24.10.2017
We started our three day Hampi monuments tour from Kadalekalu Ganesha. A very apt start. After all we start every auspicious work by worshiping Ganesha first. Kadalekalu Ganesha is located on the eastern slopes of Hemakuta hills
Dated to fifteenth century Kadalekalu Ganesha is a giant statue of Ganesha carved out of a single rock. The statue is about 4,5 meters high and really magnificent. Bengal gram is called Kadalekalu in local language and the idol got it's name due to the shape of it's belly resembling it. His favourite modak in one hand and another in var[blessing] mudra posture Ganesha sat there peacefully in his signature style almost filling the entire sanctum.I was specially fascinated by the var mudra palm. With the lines in palm etched clearly it almost looked live .
The pillared mandpam in front of sanctum is aesthetically very beautiful. The exceptionally slender pillars with carving of mythical figures provide a kind of delicacy to this stone structure. Standing on a raised platform this mandpam is an ideal place to enjoy a distant view of Hampi Bazar, Matanga hills and other monuments dotting the nearby area.
Behind Kadalekalu Ganesha on a slightly higher rock stands a Shiva temple. May be at certain period the temple was surrounded by boundary wall but now only a gate stands there. The gate leads to a simple verandah in which a small Nandi sits facing Shivlinga. Shivlinga is there but no pooja Archna is being conducted in the temple. The feature which make this otherwise simple temple unique are two big rectangular inscribed slabs on the side walls of the verandah. If interpreted these inscriptions might tell us some historical facts. May be something about this temple. one of the slab clearly in Devnagri lipi. the language might be Sanskrit perhaps.
Outside the sun was bright and hot but the quiet verandah of the temple was cool. The silk like tender green, white blades of grass standing on the broken top of the gate simmered and vibrated in the golden day light...perhaps the only form of life which never abandoned the glorious stones of Vijayanagar empire, however dark the times would have been.
All the pics by Sunder Iyer
We started our three day Hampi monuments tour from Kadalekalu Ganesha. A very apt start. After all we start every auspicious work by worshiping Ganesha first. Kadalekalu Ganesha is located on the eastern slopes of Hemakuta hills
Dated to fifteenth century Kadalekalu Ganesha is a giant statue of Ganesha carved out of a single rock. The statue is about 4,5 meters high and really magnificent. Bengal gram is called Kadalekalu in local language and the idol got it's name due to the shape of it's belly resembling it. His favourite modak in one hand and another in var[blessing] mudra posture Ganesha sat there peacefully in his signature style almost filling the entire sanctum.I was specially fascinated by the var mudra palm. With the lines in palm etched clearly it almost looked live .
The pillared mandpam in front of sanctum is aesthetically very beautiful. The exceptionally slender pillars with carving of mythical figures provide a kind of delicacy to this stone structure. Standing on a raised platform this mandpam is an ideal place to enjoy a distant view of Hampi Bazar, Matanga hills and other monuments dotting the nearby area.
Behind Kadalekalu Ganesha on a slightly higher rock stands a Shiva temple. May be at certain period the temple was surrounded by boundary wall but now only a gate stands there. The gate leads to a simple verandah in which a small Nandi sits facing Shivlinga. Shivlinga is there but no pooja Archna is being conducted in the temple. The feature which make this otherwise simple temple unique are two big rectangular inscribed slabs on the side walls of the verandah. If interpreted these inscriptions might tell us some historical facts. May be something about this temple. one of the slab clearly in Devnagri lipi. the language might be Sanskrit perhaps.
Outside the sun was bright and hot but the quiet verandah of the temple was cool. The silk like tender green, white blades of grass standing on the broken top of the gate simmered and vibrated in the golden day light...perhaps the only form of life which never abandoned the glorious stones of Vijayanagar empire, however dark the times would have been.
All the pics by Sunder Iyer
