0 Hangal Fort and Billeshwara temple

May 27, 2011.



Bird's eye view of Hangal. Anekere lake stand out prominently. I heard that elephants were given bath here and hence the name- Anekere -elephant lake. Present day Hangal fort remains is marked in two places. I got to see the one marked in the circle but not the ruins on the lake bank.





I feel the fort was much bigger, probably occupying the circular boundary adjoining the remains of the fort.





There it is; a pentagon shaped outline. The fort is currently under the horticulture department who maintain a nursery and a mango orchard. Within the fort is a small temple with a Shivalings in the Garbhagriha.





A - Fort entrance

B - Temple





I met two people here, one of them- Shripad S Akkivalli -was from the horticulture department. Shripad told us that this temple was a Jain Basti many years ago. He shows us proof- sculptures of Mahaveera and Theerthankaras. Many parts of the temple have been damaged with an intention to erase Jaina icons. Shripad mentions that these stones are sculpted as though it were wax. He says that there are many theories to how stones were shaped. One theory he heard from his father about a plant which softened stone.

Shripad believes that a plant exists or existed which sculptors of ancient India used to soften stones so that they could create works of art which we see today in thousands of temples.







Another video of the little temple with simple but beautiful art.

Billeshwara Temple





You can find this temple on the outskirts, on the left side as you drive on hangal-Haveri road. The temple is situated on a slightly elevated patch of ground.



The temple is incomplete; no shikhara, no sabha mantapa, abandoned for some reason.





Shivalinga on a stepped pedestal.





A seven-stage doorway adorns the Garbhagriha. Each of the stages has a theme of its own.





The stages that caught my attention are filled with imaginary creatures- serpents with human heads and lion's body with heads of all types of animals and birds. Very interesting. I feel a kid must have come up with this idea.







Backside of the temple.





One video of Billeswara Gudi.

One of the localities mentioned another interesting monument; Kichakana Gardimane. Gardimane is the colloquial term for gymnasium. Legend says that Bheema slayed Kichaka in the Gardimane. To reach the Gardimane one needs to walk through fields. We were running out of time, I had to attend a wedding at Ranebennur. Perhaps I can stop here during my upcoming trip to Kotipura and Balligavi.



Hangal Fort coordinates: 14°45'36"N 75°7'37"E

Billeswara Gudi coordinates: 14°45'17"N 75°7'23"E



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Detail: Hangal Fort and Billeshwara temple

0 Closer look at Tarakeshwara Temple

The sculptures you see below must be relatively recent creations. I say that because of the subjects adopted in these sculptures.





A dancing couple.





A voluptuous woman.





Love-making scenes.









A staff. I remember seeing many more staffs with slight variations.





An archer with bow and quiver full of arrows. A sexy woman. Woman giving birth assisted by a midwife.





A mother breast-feeding a baby. River with tortoises and fish. A man holding an idol.





No idea what the first image is. A woman churning curds. Must be Krishna, holding a flute, surrounded by cattle.





Man displaying strength by balancing an ox-cart on his legs. Must be sugarcane stalks with the a young boy. Looks like the woman is trying to console a crying child.





Closer looks at the man hauling an ox-cart.





A sexy curvy woman. no idea what the other two scenes depict.





Man with a serpent. Must be Hanuman with a three headed serpent. No idea what the third image is about.





A very sexy and curvy woman!





Must be Ardhanareeswara, Bhringi and a dog.





Scenes from Ramayana: Laxmana cutting Shurpanaki's nose. Sita and Rama looking at the golden deer. Maricha dying after being struck by Rama's arrow.





Death of Maricha. Rama shooting with a bow. Hanuman with...





A battle scene. Should be Indra on Airavata. No idea who the third character is.





I wonder who these characters are.





A hunter. A hugging couple. The naked woman seemingly absorbed in worship of some sort.





Another voluptuous woman. Characters with unique attire and hair style. The male character on the right is carrying a whip over his shoulder.





Sages worshiping Shivalinga.





These characters seems to be warriors.





A series of unfinished to about to start images: Posterior of a nude woman. A kissing couple. A standing man.





Some more unfinished work: Love-making couple. No idea... Man hugging a woman from her back.





Must be monkeys building a bridge to Lanka.





My guess: Lord Shiva in hunter form. Shiva-Parvati dancing. The man and woman are upto something...





These little characters are hardly noticed. The floral designs caught my attention.









With so many things to see, its easy to miss out interesting sculptures. In spite of having seen so many such temples I simply cannot stop wondering how people of those days created them.



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Detail: Closer look at Tarakeshwara Temple

0 Tarakeshwara temple, Hangal

May 27, 2011



Hangal, a small town in Haveri district was ruled by Kadambas of Banavasi, Gangas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara, Adil Shahis and finally Tipu Sultan. Tarakeshwara temple of Hangal was constructed by Kadambas and later Kalyani Chalukyas made changes to it. Since Kadambas ruled between 345AD and 525AD it won't be wrong to say that the temple was built during the 4th Century. Nagareshwara temple at Bankapura fort is also a Banavasi Kadamba creation.



The entwined pair of snakes is an eye-catching piece of work. One snake has 6 heads while the other one has 3 heads but both seems to of same length. The front enterance of the temple is blocked for some reason.





The outer wall- sculpted and aligned to perfection.





The platform on the left side of the picture connects the Garbha Griha to the assembly/dance hall. The temple is a long narrow structure.











Typical Kadamba enterance- ribbed/grooved spirals flanking 3 steps. Just try running your fingers in the grooves...





A Shiva Linga.





Turned & polished and sculpted column.





Closer look at the lower portion of the column.





Sunflowers in ceiling.





Highly complex designs in Natya Mantapa ceiling.





Columns like these surround the Natya Mantapa. The inner two look like they were added later to support the beam or to reduce load on individual columns.





Octagonal columns.





Elephants are prominent in Banavasi history.





Shikhara over the Garbhagriha.





A mythological creature adorns the Girbhagriha drain.





This sculpture is placed at the Shikhara's base on the temple terrace.





Also on the terrace positioned above the doorways.





This stone is slightly different. The yellow color creates a glow, as though its lit up.





Hero-stones and other sculptures dumped inside the temple.







A stubby little pillar stand very close to the temple's front doorway. Does it have a function?





A group of school kids had come picnicking. One of them asked me if I'd seen the Basavanna. No. It's just outside the temple walls. The kids led me to it.





I felt bad to see such a beautiful creation damaged so badly.





Ganesha temple.







Hangal Tarakeshwara temple is one of the most beautiful temples of Haveri district. Haveri to Hangal is about 40km and distance between Hangal-Dharwad via Tadas is about 100km.



Coordinates: 14°45'54"N 75°7'25"E



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Detail: Tarakeshwara temple, Hangal