Ikkeri Aghoreshvara Devastana - part 2

..continued from Ikkeri Aghoreshvara Devastana - part 1.

In the first part we covered the Nandi Mantapa and the main temple's (Aghoreshwara Devastana) facade and eastern side. The main temple is north facing, in plan is 35 meters long x 19 meters wide and symmetrical. This is the rear end of the temple. As you see, the rear elevation is symmetrical too. On the left hand side is Parvati Devastana. The Nandi idol head is slightly turned- its left eye looks at Aghoreshwara and right eye looks at Parvati.

Now we move towards the western side of the temple. The floor I was standing on was super heated, it was not possible to stand at a spot for more than 10 seconds. In fact people ran in search of shade.I somehow tolerated the discomfort trying to get some decent shots. The corner view of the Garbhagudi is a handsome sight. It has three shrines on its outer walls, did not really check out the deities inside.

The temple's Mukhamandapa is wider than the Garbhagriha. The other difference is the canopy which is present only in the Mukhamandapa.

The Garbhagriha walls are made of smaller blocks, even the corner are blocks instead of columns. The sub-shrine on this face is vacant.  At the lintel level, there are five gutters to drain our water on the roof. Have to see this temple after a heavy downpour.

Compared to Chalukyan and Hoysala architecture, Keladi Nayaka architecture seems simplified. Probably, humans changes, their qualities were diluted, thereby diluting the dedication to their profession and the sense of quality. The base level of this temple is very simple compared to Chalukyan temples. Nevertheless, ancient stonework is admirable.

Moving on to the front of the temple, I notice this moon and encircled horse on the wall. Along the base of the wall is a strip of peacocks, flowers and sitting lions ~ beautiful, gentle and strong.

Row of Kirtimukha in the base level of the Mukhamandapa. They look fierce when lit with bright sunlight. In shade they looks less fierce.

Balustrade flanking the steps at the western door. The imaginary creature is identical to the ones on the other side. The angle of light has enhanced the sculpture's features nicely. The circular shadow of the tongue has matched the curvature of the hind quarters.

Each balustrade must be weighing 350 kgs. Did one sculptor make all of of them or many were involved. How many sculptors worked on this entire temple and for how long? Who cleared out the waste material and what happened to it? As I know, heaps of waste stone (chips from carving) hasn't been discovered near any of the temples. How was it disposed?

Taking a closer look at one balustrade. The man seems to be blowing a conch. What could be the purpose of the spiral. Does it hint people to focus inwards, into a single point?

 Side view of the Mukhamantapa is quite elegant. Were there windows on the right hand side, it would've looked balanced. Surely the builders had reason for adding windows there.

The door and perforated windows are the only source of direct light inside at this point of time. Shafts of light entering through the small openings will have an interesting effect inside.. light would scatter instead of one bright patch. Lets go in and check out.

These three windows are the same ones seem in the above picture. Light is so bright, it has blurred the corners. With a DSLR, one can get the right shot. Also, had I shot it straight ahead the effect would've been better. For that, the door had to be shut.

These are the last two windows. The corner is less bright hence the contrast is better. The effect would be better when Sun is lower, around 4-30 or 5-00 pm.

These windows are on the eastern side. Squares, rhombus and stepped rhombus. There are few more patterns which aren't included here.

I'll end this part with a view of the Mukhmantapa. The hall has a central Mantapa supported by four columns, ten columns around the four and more columns along the periphery wall. The columns are quite high, floor to ceiling height should be 14 to 15 feet. The hall is quite spacious and it was cool despite the hot weather outside. These columns have been standing here, bearing the load of beams and roof for the last 500 years.

This article will continue in the following post- Ikkeri Aghoreshvara Devastana - part 3.
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Ikkeri Aghoreshvara Devastana - part 1

Ikkeri, Keladi, Humcha and Nagara fort have been on my list for years. Somehow the time came for the first two, Pushpa and I were travelling from Dharwad to Bangalore. I wanted to avoid NH48 because of the ongoing repair work, the drive between Hubli and Chitradurga has too many diversions and rough patches. So I decided to drive down via Sirsi and see few places on the way. Ikkeri was the last of the three places of our list.

February 22, 2020
After a lunch break on the outskirts of Sagar town, we drove into the town. It took 30 minutes to come out the labyrinth of narrow streets. As usual we must've taken the shortest route suggested by Google Maps. Ikkeri is about 4 kms south of Sagar. The temple is easy to find. There's plenty of parking space available near the temple but for a shaded spot you'll have to park 100 meters away. The day was bright and warm, this won't be a comfortable tour. No foot wear even around the temple, we had to taken them off at the gate. Super heated slabs greeted us to this monument.

The man in green shirt here is the temple's caretaker. The moment he saw my camera bag he said no shooting with DSLR, mobile phones are okay. I asked him of the instruction was put in writing no. Requested him to connect me to his officer. He called from his phone, my request to shoot with DSLR was declined. All of sudden ASI officers are behaving strange- only verbal instructions, nothing in writing. So I had to shoot with my phone. All these pictures are shot in Moto Z.

This structure is the Nandi Mantapa. It works like a screen for the main structure. Visitors approaching the temple will not see it straight ahead,, they'll have to go around the Nandi Mantapa and see the side of the main temple. I'm guessing the builder did this on purpose, to prevent ketta drishti ~ evil eyes. I could be wrong though.

Aghoreshvara Devastana is a protected monument. ASI board planted here reads as folows:
Ikkeri grew into a powerful independent kingdom with capital at Keladi under the early Vijayanagara chiefs. During the reign of Chaudappa Mayaka (A.D. 1499-1544), the capital was shifted from Keladi to Ikkeri.
The north-south orientated Aghoreshvara temple, built in granite, during the time of Nayakas of Keladi, is a classic example of the Nayaka style of architecture. Stylistically it is datable to sixteenth century A.D.
On plan it has a Garbhagriha, an Ardhamandapa and a large Mukhamandapa with separate pavilion for Nandi. Interiorly the floor in front of the shrine has effigies of three Keladi chiefs doing obeisance. The Garbhagriha contains a gigantic pedestal sculpted with 32 seated female figures. The temple has a metal image of 32 handed Aghoreshvara. In the Ardhamandapa is a small translucent Nandi carved out of white spar. Flanking the Ardhamandapa doorway, on either side are two niches, containing sculptures of Ganesa and Kartikeya to right and Mahishamardini and Bhairava to left. The front Mukhamandapa is supported by carved, pillars. Exteriorly the sanctum has a huge Sikhara in the Dravida order. The walls of the sanctum have double pilaster turrets. The walls of Mukhamandapa are pierced with three ornate doorways approached by balustraded steps. The northern main entrance is flanked by caparisoned elephants. The available space of the walls is provided with nearly twenty perforated windows with ornamental arches interspersed with figure sculptures. The Nandimandapa has a huge couchant bull with Yali-balustraded steps at south. The pavilion has lion-based pillars. Towards the west is Parvati shrine built on similar lines to the main temple with lesser dimensions and fewer sculptures.

Ikkeri being located in Western Ghats received lot of rain. The ancient builders designed buildings such that it stayed as dry as possible. Hence the sloped roof on all sides.

Looking back towards the entrance for a moment. A simple rectangular arch to mark the entrance. The ornate structure in the foreground is about 5½ feet tall. I have no idea what its purpose is. I sometimes feel its akin to Buddhist Stupas which are usually much bigger.

Nandi Mantapa as seen from Aghoreshwara temple steps. The flight of steps leading in are flanked by ornate balustrades (Khatanjali in Kannada). Being a long weekend, the place buzzed with tourists. The number of people inside the cramped Nandi Mantapa was crazy. The bad part was women with kids, they were forcing the toddlers to pass under Nandi's raised foreleg. It was clear the kids weren't enjoying the ordeal but the moms and aunts were ecstatic. Some older kids were placed on Nandi's back. Not to forget their photography.. all were selfie experts. What madness!

The caretaker's attitude- he was fine with people all over the monument but he had problem with DSLRs!!

Nandi idol is approximately 6 feet tall. Its made of granite, almost mirror like finish. One can describe this Nandi with the word caparisoned - be decked out in rich decorative coverings. Nandi is sitting looking towards Aghoreshwara with left eye and the right eye is towards Parvati temple which is right next to the main temple.

The bell chain around its body is magnificent. Every little detail is perfect. The three hanging bells are almost real. I'm sure live bulls were decorated with such fine jewelry back then. The  jewelry could be made of brass, silver or gold too. Such was the respect oxen had. Same with elephants and horses.

This is the main door of Aghoreshwara temple, flanked by a pair of caparisoned elephants. This is a north-facing temple with three doors. The other two doors are on the sides. In plan the temple is symmetric.

The front wall more or less flat. The walls are decorated with relief sculptures and perforated windows, The door frame is elaborate with a pair of the Dwarapalas at the base.

This is the north-eastern corner of the temple. The roof overhangs by 3 to 4 feet on each side. The overhang is needed for the heady downpour during monsoons. Perforated windows on side walls as well.

A row of lion heads (Kirtimukha) around the base of the temple.

The temple floor is 6 feet above ground level. The main shrine building in plan is '35 meters long X 19 meters wide' and the sub-shrine building is '12 meters long X 7.5 meters wide.' The side entrances' steps have spiral balustrades. The imaginary creature depicted on the balustrade has horse's body, and lion's head & legs. The creature is symbolizes great strength.

This is the other side of the balustrade. The flower emerging out from the spiral is a nice touch. The stones which are exposed to rain have turned grey. I guess the grey matter is dried lichen.

This the eastern door. The jamb is ornate and had Dwarapalas. For some reason the door frame has been painted red, probably during some festival.

In plan the building's rear half is narrower than the front half. The rear side of the building has these solid projections. There are some interesting sculptures on these projections.

Many of the human figurines are depicted with long hair, nicely combed. In this case even teeth are clearly visible. There's one such character in the balustrade.. hair nicely combed.

Two more images one woman and a round face with popping eyes in a circle. The rough finish and dried lichen blurs the images features.

This is the Garbhagriha gutter, a highly ornate piece of sculpturing this is. In fact this looks like a water tap. Below the gutter inside the niche is an elephant, it looks as though it is bearing the weight of the gutter.

All the while we walked on shaded floor. The sunlit stone slabs were so hot that it was little shock. Unable to bear the heat, fellow tourists run towards shade. I found a small patch of shade next to these bushes. It was much cooler there. The temple's rear view is quite a sight. There's a sub-shrine against the rear wall, can't remember if there was any idol inside it.

I'll stop here and continue the article in the following post- Ikkeri Aghoreshvara Devastana - part 2
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