0 Tryambakeshwara temple, Kavital

December 25, 2012

We stopped at Kavital while driving from Raichur to Maski, it was about 7 AM when we entered the village. Kavital was one of the places mentioned under places-of-interest on Raichur district website. Here's the description of the temple we are about to visit.

Kavital, in Manvi taluk, is a large village, situated on the Raichur-Lingsugur road, about 40 miles from Raichur and 18 miles from Lingsugur. There is a hillock to the south-west of the village which has several natural caverns. Along the slopes of the hill, artifacts, iron slag and pieces of ancient pottery were found. To the west of the village is an ash-mound on the top of which, in later times, a temple has been built. The ash-mound marks the site of an old smelting factory. There is an interesting medieval temple in the village, called Tryambakeshwara temple, which has three shrines, two of which contain lingas. There are two Kannada inscriptions in the temple and a beautiful image of Mahishasuramardini in one of the two niches in its western wall. All the three shrines are of a uniform size, each being 9 feet deep and 8 feet broad, and each one has an ante-chamber. Also of a uniform size of 7 feet X 8 feet, connected with the main hall.

The exterior of the temple is plain, but the masonry work is very impressive. The shikharas of the shrines, which are of the Dravidian style, have been built up to about two-thirds of their height in dressed stone, while the remaining portion had been completed in brick and lime. The walls of the temple are built of huge blocks of pink granite, some of which are as big as 15 feet in length, 3 feet in breadth and about 2 feet in thickness. The plinth is covered with earth; but on the northern and western sides, some portion of it, are exposed and these show a frieze representing elephant-fights and other scenes.

The temple is close to the village square, surroundings were clean and tidy.

That's the Trikutachala temple of Kavital; small temple with plain exteriors.

It was a pleasant surprise to see three Lingas on one pedestal. This is the east facing Garbhagudi, The other two Garbhagudis face north and south, both have Shivalingas. Morning rituals has just got over, the poojari welcomed us. We took pictures of the deity with his permission.

 

Little Basavanna sitting in front of the Garbhagudi.

The poojari told us that three Lingas on one pedestal is a rare occurrence, very few in entire India.

This is one of the two inscriptions. With limited lighting, I could shoot few decent pictures.

This is the temples Sabhamantapa, the meeting place.

A glimpse of the elephants mentioned in the description above. Take a close look at the bottom-left image, when you close the left half you'll see a bull and when you close the right half you'll see an elephant. At the temple entrance is a damaged elephant, its partner too is missing.

Here's a short video-

It was time for breakfast and we were hungry. We found a small family run eatery in the village square. Fresh idli and puri were on the menu. We had a solid breakfast! We did not have the time to visit the temple built on the ash-mound. Anyway, I discovered few other interesting places to see on Raichur-Lingsugur stretch. Watagal is a rocky hill which looks like a tadpole in bird's eye view. It has a small clearing at the top with an ancient in the center. About a kilometer to the west of Kalmala village is a large stone alignment which might have been used as a calendar in prehistoric times. Also close by is a fort at Kotekal village. So much to see :-)

We drive to Maski to see emperor Ashoka's edict and then head to Mudgal.

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Detail: Tryambakeshwara temple, Kavital

0 Sahasralinga

Sahasralinga is an important pilgrimage place about 12km from Sirsi. The river flowing here is Shalmala. Many Shivalingas and Basavannas are carved on rocks inthe river. Sahasralinga means "Thousand Lingas" but I doubt that many can be found now.








The pallet is similar to the one I saw at Lepaksi.



My guess: Rama and Sita worshiping Shivalinga.


I heard that river Shalmala's birth place is in Dharwad, very close to Someswara Temple.

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Detail: Sahasralinga

0 Kudala Sangama

 Aikya Mantapa in 1959

Sometime 1983; first time I visited Kudalasangama with Deepak, Mom, granny, one of maternal uncles and granny's sisters. We had traveled in a Tempo Matador. That was the first time I'd ever seen a Sangama ~ confluence.

October 2009, this visit I was travelling alone. I left Dharwad around 4:30AM, I had to take a round-about route ...Belgaum, Lokapur, Bagalkot and Kudala Sangama. Around 10AM I was driving through flood ravaged areas. Kudala Sangama is few kilometers from here; many field were flooded, destroying standing crops and rendering many fields unfit for cultivation for days to come.


Actually I was not at all happy to see all this so called developments ...all I could see was cement every where ...disappointing. During my maiden visit in 1983 the temple was almost in it's original condition and the protective wall around Aikya Mantapa was under construction however, on that day there were no workers. I had climbed up the scaffolding and I got a glimpse of the Mantapa down below but I was not brave enough to descend the unfinished cement steps leading down.

During this visit Krishna was right upto the brim, there was water as far as I could see ...it seemed like one lake.


The long pending wish to see the Mantapa came true. The 'well' smelt damp. Recorded Om Namah Shivaya reverberated ...actually it helped people reign in concentration towards the Aikya Linga under the Mantapa. Again I was disappointed to see marble tiles and cement ...I wonder why man is so obsessed with cement. Anyway, I wanted to make the best of the visit, I touched the Mantapa ...I do not know if I'll ever visit again.



Sparrows fly in and out chirping noisily. I was happy to see them, they are fast vanishing in cities ...I've heard many say that cell phone signals affect them and many die because of the exposure.


During my first visit I vaguely remember having lunch under the tree which is still standing there. Water level was way down and I had walked right down and washed my hands and feet. I had found a small stone Shiva Linga and shown it mom and grannies as if it was a great discovery. My granny's eldest sister whom we used to call Nallur Ajji told us to put it back where ever I found it. We were not supposed to take them.


Girls from local villages sell curds set in little black mad pots. I had three of them ...that was my breakfast.


I decided to move on, my next destination was Bijapur ...but I stopped on of the many tourists attractions ...a historical scene was recreated ...horses, king, courtiers, maids, etc. As I got out of the car and walked towards the place I felt I just did something stupid. I felt my pockets- no car key. I was locked out! Even the spare key was in the wallet which was safely tucked in one of the two bags. Great!! I walked to one of the shops, told about my problem and asked them to lend me all vehicle keys they had ...nothing worked and a small group had gathered . Somebody suggested that one of the drivers here had more keys and lo he appears as his name is taken. Our man seemed magical, he unlocked the front right door. I thanked the whole group and made sure I always locked using the key.

Soon I was at Kudala Sangama cross on NH13. Memories of Gulli and I having local food in a small hut came back. I was retracing the same stretch of the Highway we had ridden my Splendor back in Feb 1996 but the road was much better back then.

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Detail: Kudala Sangama