Talakad: A dynasty lost beneath layers of sand

Talakad, a small village in Mysore District, was the capital of the Gangas in the middle of 2nd century. They built many temples around Talakad and this place was later taken over by Cholas of Tamil Nadu. In the later part of 14th century, the Hoysalas defeated the Cholas to rule over Talakad which was then passed on to the Vijayanagara kings.
During the rule of the Vijayanagara kingdom, the king at Srirangapatnam got struck with a deadly disease and went to Talakad to get this disease cured by offering prayers to the Lord, but later when his wife Rangamma, who was taking care of the kingdom, learnt that the king might not live too long, left the throne in the hands of the Wodeyars of Mysore till she was supposed to return back. The Wodeyars, having an eye on the nose-jewel of the Rani, attacked Talakad. Rangamma, furious with this, threw the jewel into the Cauvery and cursed the place of Talakad to be submerged under sand and the Maharajas of Mysore fail to beget heirs. The town of Talakad is still under sand and one has to walk on dry sand through the forests to visit the temples which have been excavated by the ASI. We took a coracle ride at Cauvery and the boatman explained us the story. Later we visited all the temples of Talakad.

Directions: Drive along Kanakapura road. From Kanakapura, proceed towards Malavalli. From there, drive south to Talakad.
Nearby places: Somnathpura, Shivanasamudra falls
Map:

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The forgotten story of a migration: Nacharamma of South India

This is a story of Nacharamma (fictionised by me to some extent), which is not documented in any inscriptions or ancient texts, but has been told by the ancestors of the community, and also been researched by some historians like M Keshavaiah, Dr Pranarthiharan and a few others.

Overview: Around the early 17th century, the Pilgrims set to sail across the Atlantic to become the first settlers of America. Much before this, a small but no less interesting migration took place in the Southern India of a community called the 'Sankethis'.
It was the summer of 1420 CE, in a place called Sengottai, in Tamil Nadu, along the foothills of the Western Ghats bordering Kerala. The place was flourishing with knowledge of the Vedas where Agraharams were set up. One of the prominent communities of learned people was the Sankethi Iyer community, also known as Sangeethi, derived from the name of the place- Sengottai or Shankotta. Another theory says that they were The group followed Adi Shankara…

Clock Towers of Bangalore

Overview: In the middle of the 18th century, when home clocks and watches were not so common, there was the practice of having huge clocks on top of iconic buildings or religious places having visibility from all the corners. Clock towers were in fashion all across the globe in the 18th to 20th centuries, and some of them had bells as well, which used to ring at every hour. Bangalore too, has had its share of clock towers, though the city has never been known for its clock towers. The iconic Clock tower once stood at the Russell Market in Shivajinagar, which no longer stands today as it was brought down sometime during the middle of the 20th century.
A few standing clock towers can be seen at the City Market, Baldwin Boys school, Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic, Central College, Police training grounds, St John's Church, Corporation office and the newly constructed towers at South End circle and Omkar Hills. Most of these clocks have been provided by HMT.

Know your neighbourhood-3: Madivala, Agara, Koramangala, Bellandur

Overview: Now famous for high rises, branded showrooms and startups, the villages of Madivala, Agara, Koramangala and Domlur are the villages which have seen an ancient past.

Madivala village was a flourishing agrahara under the Cholas and Hoysalas. There is an ancient Chola era temple, which was later expanded by the Hoysalas behind the road opposite to the Silk Board. This Someshwara temple is of high historical importance, with Tamil inscriptions all along the outer walls of the temple. The most important being the 1247 CE inscription which talks about the grants of some lands near the big tank of Vengalur (2nd inscription of the city name after the one in Begur). This inscription is by an official Pemmataiyar of Veppur (Begur) for the deity Sembeshwaram (Someshwara) at Tamaraikkirai (Tavarekere).

Agara is situated at the junction of the ORR and Sarjapura Road, and is in existance since the Gangas. A 870 CE Ganga inscription mentions about the fixing of sluices to 2 tanks (Agara Lake…

the light baggage

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