the light baggage

Jalsangvi: When carvings spoke and wrote Overview: Northern Karnataka offers plenty to heritage lovers. I discovered this place while I was exploring the northernmost district of Karnataka. Around 50 kms from Bidar city is the small town of Jalsangvi, a popular town during the days of Kalyani Chalukyas in the 10th century. The main attraction of the place is the Kalmeshwara temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, right at the centre of the village. The temple is built in Dravidian style, typical of Kalyani Chalukyas. The shikhara of the temple is missing, probably couldn't stand the test of times. But the eye catching feature of the temple is the carvings of the Shilabalikes, and the images of Vishnu and Shiva. One striking image, hard to be missed, is the carving of a lady, inscribing words in a stone tablet, in old Kannada, with praise for the Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI. This inscription dates back to 1110 AD. This kind of an image is a unique feature seen in very few monument...

This Post is a part of the Chalukya Trail. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: After visiting Gadag we proceeded towards Lakkundi, around 8kms from Gadag. On reaching Lakkundi, we saw a big Heritage center built inside an old temple. We discovered that there are several temples built by the Chalukyas in ruins inside Lakkundi. We went to Brahma Jinalaya (Basadi), Kashivishvanatha Temple, Nanneshwara Temple and Manikesvara Temple. Beahma Jinalaya was built in 1007 AD by Attiyabbe, wife of Chief Nagadeva. Built in South Indian Dravida architecture, an unusual feature of this temple is the second functional smaller sanctum over the ground floor sanctum. The next was Kashivishwanatha temple where a small surya shrine faces the main shrine on the west. The temple is built in Nagara style of architecture with intricate carvings. Nanneshwara Temple is another example of Chalukya craftsmanship. It is much similar to the Kashivishveshwara temple. Manikeshwara temple is one of ...

Overview: The legend is that when Baba Guru Nanak visited Bidar around 500 years ago, he was moved by the plight of the people of Bidar who didn't have proper drinking water and the rains were also scarce in this region. So he uttered the words 'Sat Kartar' and removed a stone and to the surprise of everyone, water came gushing out of earth and till this date the spring has been providing clean drinking water to the people in Bidar. This holy place is called Nanak Jhira. Food is provided as 'Langar' for lunch and dinner inside the Gurudwara for all pilgrims.      For accessibility and route details please see the main post – Bidar: An interesting place at the northern tip of Karnataka

Overview: Living in Bangalore and belonging to Southern Karnataka, its very difficult for me to explore the far away districts of Karnataka. Luckily because of a friend’s wedding I got a chance to explore Bidar. Though there are very limited places to see in & around Bidar, the places are very interesting and worth seeing. I explored the following 3 places in Bidar during my trip. Click on each of the place to view description: 1) Bidar Fort 2) Jharni Narasimhaswamy temple 3) Gurudwara Nanak Jhira How to reach: Bus/Train: KSRTC Volvo buses ply from Bangalore to Bidar everyday. Bidar can also be reached by train by 16594 Bangalore-Nanded Link express which leaves Bangalore City at 11pm everyday and reaches Bidar at 3:10pm the following day. The return train leaves Bidar at 12:30pm everyday and reaches Bangalore City at 6:10am the following day. By Bike/Car: The best route by own vehicle can by by taking NH 7 to Hyderabad, before entering Hyderabad, turn towards Zaheerabad to re...

This Post is a part of the Chalukya Trail. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: We started our Day 2 of our Chalukya trail early in the morning towards Degaon in Belgaum district. To reach here, turn left near Kittur cross, and the village roads lead to Degaon which is around 8 kms from the NH4. Degaon, or Devgaon is known for the Lakshmi Narayana temple built by the Kadambas which was taken over by the Chalukyas later. The temple is divided into 3 cells, the first one dedicated to Narayana, the second one dedicated to Lakshmi-Narayana, and the third one dedicated to Kamala. The doorways are very well carved and its really pleasure to watch the intricate carvings which goes into it. The ceiling is carved with lotus which is adorable.               Nearby places: Kittur: 8 kms from Degaon is Kittur, the capital of the legendary Rani Chennamma. It is known for the fort belonging to the times of Rani Chennamma ...

  This Post is a part of the Chalukya Trail. Please Click here to read the main post Overview: After visiting Bankapura, our next place was Kundgol which is in Dharwad district. We reached Kundgol in the evening by around 4:30pm. Kundgol is popular for the Shambhulinga temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple was fortunately open and we had a view of the lord as well. The temple was built in the 11th century by the Chalukyas. This temple has been recently renovated and some colouring has been done and iron bars have been put along the temple area.      From Kundgol, we proceeded towards the final place for the day, the Chandramouleshwara temple in Unkal, Hubli. There is no proper approach road to this temple, so we parked our car at the entrance of the street and went to the temple. The temple is built on a high platform and is probably built out of sandstone, is lined with intricate carvings on the walls and pillars. The temple was built overlooking the U...