0 Adargunchi Doddappa and Budarsinghi Hanumappa temples

Adargunchi Doddappa temple was known but unseen. I had heard the temple had a big statue of Mahaveera. Somehow we missed it during the visit to Shambulingesvara temple at Kundgol. I was thinking of driving up one of the weekends just for this. Then a wedding invitation put the plan in action; we were to attend a friend's wedding at Karadgi, another historical place.

December 9, 2012

We left home after breakfast. With Ashok at the wheel, we reached Adargunchi quickly, his driving was faster than any of the other cab drivers. Adargunchi is a small village located on the state highway connecting NH4 to Kundgol. As long as you ask for Doddappana Gudi anyoen can guide you, its right next to the bus-stand. At the temple a middle age man tagged on guiding us in and showing us around. That's Doddappana Devastana and our guide (see inset). I'd promised him to put his picture on the net :-) A pair or feet at the temple entrance.

That's Doddappa, a slightly larger than life statue. It is a Jain sculpture. Some places people are obsessed with painting temples and in some places its bathroom tiles. I wonder why? Anyway, coming back to the statue, its a tradition in this village for newly wed girls to sit on Doddappa's lap once before setting off to husband's home.

Doddappa temple is south facing and within the Garbhagudi is a east facing Shivalinga mounted on a large pedestal. Basavanna sits just outside the Garbhagudi (see inset).

A short video of the temple-

Its our habit to inquire for other historical monuments within the village or nearby. One of the folks suggest us Hanuman temple at Budarsinghi, on the other side of NH4. Budarsinghi is a smaller village and also peaceful. That's the temple main gate. It does look ancient but renovated.

This is the open space between the main gate and the core. The structure on the left seems to be built in 1960s. A small pillar mounted Basavanna next to the inner gate catches our attention.

The pillar is not an ordinary one, it has Kannada inscription on it. See inset for a closer view. We are trying to guess when this temple was built.. the top portion of the temple front is similar to the temple at Gangambike Memorial.

It's well maintained. thanks to the people who have taken the interest.

The interior surprised us, especially the presence of large columns. The top portion of the columns are artistically decorated. The sight of these columns reminds me of a royal palace. In fact the structure consist of more columns partly hidden in the walls.

Notice the elaborately Garbhagudi face and door-frame. Oil-paint is concealing the detailed sculpturing.

Jai Hanuman!

Entwined serpents on either sides of the Garbhagudi.

The white-black structure is the original temple- Garbhagudi and Shikhara. The front portion is an extension.

On the outer walls are several interesting images. Hanuman and Garuda. exchanging some object. The tree in the background has life within it- a parrot, a monkey and at least one more bird.

No clue who these characters are.

Lord Hanuman in a Mantapa with a tall Shikhara. No idea who this asana performing character is. The fish seems to be smiling.

Video of Budarsinghi Hanuman temple.

For those interested in visiting these places, this map might com handy.

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Detail: Adargunchi Doddappa and Budarsinghi Hanumappa temples

0 Anjanadri Betta

June 23, 2012

Anjanadri Parvatha is said to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman. The hill is about 3km West of Anegundi village.

A closer look at Anjanadri Betta. The hill is surrounded by plantain and paddy fields. At the top is a small temple and many monkeys.

One has to climb about 500 steps the summit. The climb is safe and quite easy because of the stairway right to the top. Close to the top one has to really bend down to pass below a rock overhang. The hill top is refreshing with cool breeze ans offers beautiful views of its surroundings; Rashyamukha hill, Tungabhadra river and Hampi. This is Rashyamukha Betta; on the boulder strewn surface a fort wall can be seen close to the hill top.

That's river Tungabhadra flowing through the valleys of rocky hills. On the left is Koppal district and on the right is Bellary district.

Plenty of monkeys live on this hill, in fact they hang around the temple. Tourists and temple visitors feed these monkeys with channa and other eatables. This well built monkey seems to be the leader of the group, other monkeys kept distance from him. He was sitting like this for quite some time, the position seemed  to be relaxing. He was facing the temple entrance. In the background is Rashyamukha hill.

Anjandri is popular among Western tourists for sunsets views. During my two visits, I was a bit too late for sunset on the first visit. During the second visit, it was cloudy and it had rained some time back. Clouds obscured the sunset :(

Ravi and Malatesh relax at the end of a hectic day.

This temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman and his mother Anjanadevi sits at a edge, right next to a 60 foot fall. The temple is managed by a Baba and few disciples who live here. The Baba is friendly. During my first visit, I saw a person having tea and sudden;y I too wanted tea. I asked the Baba is I can get a cup of tea. Yes, please sit down. A boy spread a mat for us and brought cups of tea. It was one of the best tea I had.

During both visits, Anjnadri Betta was our final destination of the days. Oh, both were Saturdays, Lord Hanuman's day.

Anjnadri Hill Coordinates: 15°21'20"N   76°28'4"E

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Detail: Anjanadri Betta

0 Munvalli Fort

I've passed by Munvalli fort several times but never really bothered to venture inside. Here I am.

March 6, 2010.

We arrive at Munvalli from Subapur, via Tallur. On the way Shrikanth tells us his Indica had a flat. We stopped for a moment to take a snap. Believe me... it's Malaprabha river in the foreground not a gutter.


Shrikanth drops us off near the fort gate and goes of to get the tube fixed. The fort is surrounded by jaaligida a shrub with terribly pointed thorns. To an extent jaaligida has kept vandals away from the fort walls. We walk through the gateway, the twin doors are battered.


I was surprised to see a farmer cultivating a plot. We guessed all the land, which is not really much, within the fort is owned by one family. I'm not too sure, it must be Qilledhar family.


As we walk the small path, we met a youth, Manju, two minutes of talking casually bout the fort, he volunteered to be our guide. He showed us Udchammanagudi. Udchamma is a goddess, an avatar of Parvati (my guess) is quite popular in North Karnataka, especially Dharwad and Belgaum districts.


On the way to Hanuman temple, we stopped by to appreciate these bastions. In the background you can see another plot, a farmer was irrigating the cultivated land. It seems vegetables are grown here.


Left to right: Chetan, Neel, Manju and passers by we asked to join the group ...Manju knew them.

There's the temple. It's simply fabulous! It's a small temple but decorated with exquisite carvings. The architecture is similar to temples of Maharashtra.


Place was little tight and light was not favorable ...I still need to learn to shoot facing Sun.


Jai Hanuman!

The arch reminds me of Indo-Saracenic architecture. Art works on this temple are pretty to similar to works in Ibrahim Rouza, Bijapur.


I'm at loss of words to even describe this piece of work. I just cannot even imagine how those pillars and platform were created. Isn't mind-blowing?


I could get 5 of 6 panels, missed the top most. Each one of them is a unique theme. Bottom to top: Trace the band with your finger, you end up where you started. A lotus. A vase on a stand. 3 fishes with their heads together. I cannot make out the last one.


The platform support is elegant adorned with so many details; a chain runs around the neck of the support, floral carvings, two fish and a spiral. How did the artists imagine the combination? I wish i could travel back in time and see those artists at work.


I do not remember seeing anything this before. Three fish form a star. Chetan and I discussed a bit about it but failed to understand what the central triangular piece is. The symbol, to my eyes, depicts something powerful. If someone could explain...


Another no-start no-end maze. This one is much more complex.


A pendant hanging by a chain. take a closer look at this packed image, you'll find a crow, a parrot, two circular no-start no-end maze and two special creatures with dog's body and a pig's head. Amazing!!


These two pendants are pretty similar to 'pendants hanging by chain' at Inbrahim Rauza.


Another no-start no-end maze.


An array of floral and geometrical objects.


This little temple is at the top in my list of favorite temples.

I asked Manju if we could climb one of the bastions and get a good view of the entire fort. He was not sure but went exploring but no luck... either the shrubs blocked the way or the walls were too delicate to climb on. We gave up.


Manju told we could check from outside, I was skeptical but let Manju lead. The entire fort is surrounded by jaali-kanti. No way.


Our walk to the fort rear side did one good. We got to see four temples, two facing rows with two temples in each row. One temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is maintained since the daily pooja goes on. The one we are looking at was the most beautiful one but neglected. The inside was filled with filth.


I guess it was 12 by then, all of us famished. We decided to end out tour and head to a restaurant.

The Google Map screenshot shows Munvalli Fort and Malaprabha snaking around.


A - Fort gateway
B - Hanuman Temple
C - Malaprabha river
D - Saundatti - Munvalli - Yeragatti road
E - Ancient temples

I invited Manju to join us for brunch. We had Pulav and Mangaluru Bajji. With the break we felt much better. Further we could catch up with some more rest during the ride to Toragal Fort- destination next.

If you are ever visiting or passing by Munvalli during day do stop at the fort and visit the Hanuman temple.

Munvalli Fort Coordinates: 15°51'17"N 75°7'24"E

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Detail: Munvalli Fort

0 Davangere and Shamnur

The trip was planned the day I met Uncle at my cousin's wedding at Bangalore. I left home at 5:05 and caught the bus to Hubli station at Dasankoppa Circle. At the station I could see few people wearing masks to protect themselves from Swine Flu. The train left on time and also arrived at Davangere on time. Went straight to Dr.Nagaraj uncle's place and freshened up. My cousin Lekha & kids came. And then after a short while uncle and his colleague Dr.Nagappa came. We went to Rasmi Residential School for girls where Dr.Nagappa hoisted the National Flag and gave a short speech on importance of discipline ...a short but a very meaningful speech it was. Then was program for kids to show their talents; speech in Kannada, Hindi & English, group songs, dances, mono-acting ...it went for almost an hour. The girls performed pretty good.





We headed back to uncle's house, stopped for a benne dose on the way. At the house, we bid bye to Dr.Nagappa and then left to an aunt's place where we had lunch and slept off. Evening over tea uncle and my 3 aunts told me about the good old days when they were kids. It was time for me to go to Shamnur, my grandfather's place. Outside, it was time for these kids to play after a nice after-lunch sleep. The little fellow in blue tee is my nephew and the rest are his friends.



I went to Shamnur village, now it's a part of Davangere city. I had to wait for few minutes for my cousin to come ...meanwhile I met Siddesh who showed me the 'Buddha' temple. I told him it was Mahaveera. The statue is definitely ancient and people have maintained it well ...except for the glazed tiles :( This little temple is right next to my uncle Basavaraj's house.







Shivu, my cousin, and I went to Hanuman temple. On the way I found this stone inscription. I've seen such stones in many other places too ...like the ones at Thenginkalbetta and near Savandurga.





My next point on my agenda was to see Neelamma Bindapla alias Neelajji. She's my grandfather Dr. B Siddappa's eldest brother's wife. She's the only surviving member of that generation and she's supposed to be 105 years old. There are no records to prove her age but she definitely looks 100+. She can see, hear and speak well but her memory is not so good. It seems she was very strong woman in her younger days.



That evening I had dinner at one more aunt's place and retired pretty early since we had planned to go for a morning walk at Kunduwada lake. As a kid I never liked Davangere because of it's dry weather and lack of greenery. However the place has changed and it's much more greener. Uncle and I walked around the lake ...the place is pretty interesting we could spot few water birds which migrate to this place during this season.








This stone caught my attention. Uncle explained that it's called 'tugu'. The stone supports the ball-valve mechanism to control the out-flow of water. Water from this lake is used for irrigating agricultural lands and also drinking water for a part of Davangere. Uncle said that some of the dried up wells have revived because of this lake.





That's Kere Choudeswari temple and the young man in the picture is the archaka. It seems his grandfather installed the image and worshiped it many years ago and local people helped build the temple we see now.





The hill seen in the picture below is Bathi hill, that's where our home deity is.



The walk built up a good appetite and we headed to another aunt's place where we had churmari ...a satisfying breakfast. And it was time for me to pack up and catch my train back to Dharwad. On the way to the station uncle told me the story of why donkeys make sound the way they do. It was a very funny one. I'll share that story some other time.

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Detail: Davangere and Shamnur