replaced with a recently constructed building.

Shivaaya Namah Aum. Did you notice that the Jaladhari is towards the east-facing Garbhagudi door. Normally, you see it on the left or right but here it's in the front. I don't know why its positioned this way. The size of the idol is impressive, its about 4.5 feet high. To my knowledge there's no other Shivalinga as big as this one.

Going by the stone, the sculpture and the workmanship, this idol seems ancient. It could be 500 to 600 years old, maybe even older.

This is the best shot I could manage in the small space between the Shivalinga and Garbhagudi wall. The pedestal detailing is amazing. Don't know how many ancient people had dedicated their lives protecting and preserving this beautiful idol.

Also thanks to the person who financed this temple's renovation and maintenance.

Adjoining Ramlingeshwar Gudi is Durgadevi Gudi.

A lovely painting of Durgadevi adorns the Garbhagudi wall. One must appreciate the efforts of the artist who painted it. A lady was in charge of this shrine. She has just completed morning rituals.

Like Ramlingeshwar, the deities here are south-facing. This is a rather curious feature of these two temples.

My heartfelt thanks to Shri Bhyrappanavar for urging me to visit this place. We exchanged mobile numbers before parting. I promised to call him to learn more about Navalur history. I head back to Hanuman Gudi for more pictures and then headed home.

Before ending this post I would like to mention my visit to Navalur Gudda in 2009 to see the ancient Basavanna Gudi. Back then the hill was barren. That shrine was ancient but the older structure had been demolished and a new building was being constructed. Unfortunately I didn't pictures of the deity. Presently, the hill has been taken over by Karnataka Forest Department, the entire hill is wooded and out of bounds. The jungle is home to peacocks and other wildlife now. Somehow, I was fortunate to have experienced a bicycle ride on Navalur Gudda, in Aug 2023 with Pushpa and my friend Srinu.

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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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Veerabhadra Gudi and Bokyapur Anjaneya Gudi

This picture was shot sometime 2003 during an afternoon visit to Bokyapur Kere, a manmade waterbody near Garag village. The pond has an embankment to impound rainwater flowing down the surrounding slopes. This temple with an inscription slab is situated in farmlands adjoining the embankment. Going by the looks of the temple it seems like it was built during Vijayanagara times. The presence of the inscription is an indication that this temple was of some importance.

A local man who had accompanied me here that a Bokyapur was a small settlement. During the plague epidemic of late XIX century people left never to return and Bokyapur ceased to exist. This waterbody attracts migratory waterbirds like heron and cranes. I've seen a few big birds here along with regular waterbirds like ducks and cormorants. Also this pond is a spot for spectacular sunsets.

Jan 25, 2026
My wish to revisit this temple came true on this Sunday morning. Pushpa and I left home early for day trip of a few historical places. Bokyapur was the first stop. I was here after more than a decade and half. The place looked so much different. I parked my Wagon-R at the end of the embankment and we walked through farmlands to reach the temple. I was hoping to see the structure as it is but it was disappointing to see the insensitive changes. The caretakers has even oil-painted the inscription slab. Well, this is an attempt to beautify the temple in their own taste.

Construction work has haled for some reason, maybe waiting funds. The gates were closed but unlocked, we decided to check the interior.

For some reason my memory had registered a tiny temple. It's quite spacious in here. The flooring is done up, beams and pillars have been painted which was not necessary. I'm not sure if the deity idol is the original but the idol of Ganapa on the right hands side seems like a recent sculpture. Despite my criticism of renovation with cement/steel, I liked the flooring.

The ceiling slabs, beams and pillars seem original. Maybe one or two slabs and beams have been replaced with new ones but the pillars are surely ancient. The pattern is so much close to Chalukyan design. Who knows, this temple's history might go back to late Chalukyan times.

One more look at the inscription slab before we leave the spot. I must check out the records at Karnataka University history library. It would be interesting to what the inscription says, particularly the time period of the record.

We walk back to the car which was close to the shore. I spotted a cormorant perched on a stub, zoomed in with my Nikon P900 and got a few shots. I walked slowly towards the water hoping to get a closer sot but the shy bird took off.

Also Pushpa has walked into the little peninsula which was closer to the cormorant.

At the opposite end of the embankment is a 5' idol of Hanuman. Earlier this idol was housed in a small structure but for some reason the structure is gone and the idol has been installed on a small platform right next to the dirt-track. From the looks of the sculpture this too seems ancient, have a feeling it might of Vyasaraya time.

We decided to move on since the sun was getting warmer and had to cover three places around Bailhongal- Belavadi Veerabhadreshwara Devastana & Belavadi Mallamma Smaraka, Madiwala Machideva Aikyasthala at Karimani and Chachadi Desai Wadae.

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