MAREHALLI LAKSHMI NARASIMHA SWAMY TEMPLE

The Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple is located in Marehalli 2 km away from Malavallli town of Mandya District. This is one of the most prominent Narasimhaswamy Temple in the Mandya District of Karnataka. The temple itself is several centuries old.

HISTORY

Archaeological surveys have indicated that the temple is indeed, several centuries old and belongs to the Sri Vaishnava tradition. The temple is close to 1200 years old. It is said that the temple was initially renovated by the great Raja Raja Chola. The foundation of the Sri Narasimhaswamy Swamy temple is said to have been done during the 10th century AD. Folklore suggest that a long, long time ago there were two sages by the names Suyagna and Lambakarna. The sages practiced intense sessions of meditation and penance. Lord Narasimhaswamy observed the continuous practice of tapasyas and yagnas performed by the two devoted sages. Pleased by their constant devotion, Lord Narasimhaswamy appeared in the dreams of the saitns, and indicated that he would reside over there, and would be pleased to have both of the sages along with him. Initially, the place was called Gajaranya Kshetra. Locally, the prime deity Narasimhaswamy is known as Marehalli Mudukappa. The great lord is also called Sowmya Narasimhaswamy.

IMPORTANCE/SIGNIFICANCE

The temple premise itself consists of the Amrutheshwar temple, which again has several dedicated devotees. At the entrance of the temple, there are two Mantapas on either side of the temple. The main structure is faced by a 40 feet long Garuda Gamba and Brundawana, a profound symbolism. Apart from the Amrutheshwara, there also lies within the premises an Anjuneyaswamy Temple, situated at the left side of the temple. The Pathalankana and Ganesh temple are situated at the main entrance of the temple.

Sri Dattatreya Temple, Chattarki, Vijayapura

'Sri Dattatreya Temple' of Chattarki is one among the few Vaishnava temples built by the Kalyani Chalukyas. Chattarki is a small nondescript village in the Vijayapura/Bijapur district of Karnataka. Vijayapura is a treasure trove of many lesser known temples built during the Kalyani Chalukya period, of which most are dedicated to Shaiva. Only 2 of the many temples built by the Kalyani Chalukyas in Vijayapura are dedicated to Vaishnava, the Sri Dattatreya Temple at Chattarki.

The Dattatreya temple was built in the 12^th century as per one of the inscriptions found here, which also refers this place to be an agrahara and a center for sculptural art and temple.

Reaching Chattarki is not easy due to the limited availability of public transport. We had to hire an auto from Devara Hippargi to reach Chattarki. It is sad that the roads were devoid of any signage directing us to this temple and the final stretch of road too is in a pretty bad condition. However on reaching, it felt good to see an enclosure in the form of a compound wall for protecting the temple.

I wondered about how such a beautiful gem could lay hidden from the outside world. The temple is protected under the ASI, who have done a fair job in the temple's restoration and maintenance works.

This temple consists of a garbhagriha, an antarala, and a sabhamantapa with mukhamantapa on three directions. The garbhagriha houses a murti of Lord Dattatreya on a high peetha, while the original statue of Lord Vishnu seems missing. The antarala is open, with two decorated circular pilasters. The sabhamantapa stands on four central pillars and twelve corresponding pilasters set against the walls. The central ceiling here has a beautiful carving of an inverted lotus bud with miniature sculptures. 

This temple has some fine carvings of sculptural beauty on its outer walls. Majority of these carvings depict Madanikas in different moods and action which are comparable to the Hoysala style.

LAKSHMI NARASIMHA TEMPLE, VIGNASANTHE

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Vignasanthe Village in Tiptur Taluk in Tumkur District, in  Karnataka. This temple is considered as one of the lesser known Hoysala temples of Karnataka. The Temple is protected by the Karnataka state division of the Archaeological Survey of India.

HISTORY

The Temple was built in 1286 AD by three brothers namely Appaya, Gopala and Madhava, who were military generals of the King Narasimha III of Hoysala Dynasty.

The temple is constructed in Trikutachala style, consisting of three shrines, one each on north, south and west. The western shrine connects to the navaranga via vestibule while the other two shrines connects directly to the navaranga. The navaranga is preceded by an open mukha mandapa. The mukha mantapa is supported by lathe turned half pillars and parapets on either side.

The exterior of the parapet wall, the domical ceiling, the lintel over the entrance and the pillars are profusely decorated. The ceiling of the navaranga (closed hall) is supported by four lathe turned pillars which divide the ceiling into nine decorated bays. The central shrine (western shrine) is the most prominent one. This shrine has a antrala (vestibule) that connects the shrine to the navaranga.

The tower over the central shrine and the vestibule are intact & decorative. The tower over the sanctum is crowned with kalasa on top. The tower is divided into tiers with each tier diminishing in height and culminating in an umbrella like structure. The vestibule has a superstructure called sukhanasi. It looks like a shorter extension of the main tower. The Hoysala crest (emblem of the Sala stabbing a lion) over the sukhanasi is missing.

The lateral shrines are without towers and sukanasis. The inner wall of the shrine is square and plain whereas the outer wall is stellate (star shaped) with numerous recesses and projections that are used for decorative relief. The outer wall of the vestibule is decorative but inconspicuous because it appears like a short continuation of the shrine outer wall.

CONNECTIVITY

The Temple is located at about 16 Kms from Turuvekere and 17 Kms from Tiptur. 

Sri Vinayaka Temple, Guddattu

Guddattu Sri Vinayaka Temple is located at Kundapura, Udupi District in the state of Karnataka, India.

It is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Ganapathy, also called Jaladhivasa Ganapathy Temple, It is the only Jaladhivasa Ganapathi temple in India. Lord Ganesha’s three-foot idol is believed to have emerged from the rock. Aayira Koda Seva, Tailabhyanjana, Panchamrutha and Rudrabhisheka are performed in the temple everyday.

Guddattu Sri Vinayaka Temple History

According to legends, Lord Shiva went to war against the demon Tripurasura. Unfortunately, Lord Shiva forgot to worship Lord Ganesha before going to war. Because of this, Lord Shiva was not victorious in the war. Lord Shiva got angry after realizing that because of his son, Lord Ganesha, he could not achieve victory. Angry Shiva shot hideous arrows aimed at Lord Ganesha. However, no arrow hurt Ganesha. The arrows carried Lord Ganesha and threw him into the ocean of honey.

Lord Ganesha emptied the ocean as he is very fond of honey. Lord Ganesha became happy and blessed Shiva. After that, Lord Shiva won the war and killed the demon. The excessive consumption of honey caused a burning sensation in Lord Ganesha and he began to writhe in pain. Lord Shiva took pity on his son and ordered Ganesha to reside in the pool adjacent to holy Narasimhatheertha. Lord Ganesha made the pond in the huge rock his home.

How to Reach Guddattu Vinayaka Temple:

The nearest airport is at Mangalore, Nearest Railway Station is at Kundapur and Udupi. by road, Guddattu is well connected with all major cities.

Address:
Guddattu Vinayaka Temple
Shiriyara-Guddattu Road,
Guddattu Kundapura,
Yedadi Matyadi,

Karnataka – 576222.

Kedareshwara Temple, Balligavi

The Kedareshvara temple (also called as Kedareshwara or Kedaresvara) is located in the town of Balligavi (known variously in ancient inscriptions as Belagami, Belligave, Ballagamve and Ballipura), near Shikaripura in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state, India. Dotted with centers of learning (agrahara), Balligavi was an important city during the 11th or 12th century of Western Chalukya rule.

The term Anadi Rajadhani (ancient capital) used in medieval inscriptions to describe this town tells a tale of great antiquity.

Art historian Adam Hardy classifies the style involved in the construction of the temple as "Later Chalukya, non mainstream, relatively close to mainstream". He dates the temple to late 11th century, with inscriptional evidence of additions made up to 1131, by the Hoysalas during their control over the region. The building material used is soapstone. The Archaeological Survey of India classifies the style of architecture as distinctly Hoysala.

Soumyakeshava Swamy Temple at Nagamangala

Soumyakeshava temple (also spelt Sauymakesava or Soumyakeshava) at Nagamangala was constructed in the 12^th century by the rulers of the Hoysala empire.

Nagamangala is a town in the Mandya district of Karnataka state, India. It is located 62 km from the historically important town Mysore, on the Srirangapatna-Sira highway. Historically, Nagamangala came into prominence during the rule of Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana when it became an important center of Vaishnava faith and received patronage from one of his queens, Bommaladevi. During the rule of Veera Ballala II, Nagamangala prospered as an agrahara (place of Hindu religious studies) and had the honorific Vira Ballala Chaturvedi Bhattaratnakara. The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.

According to art historian Adam Hardy, the basic plan of the shrine (mulaprasada) is stellate (star shaped). It stands on a platform called jagati and is constructed with Soap stone material. According to historian Percy Brown this is a Hoysala innovation. Overall, the temple exhibits the nagara features (northern Indian influence) seen in a few other Hoysala temples such as in the Sadasiva Temple, Nuggehalli. According to art historians Gerard Foekema and Percy Brown, nagara features are seldom seen in Hoysala temples.

The temple is a large structure and has received patronage by multiple dynasties and reveals features of the later day Vijayanagara empire, whose rulers added the entrance and tower over it (mahadvara) and bounding walls (prakara). Some post-Vijayanagara features are also visible. The tower over the entrance (gopuram) is a 7-story tall lime and brick structure that is adorned by Hindu gods, goddesses and other decorative structures in stucco.

The temple is three shrined (trikutachala), has a garbhagriha (sanctum), and a vestibule (antarala) that connects the sanctum to the a closed mantapa (inner hall, navaranga) which opens into a large pillared gathering hall (mahamantapa). According to Percy Brown and Gerard Foekema, these are standard features in a Hoysala temple. The closed hall has two lateral shrines, one in the north and the other in the south. To the east, the large hall opens onto the platform that is meant for clockwise Circumambulation by devotees since the inside of the temple does not provide any such feature. On the platform, the base of the temple (called adhisthana) consists of moldings that take the stellate form of sanctum but become staggered square at the mahamantapa. The outer wall of the shrine and the large hall are single pilastered turreted walls. The tower over the shrine (shikhara) is plain without the typical ornamentation giving the temple as a whole an austere look.

The temple gets its name from the “serene” (“Saumya”) six feet tall image of Keshava, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu that stands on a garuda (eagle) pedestal. The roof of the closed mantapa is supported by lathe turned pillars, a standard feature in Hoysala constructions. These pillars divide the ceiling into “bays” (four central pillars create 9 bays in the closed hall) that are exceptionally well treated.

Inna Muddanu Sri Mahalingeshwara Temple

SRI MAHALINGESHWARA DEVASTHANA

Inna Muddanu is another beautiful Shiva temple on the banks of River Shambhavi in Tulu Nadu. 

The main deity of this temple is Sri Mahalingeshwara. As found in almost every other temple in Tulu Nadu, there is also a Ganapathi idol here towards the South West corner of the temple.

HISTORY:

According to the legend of the place, the great sage Bhargava performed penance of Lord Shiva at a nearby hill. Pleased with the penance, Lord Shiva blessed Bhargava and granted a boon that he would come down and stay in the form of a Linga nearby. That is how the Inna temple came into being. Even today, Inna Mahalingeshwara (along with Sri Durga Parameshwari of nearby Mundkur, also established by Sage Bhargava) is the Kula Devata for a majority of families from the Bhargava Gotra in Tulu Nadu.

This place has a recorded history of more than 1300 years. The garbha gudi and theertha mantapa are built in typical Dakshina Kannada temple style. The main Bhuta worshipped in the temple is Varahi (Panjurli). The temple was recently renovated in 2006 and is in excellent condition. Temple is also surrounded by well maintained – beautiful garden.

LOCATION: Inna Muddanu, Udupi District.

Main deities: Mahalingeshwara, Ganapati

Bhutas: Panjurli

Address: Inna Muddanu Sri Mahalingeshwara Devasthana, Karkala Taluk, Udupi District – 576 146

Telephone: 08258 – 268108

How to get there: On the Udupi Mangalore highway, turn right at Padubidri towards Karkala. After about 8 kilometres, you will reach Adve. Turn right here and travel about 3kms. You will find a board for Inna. Turn left here and travel a further 3kms to reach Inna Muddanu.

For more details about this temple please click here.

THE HOYSALA PANCHALINGESHWARA TEMPLE

PANCHALINGESHWARA TEMPLE - Govindanahalli - Mandya - Karnataka.

The term Kuta or shrine could be derived from the Sanskrit term Kuti, which means house.

This Hoysala temple started as a Chaturkuta (4) got extended as a Pancha (five) kuta (shrines) temple for lord Shiva showing the five aspects related to Sadashiva, namely Tatpurusha, Vamadeva, Aghora, Satjyotha & Ishana.

The Kutas or Shrines are lined up from north to south, with all the Garbhahriha's facing east having a Shiva Lingam each, with a beautifully decorated Nandi facing the lingam from the Navaranga(3 nandis) or outside (2 nandis).

Each Garbhahriha has a small Antarala or Ardhamandapa, which leads to a common Mukhamandapa or Navaranga.

The Navaranga seems to be like an elongated hall with four pillars in between for each shrine. Each Garbhahriha again has two small sub-shrines on both sides housing various gods like Vinayaka, Mahishasuramardini, Bhairava, Sukhasanamurthy, Kartikeya, etc.

This rectangular Navaranga can be entered by two north facing entrances, which houses 4 lathed  pillared Mandapam with a decorated Nandi each and two magnificent Dwarapalaka's guarding the entrances before the second and third shrines.

Unlike other Hoysala temples, this temple is devoid of a pedestal (generally star shaped) maybe because of its rectangular nature, however it has all three tiered Vimana's with exquisite carvings & lotus shaped Kumbhams made in stone.

The outer wall of the Garbhahriha's (Devakoshtha) from the lower edge of the vimana to the adhishthana seems like the canvas of the Hoysala sculptors,  filled with pillasters holding photo frames like shrines depicting gods and goddesses and frames from Hindu epics.

Inspite of this being a Shiva temple, these frames contain Mahavishnu from the Chaturvimsati murtayaha. It also contains idols and icons of Devakanya's, Vinayaka, Indra on Airavata, Parvati, Narasimha, Garuda, Brahma, Karthikeya, Nataraja, Ravaanugraha, Dancing Vaani,Parameshwari, Shiva and Parvati with mongoose,Varaha, Krishna.

Though inaugurated during the reign of the Hoysala King Veera Someshwara (1234-63) in 1238 CE, the temple seems to have been constructed over a period of time during the 13th century CE. The Sthapathya of the temple is also associated with one of the prominent Sthapathees Ruvari Mallithamma.

CHANDRAMOULESHWARA TEMPLE, UNKAL

The Chandramauleshwara Temple, sometimes referred to as the Candramauḷisvara or Chandramouleshwara temple at Unkal, is an 11^th century Shiva temple with Chalukyan architecture in Unkal (Hubballi), Karnataka, India. 

The temple has a square plan architecture with four entrances from the cardinal directions, while illustrating the sandhara plan found in Sanskrit texts on architecture. It originally had a Chaturmukha (four-faced) Linga in the center of the temple and many more mandapas (halls), but the surviving structure is much smaller. The temple preserves an early example of a relatively uncommon Hindu architecture. The temple is also notable for how it integrates the artwork of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Vedic deities together.

Chandramauleshwara temple at Unkal

Creator Bommanna Dandanayaka

Chandramouleshwar is a monument from the Kalyana Chalukyan era. It lacks a foundation inscription, and its date thus has to be indirectly inferred by other inscriptions that mention it, architectural style and iconographic details. According to Dakhy and Meister – scholars known for their encyclopaedia on India temple architecture and history, these factors suggest that "a date no later than the eighties of the 11th-century seems admissible".

The presence of two 12th-century stone inscriptions in Unkal village show that the temple was built in or before the 12th-century. The Archaeological Survey of India assigns it to the 12th-century.

Architecture

Chandramouleshwar Four-faced Shiva lingam, one of the face from side.

The temple is a remarkable building that illustrates the sandhara plan, with a square garbhagriha that can accessed from four cardinal directions. This open from all sides plan comes with four molded walls each with decorated doors. The doorjambs are decorated with pancha shakhas (five concentric band of fine carvings), but the artisans made each door unique. The eastern door is particularly excellent, one of the best from the 11th-century. Each door has a pair of dwarapalas. The temple includes a pradakshina patha for circumambulation. It also has an antarala and a sarvatobhadra-style mukhamandapa.

The outer walls include the architectural and decorative details in major Hindu temples, but to accommodate the four entrances, the temple integrates ardha-mandapas that function as antaralas. The original temple had mukhamandapas on the north and south side for the pilgrims to gather, but that is now lost and only mutilated and damaged sections of these sections can now be traced. The details in and above the mancabandha adhistana are elegant, with a band of flowers, then alternating horse-elephant rajasena, above which is the vedikas with miniature but beautiful musicians, then gandharas framed between aedicules, topped with wood/jewel-like detail kaksasana carvings.

The jalas in this temple are of two types – gulika and puspakantha – both elegantly completed, with timber-like finish.

The jalas in this temple are of two types – gulika and puspakantha – both elegantly completed, with timber-like finish.

Originally, the temple housed the image of Chaturmukha linga at the very center so that the pilgrim could see one face of Shiva no matter where she or he stood. However, at some point, this was moved and it is now in the western side of the temple. One possible explanation was offered by Henry Cousens after his survey of this site. The temple likely suffered destruction after the 13th-century, went into disuse. The "very dilapidated" temple was later appropriated by Lingayats who moved the Chaturmukha linga and replaced it with a plain linga they preferred.

The outer walls of the temple have niches framed with pilasters. These depict a galaxy of deities and Hindu legends from all the major traditions within Hinduism: Brahma, avatars of Vishnu, and various forms of Siva. Of particular note are the Nataraja, Narasimha, dancing Ganesha, Sarasvati and Mahishasurmardini. Another notable feature here is that two of the four lalitabimbas into the sanctum have Gajalakshmi and two have Sarasvati, a fact that led Cousens to suggest that this temple may be much older than the 11^th century and might once have been a Brahma temple.