Hills and Plains of Chamarajanagar District

Hills and Plains of Chamarajanagar District - 2

Overview: We then continued our last leg of our trip to the plains of Chamarajanagar. We stopped at Yelandur for our breakfast, after which we visited the Gaurishwara temple, built during the Vijayanagara period in the 16th century. One unique feature of this temple is the Bale Mantapa, which is carved out of a stone in the shape of a bangle. The structure also has several carvings and also has a big stone tablet with inscriptions.

From Yelandur, the next place we visited was Hole Alur, which has a very ancient temple built by the Gangas in the 9th century dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is ticked in the middle of an agricultural field with coconut and arekanut trees surrounding it. The temple is not huge but it is a pretty structure.

We then moved to Chamarajanagar, the district headquarters, to see the Chamarajeshwara temple. This temple was built in 1826 dedicated to Lord Shiva, and the temple is named after Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar.

From Chamarajanagar, we went to Narasamangala, known for the Rameshwara temple, which was originally built by the Gangas in the 9th century, but later was further developed by the Hoysala chief Veera Ballala III. Most of the outer structure has now been destroyed, with only a few big Shivalingas blessing the village.

The next place on our itinerary was the Varadaraja temple at Terakanambi, which is a 16th century temple dedicated to Lord Varadarajaswamy. Finally, our last place of interest was the Jain basadi at Kelasur, which was one of the main Jain pilgrim centres in the early 13th century. However, most of the old structure has been renovated now.
From Kelasur, we proceeded towards Bangalore via Gundlupet and T Narsipur.

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamarajanagar_district
How to reach: From Bangalore, Chamarajanagar can be reached via Mysore or T.Narsipura. The village roads connect Chamarajanagar with Terakanambi, Gundlupet, Narsamangala and Yelandur.
Food/Accommodation: Accomodation and food options are available only in major towns like Kollegal, Chamarajanagar and Gundlupet.

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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