Kolar: Shadow of the ancient Kuvalapura

-

Kolar: Shadow of the ancient Kuvalapura

Overview: Kolar district is a well known travel destination with many ancient temples like Avani, Mulbagal, Kaivara. But Kolar City alone also has many specialities to offer. Like the ones we experienced recently. We decided to visit the two popular temples in Kolar- Someshwara temple and Kolaramma temple. Kolar or ancient Kuvalapura was ruled by the Gangas in the 3rd century followed by the Cholas and later by Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara rulers.
The Someshwara temple was built in the 14th century by the Vijayanagar rulers in a typical Dravidian style. This temple also closely resembles the Someshwara temple in Ulsoor, Bangalore. The entrance has a high stone Mahadwara half of which is recently painted in yellow. On the walls we can see the carvings of elephants, dwarfs and lions. The sanctum wall at cardinal directions have Devakoshtas flanked by two slender pillar turrets. The Kalyana mantapa in the south-west is an exquisitely beautiful structure known for craftsmanship on granite. The small shrine towards north-west is dedicated to the consort of the main deity Shiva.
Someshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, Kolar Someshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, Kolar Someshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, Kolar Someshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, Kolar Someshwara temple, Kolar Someshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, KolarSomeshwara temple, Kolar
Near to the Someshwara temple is the Kolaramma temple which is the village godess as well. This temple indicates two shrines built in Dravidian style of architecture. The main doorway is well carved having an imposing appearence. The lower course of the wall to the left of the mukhamantapa has Rajendra Chola's inscriptions in old Tamil. A Bhutagana and lion are depicted below and above the cornice respectively. Inside the temple are the idols of Sapthamatrikas and of Kolaramma, in the form of Mahishasuramardhini with eight hands and a demon under the feet. There is also a stone image of the six feet high Kalabhairava which is known as Mukanacharamma because of the broken nose.
Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar Kolaramma temple, Kolar
How to reach: Bus: KSRTC buses and also several private buses ply regularly from Bangalore to Kolar.
By Bike/Car: Take the NH4 to reach Kolar via Hosakote.
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolar
Food/Accommodation: Kamat Upachar is a good option for food on NH4 near Narsapura.
Map:

View Larger Map

Comments

  1. R Niranjan Das27 May 2013 at 11:52

    Nice temples. The kotilingeshwara temple is also very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sudhir15 August 2017 at 10:08

    TAMIL INSCRIPTIONS IN TEMPLES BUILT BY GANGAS AND HOYSALAS
    The Cholas ruled south Karnataka from 1004 to 1117 AD. Their primary contribution was in setting up an efficient administrative mechanism to collect taxes. The administrative officers also doubled as Stanikas (caretakers) of existing Temples. The Hoysalas in the 12th and 13th centuries retained the Tamil Stanikas as administrators. The Stanikas left Tamil inscriptions of contributions made to Temples that were built during Ganga and Hoysala times.
    Source: the importance of Stanikas - Bombay University

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sudhir15 August 2017 at 10:10

    Example the Someshwara Temples built by Hoysalas

    ReplyDelete

Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

North Indian Sojourn-1 (Agra & Delhi)

-
Image
  Overview: Killing time for 4 days on a long weekend was definitely not going well with me. So suddenly decided to make some quick travel plans. Being brought up in Chandigarh for over 20 years, I wanted to refresh my childhood memories with my wife and moreover she had not been to North India. With all resorts booked around Bangalore and no bus reservations available, we decided to take a plunge on the long distance route. My wife, being a tatkal reservation expert :), booked tickets from Bangalore to Delhi for 25th Dec, and the return trip by flight from Delhi to Bangalore for 4th Jan. My job was to fill the itinerary between these days. I wanted to cover as many places as possible, chalked out a plan for that. Below are the details of the trip: Day 0-2: We had to catch the 12649 Sampark Kranti express from Yesvantpur at 22:10 hrs on 25th Dec. Luckily we got the tatkal reservation done, thanks to my wife for that. The train took around 36 hours to reach H.Nizamuddin station pass
Read more

Know your neighbourhood - 20: Places around HAL Road

-
Image
Overview: Domlur, a flourishing village during the Cholas, is now in the hub of modern Bangalore. With MG Road, Indiranagar, HAL airport road in the vicinity, this is one of the most popular areas of Bangalore. Chokkanatheshwara temple in Domlur is one of the oldest temples in Bangalore, built in the 10th century. According to the inscriptions found in this temple, Domlur is referred to as ‘Tombalur’ talking about grants offered to the temple. Some records mention the name of the place as 'Desi Mannika Pattnam'. The temple was initially built by the Cholas and later renovated by the Hoysalas and Vijayanagara rulers. One inscription from 1440 CE mentions about the tolls from Sondekoppa village being granted to this temple. Two more earlier inscriptions indicate grants from Karadihalli and Sunkenahalli (Hanumanthanagar). There is one Anjaneyaswamy temple a few metres from the Chokkanathaswamy temple, dating back to the Vijayanagara times. It is believed that the head of Anjaneya
Read more

Chikkajala & Srinivasa Sagara: Forgotten places amidst developing infrastructure

-
Image
  Overview: I read about a place called Srinivasa Sagara which is a lake near Chikkaballapur and comes lively in monsoon as the water falls from the reservoir when it overflows. I couldn't get much details on this place on the web, so I decided to club it with Chikkajala fort and Akkayyamma hill. 1) Chikkajala Fort: Though nothing is clearly known about this fort, this fort is believed to have been since Hoysalas and then used by Tipu Sultan. But now its in a total mess and nothing much remains out of it. We saw that fort which lies on NH7, then we went inside Chikkajala to the hill of Akkayyamma. It looked beautiful with cloudy weather and was pleasant and there were not many steps leading to the top. We went into the temple, had darshan of the Goddess and rested next to it. There are a lot of pillars on the hill which are believed to be built more than 1000 years ago. Kodigehalli, which is not very far from here, has been a center of exploration by the archaeologists and they
Read more