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.

Sri Gokarna Mahabaleshwara Swamy Temple

Gokarna Sri Mahabaleshwara Temple is a 4th-century temple situated in Gokarna, Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka. Srikshetra Gokarna is one of the holiest places in India. The Father of the universe Parashiva is in Gokarna in the form of Athmalinga. The temple faces the coast of the city of Karwar from the Arabian Sea of the Western Sea. The Almighty, known as Mahabaleshwara, is also known as Sarvabhouma.

The Mahabaleshwar temple is considered as sacred as the Shiva temple on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi and Kashi in North India. Hence, Gokarna is known as Dakshin Kasi. This is the place where the most revered Hindu saint Adi Shankaracharya, who spread spiritual knowledge from south to north throughout India, established Shree Ramachandrapura Math, sacred and saintly Jagadguru Peetam.

The temple is run under the guidance of Paramapoojya Jagadguru Shankaracharya Gokarna Mandaladheeshwara Shree Shree Raghaveshwara Bharathi Mahaswamiji of Sriramachandrapur Math. Under the divine and philanthropic guidance of Sri Mahaswamiji, the administration of Sri Mahabaleshwara Temple, Gokarna is on the path of progress.

Gokarna Mahabaleswara Temple History:

In order to obtain the Athmalinga of Lord Shiva, Ravana performed severe penance at Kailasa and secured the Athmalinga. The Suras frightened by this approached Lord Ganesha and prayed to Him, to retain the Athmalinga at Gokarna. As the abode of the one and only one Athmalinga of Lord Shiva, Gokarna gained worldwide spiritual significance. This holy place is known as Bhookailasa and the Southern Varanasi. (Ref. Skandha Purana, Guru charitra)  In this Temple all devotees can enter the sanctum sanctorum and have the touch darshan of Athmalinga and can perform Abhisheka with their own hands. Shivaratri Mahotsava is the Car festival when lakhs of people attend and pray for their well-being. Nature :

This sacred Temple is situated on the Seashore and by the side of western ghats. Here we can hear the roaring sound of the sea and can see the jumping tides of the sea. At the same time, we can see the green scenario of the western ghat and can hear the melodious music of the winds.

Gokarna Sri Mahabaleswara Temple Pooja:

Every day thrice, Pooja is performed with Pancha Vadya. Morning Udyanabali, Afternoon bali, Mahapooja, evening Bali, Utsava and Mahapooja

Gokarna Shiva Temple Bhojana:

Free Amrutanna Prasad Bhojana is being served twice daily to all the devotees.

Afternoon 12.00 to 2.00 and Evening 7.30 to 8.30