Sunday, April 24, 2016

A night Trek to Makalidurga

@the top of Makalidurga
A little Intro ..
On a Tiring thursday Umakanth was messaging me asking if was free on weekend and interested to join trekking to Makalidurga.I immediately said, "Yes, I'm in". When i was wondering about this never heard place Uma replied with the BASC registration link to register for the trekking event and said i should register there as it is an event being conducted by a trekking organization known as Bangalore Ascenders. I did not knew about the organization either and went through the registration details. There I was surprised to see options like whether i can volunteer in photography, penning down the trip experience, taking care of account etc and as you might guessed already, i have registered choosing my favorite hobbies :-) After 1 hour, i thought why i should go alone and not take my other colleagues. So, forwarded the same registration link to my colleagues. But they responded saying that registration is closed ! Was not sure whether i am selected or not..Fingers crossed for next set of events.

Where is Makalidurga and how to reach there ? 
View of Makalidurga hill from the bottom

Makalidurga is a hill with a Fort built by Local Ruler at a height of 1,117 Mts. It is 60 KM from Bengaluru and 10 KM from Doddaballapura. There are direct trains from Bengaluru to Hindupur which pass by this station and KSRTC buses going from Bengaluru to Hindupur stop at this station for dinner or some other break.

Coming back to the story...:
Next news was on 5:14 PM of Friday when i got a confirmation mail from Shamanth from Ascenders that i was selected for the trek. Mine was the 18th entry out of 19 people to be selected !
When i was looking at the things to be carried for trekking, realized that i don't have torch, sleeping bags. Although i had been to several trekking before, did not need them as they were day trekking and had to used the rented ones when we had to stay on top of KP overnight. Saturday morning went in shopping them and was looking forward for train journey till Makalidurga station that eve.

Train to Catch
We had to catch Train from Majestic(SBC) to fr Makalidurga(MKL). It was Bangalore- Hindupur passenger(56523) scheduled to depart at 5:45 PM.
We(Me, Umakanth, Vinod met Shamanth and other Trekkers Tushar, Sharath, Sridhar, Ahmad, Arvind,Swheta, Prabhav, Agni over the station and train left in the scheduled time just to realize that Amrutha and Nisha could also manage to catch the train and would be joining our coach in some time :-)
Infront of the hotel @Makalidurga


Reaching Makalidurga:
We reached Makalidurga on expected time of 7:30 and could see a small railway station welcoming us.After introuding ourselves to each other we started towards the hotel(Udupi Garden/Food court) which is at the back of Railway stations(towards exit). We could find good Idly, fried rice and buttermilk for that night and continued our journey further on the road towards Hindupur after light dinner. After crossing a bridge and walking for about 600m, we could see a muddy road taking left and there was a small rocky sign board showing way to Makalidurga. We had almost missed that sign board. But could go in that road , thanks to the guys who came there before and leading us towards the hill :-)
Pathways like this are there throught in Makalidurga helping the trekker


Trekking at Makalidurga:
We started around 8:30 and reached the peak around 11. The path is well marked and moderately difficult to trek. But as we had the co-trekkers who came there before and had the torches and ample amount of water, could manage to reach the top as per the plan with few water and photography
breaks :-) Cheries brought by Amruta, Bendu battas by me were one of the
few things to sweeten the trekking memories ;-)
Silhoutettes created by Moon @ Makalidurga Night trek

@One of the water breaks :-)

Trekking Makalidurga was a nice experience enjoying the beauty of River taking a turn around the hills and the view of lights from the nearby villages. It is even nicer to enjoy the beauty of reflection in the water and the silhoutes created by the moon in the surrounding hills and trees on the way to the top.The temple of Sri Makali Malleshwara which would be open throught was welcoming us at the top. Walls of the forts and remains of arches, doors remained me of some old forts like Chitradurga although this is not so good in shape.We continued to a plain next to the temple which would have been a watch tower
earlier.

one of the photo breaks :-)

Pathways helping to ascend

It was fun filled cooking without fire experience in Makalidurga. Some giving KTs, shortcuts of how to cut Carrots, Tomatoes easily and others to follow it :-) Amrutha, Nisha and Vinod emerged champion choppers by cutting Onions, Mangoes, Cucumbers as well in less time. Shamanth, Shweta were helping in preparing bhel puri(puffed rice) with above ingredients while Me, Prabhav, Anirudh were helping here and there and capturing the moments with photos. Capturing the moments was a tough job though as i had to use high ISO(12800) with flash and still pics were not coming well as you could see  next :-)
Some cooking pics :-)


 Tushar's Haldiram and sugestions by Ahmed,Agni,Umakanth,Sharath, Sridhar made the Bhel puri more delicious. Discovery of the day was Curd Bhel puri.
bhel puri preparation on the way
When it was almost 11:45 PM, we thought of sleeping for a while with the sleeping bag and could find a moderately flat surface in the plain near the temple. As the previous day was Poornima(full moon day), the bright moon on top of us was somehow not allowing us to sleep somehow and tempting to walk here and there enjoying the Aero-planes passing us and lights of surrounding cities. It was 12:00 and we could remember Dr.Rajkumar veteran Kannada actor, who was having birthday on the same day(24th April).


Initially i thought it was not a great idea to carry sleeping bag of around 1 KG on a summer day as it was not so cold at the top. But yeah, it provided some comfort from the tiny stones there and some relief when the
temperatures decreased a bit in the late night.

When i was trying to catch some sleep, another group of trekkers arrived and they were shouting like anything. They set up camp fire near the temple, ran here and there and creating noise for almost 20 minutes. The people who could catch some sleep as well woke up by this nuisance.Their sounds decreased when they went to some other place. But one more group arrived ! They were trying to sit on top of temple and set up one more camp fire ! Time was almost 2 PM that time and thought of lying there as it is for next 2 hours at least to give some rest to our eyes even though we were not getting sleep. Noises used to echo here and there and some battery lights disturbing as well till 4:15 AM.

Sleeping guys were woke up by then as our plan was to start descending at 4:30 AM. We started packing the things off and ensured that none of the plastic,paper wastes are left there. Although during previous night cooking, we made sure not to through any plastic or paper, just made sure that the place was clean as it was a day before we packed our sleeping bags. Had a group photo there and one more near the temple. Had a chance of visiting the temple this time.
Infront of Makali Malleshwara temple

Makali Malleshwara temple:
In Kannada "Male" means hill. Malleshwara meaning , Ishwara, the god of the hills.So, as the name suggests,It is a Shiva temple with Linga at the center and Nandi in the chamber next to  to  Garbhagraha.next is a Kind of placeholder for Navaranga where the worships like dance used to be carried out during the rule of kings and where common people sit and prey the god now. It has Nandishwara, Bringeshwara welcoming guarding the doors of Garbhagriha, the common Dwarapalakas in any shiva temple. Temple is a small
one and does not have seperate Pradakshina patha. After ringing the bells there and praying for safe journey, we started descending down the hill.

Inner view of Makali Malleshwara temple

We started downhill journey around 4:30 AM.Downhill journey was even more beautiful as we could see the surrounding river making a shape of south America or south India or whatever other things which one could think of :-) The moments of Arunodaya and Prathyusha(hours before sunrise) were increasing the beauty of the nature as the visibility was increasing gradually. Around 5:15, we realized that We have lost the way in which we ascended somehow !


But could guess and find other way by remembering the direction of river and railway tracks which we had seen while ascending previous night. Around 5:45 we were releived to see some more people descending at a point and could also see the pathways which we had seen previous night. We were back on track ! :-)

We realized that we had slight deviation from the path which we had taken previous night. But the new path was also OK and probably one of the less used other ways to descend , if not for reaching the top.We reached the normal muddy path at around 6:00 AM. Sun was about to rise and was time for
some more clear photographs :-) We reached the bottom where railway track separated the villages and the other side around 6:20 AM. After some more pics on railway track, we started walking on railway track.

There was one train around 6:40AM where we had to step down from railway track and stand on the path next to it.We reached Makalidurga station around 7 AM. Train was late by 15 minutes that day and we had time to relieve ourselves :-) Railway station staff were nice enough to give the keys of the rest room in the railway station so that some trekkers could freshen there and others could find the hotel at the back of railway station.

After getting freshen up and a session of Mangoes, Buttermilk/Tea, Bread we were set for our journey back to Bengaluru. While returning train was full unlike the less populated one while coming from Bengaluru where everybody got a seat. Few had to wait till Doddaballapur to get a seat to sit :-) Reached bangalore station around 9:45 as per the plan and had to head towards our respective locations with cherishing memories of the trip.

Some comments about cost Before concluding:
Trip is the cheapest trip i have been so far with cost of 60 Rs including the to and fro train tickets ! . It included the ingredients brought for previous night bhel puri and common food items like bread, mangoes ! Only extra items like individual items like 10 Rs per buttermilk and 20 for Idly previous night. So, the overall trip expenditure of 100 Rs for me was lesser than the bus, cab fare i had to pay for reaching Majestic and coming back from there !! As i did not had torche, sleeping bag had to spend for that as well. But that would be used for other trips as well, so would not make a difference. It was a very well planned and executed trip indeed and should thank Shamanth, Shwetha , BASC and all co trekkers mentioned above for the wonderful memories :-) Hoping to meet them all in one more trek soon :-)

Friday, April 22, 2016

ಅವನಿ


Scluptures @ Avani Ramalingeshwara temple

ಅರಳಗುಪ್ಪೆಯ ಹೊಯ್ಸಳರ ಕಾಲದ ಚನ್ನಕೇಶವ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ ನೋಡಹೋದಾಗ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹಳೆಯದಾದ ಒಂಭತ್ತನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಆಸುಪಾಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ಕಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಾಲಯವಿದೆ ಅಂತ ಗೊತ್ತಾಯ್ತು. ಅದನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದವರು ನೋಲಂಬ ಅರಸರು ಅಂತಲೂ ತಿಳಿಯಿತು. ಚಾಲುಕ್ಯರು ಗೊತ್ತು. ಅವರಿಗಿಂತ ಮುಂಚೆ ಬಂದ ನೆರೆ ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಚೋಳರು, ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕೂಟರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತಲೂ ಮುಂಚೆ ಬಂದ ಗಂಗರು, ಕದಂಬರು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೂ ಚೂರ್ಚೂರು ಗೊತ್ತು. ಇದ್ಯಾರು ನೋಲಂಬ ಅರಸರು ಅಂದರಾ ? ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕೂಟರ ಸಾಮಂತರಾಜರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಇವರು ಒಂಭತ್ತರಿಂದ ಹನ್ನೆರಡನೆಯ ಶತಮಾನದವರೆಗೆ ಆಳಿದ್ದರು ಎಂದು ಅವರು ಆ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ಕೆಲವು ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಗಳಿಂದ ತಿಳಿದುಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಅರಸೀಕೆರೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ನೇರಲಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ೯೭೨ರ ಶಾಸನದ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಗಂಗರಸ ಮಾರಸಿಂಹನು ನೋಲಂಬರಸರನ್ನು ಸೋಲಿಸಿ ನೋಲಂಬಕುಲಾಂತಕನೆಂಬ ಬಿರುದು ಪಡೆದನೆಂದು ತಿಳಿದುಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಕೋಲಾರ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಇನ್ನಿತರ ಶಾಸನಗಳಿಂದ ಇತರ ನೋಲಂಬ ಅರಸರ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೂ ತಿಳಿದುಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಅವರು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ ಕೋಲಾರದ ಮುಳಬಾಗಿಲಿನಿಂದ ೧೩ ಕಿ.ಮೀ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಅವನಿ ನಾರಾಯಣೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ.

Temple complex in Avani


ಹೋಗುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ ? 
ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಿಂದ ಮುಳುಬಾಗಿಲಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುವ ಹಾದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಬಾಗಿಲಿಗೆ ೬.೫ ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಇದೆ ಎನ್ನುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಬಲಬದಿಗೆ ಅವಣಿ/ಅವನಿ ಗೆ ದಾರಿ ಎಂಬ ಬೋರ್ಡ್ ಕಾಣುತ್ತದೆ. ಅದೇ ಹಾದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಲಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊರಳಿ ಸಾಗಿದರೆ ೬.೫ ಕಿ.ಮೀ ಸಾಗುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನಿ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಸಿಗುತ್ತದೆ.  


ಅವನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಲೇನಿದೆ ? 
ಅವನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಲಿರುವುದು ಅವನಿ ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಮತ್ತು ಅದರಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಜಾಂಬವ ಗುಹೆ ಮತ್ತು ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಬುಡದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ದೇಗುಲಗಳು
ಅವನಿ ಬೆಟ್ಟ:
ರಾಮಾಯಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ ಜಾಂಬವಂತ ಇದೇ ಬೆಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಎಂಬ ನಂಬಿಕೆಯಿದೆ. ನಂತರದ ಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ಯಮಂತಕಮಣಿಯನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಾ ಬರುವ ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣನಿಗೂ ಜಾಂಬವಂತನಿಗೂ ಯುದ್ದವಾಗಿ ನಂತರ ಜಾಂಬವಂತನ ಮಗಳು ಜಾಂಬವತಿಯನ್ನು ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣ ವಿವಾಹವಾಗುವ ಪ್ರಸಂಗವೂ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಮೇಲೆಯೇ ಸೀತಾದೇವಿಯ ಗುಡಿಯೂ ಇದೆ. ಸೀತಾದೇವಿ ಪಾರ್ವತಿಯನ್ನು ಪೂಜಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಳು ಎಂದು ನಂಬಲಾಗುವುದರಿಂದ ಗುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸೀತೆ, ಪಾರ್ವತಿಯರ ವಿಗ್ರಹಗಳಿವೆ. ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಬುಡದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ರಾಮಲಿಂಗೇಶ್ವರ ದೇಗುಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದರ ದ್ಯೋತಕವಾದ ಸೀತಾಪಾರ್ವತಿಯೆಂಬ ವಿಗ್ರಹವೂ ಇದೆ ! ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂಭತ್ತರಿಂದ ಸಂಜೆ ನಾಲ್ಕರವರೆಗೆ ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಮೇಲಿನ ದೇಗುಲ ತೆರೆದಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಆ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲೇ ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಹತ್ತೋದು ಬೆಟರ್ :-)  ಪುರಾಣೇತಿಹಾಸಗಳ ನಂಬದಿದ್ದರೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯ ವೀಕ್ಷಣೆಗಾದರೂ ಭೇಟಿ ಕೊಡಬಹುದಾದ ಸ್ಥಳ ಅವನಿ ಬೆಟ್ಟ

Sideview of Ganji Mantapa

Front view of Ramalingeshwara temple

Avani Utsava Murthy

Anantha Scluptures at Avani

ದೇಗುಲ ಸಂಕೀರ್ಣ:
ಅವನಿಯಲ್ಲಿರೋದು ಒಂದು ದೇಗುಲವಲ್ಲ. ಇಲ್ಲಿರೋದು ಹಲವು ದೇಗುಲಗಳ ಸಂಕೀರ್ಣ. ರಾಮ, ಲಕ್ಷಣ, ಭರತ , ಶತ್ರುಘ್ನರು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ್ದೆಂದು ನಂಬಲಾಗುವ ರಾಮಲಿಂಗೇಶ್ವರ, ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಣೇಶ್ವರ, ಭರತೇಶ್ವರ, ಶತ್ರುಘ್ನೇಶ್ವರ ದೇಗುಲಗಳಿವೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಅನಂತಶಯನ, ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣ, ಸಿಂಹ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಶಿಲ್ಪಗಳಲ್ಲದೇ "ಗಂಜೀ ಮಂಟಪ" ಎಂಬಂತಹ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಮಂಟಪಗಳೂ ಗಮನ ಸೆಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ. ಯುಗಾದಿ, ರಾಮನವಮಿ, ಕಾರ್ತೀಕಗಳಂದು ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ದೇವರ ಪಲ್ಲಕ್ಕಿ ಉತ್ಸವ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತದೆ.

ಈ ಲೇಖನ "ಪಂಜು"ವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗಿದೆ
Multiple animals combined in one image. One of the classic sclupture @Kurudumale
ಮುಂದಿನ ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ: "ಕುರುಡುಮಲೆ"

Monday, April 11, 2016

ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ


ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿನ ಪುರಾತನ ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿರುವುದು ಹೊಯ್ಸಳರ ದೇಗುಲಗಳು. ಅವುಗಳಿಗಿಂತಲೂ ಹಿಂದಿನ ದೇಗುಲಗಳು ಅಂದರೆ ನೆನಪಾಗೋದು ಚೋಳರ ಕಾಲದ್ದು ಮತ್ತು ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತಲೂ ಹಿಂದೆ ಅಂದರೆ ಕದಂಬರ, ಗಂಗರ ಕಾಲದ ಅಳಿದುಳಿದ ದೇಗುಲಗಳು. ಕೋಲಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ೧೦೧೨ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಲಾದ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನವೊಂದಿದೆ, ಇನ್ನೂ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಇದೆಯೆಂಬ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಕೇಳಿದಾಗ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಹೋಗದಿರಲಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆ ದೇಗುಲವೇ ಕೋಲಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಇಂದಿನ ಹೆಸರು ಬರಲು ಕಾರಣವಾದ ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ. 

ಇತಿಹಾಸ:
ಮೂರನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಶುರುವಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಕೂವಲಾಲಪುರ(ಇಂದಿನ ಕೋಲಾರವು) ಗಂಗರ ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆಗೆ ಒಳಪಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು ಎಂದು ಶಾಸನಗಳು ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮನ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನವನ್ನು ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರ ಚೋಳ(೧೦೦೨-೧೦೪೫) ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿರಬಹುದೆಂದು ದೇವಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರ ಚೋಳನ ಶಾಸನಗಳಿಂದ ಅಂದಾಜಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.  ಚೋಳರ ನಂತರದಲ್ಲಿ  ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ, ವಿಜಯನಗರದ ಅರಸರಿಂದಲೂ ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆಗೊಳಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ಕೋಲಾರದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಈ ದೇಗುಲ ಸಣ್ಣಪುಟ್ಟ ಮಾರ್ಪಾಡುಗಳನ್ನೊಳಗೊಂಡು ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ರೂಪವನ್ನು ಪಡೆದಿರಬಹುದು. 

ಚೇಳಮ್ಮ:
ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮನ ವಿಗ್ರಹದ ಮೇಲೊಂದು ಚೇಳಿನ ಚಿತ್ರಣವಿದೆ. ಇದರ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ದೇವತೆಯೇ ಚೇಳಮ್ಮ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪೂಜೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಚೇಳುಗಳ ಕಡಿತವಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ನಂಬಿಕೆಯಿದೆ. ಅದರ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಒಂದು ಭೂಮಿಯೊಳಗೆ ಸಾಗುವ ಒಂದು ಹುಂಡಿಯಿದ್ದು ಆ ಹುಂಡಿಯ ಒಳಗೆ ಚೇಳುಗಳಿವೆಯಂತೆ. ಅವು ಆಗಾಗ ಹೊರಬಂದು ದೇವತೆಯ ವಿಗ್ರಹದ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಓಡಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತವೆ ಎಂದು ಜನ ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆ ಹುಂಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಹಾಕೋ ಭಕ್ತರಿಂದ ಚೇಳುಗಳಿಗೆ ತೊಂದರೆಯಾಗಬಾರದು ಎಂಬ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಣ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಹಾಕಿ ಚೇಳುಗಳ ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆಗೆ ತೊಂದರೆಯನ್ನುಂಟು ಮಾಡಬಾರದು ಎಂಬ ಫಲಕ ಸಹ ದೇಗುಲದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಕೋಲಾರಮ್ಮನ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ದೇವಿ ಪಾರ್ವತಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲಸಿದ್ದಾಳೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಭಕ್ತರ ನಂಬಿಕೆ.

ಶಿಲ್ಪಕಲೆ: ದ್ರಾವಿಡ ಶೈಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಈ ದೇವಾಲಯದ ಹೊರನೋಟವು ಎರಡು ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾದ ದೇಗುಲಗಳನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಕಾಣುತ್ತದೆ. ದೇಗುಲದ ಹೊರಗೋಡೆಗಳಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ತಮಿಳು ಬರಹಗಳು ತಮಿಳು ಬಲ್ಲ ಇತಿಹಾಸಜ್ಞರಿಗೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯ ಆಗರವಾಗಬಲ್ಲದು.  ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಪ್ರವೇಶದ್ವಾರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಶಿಲಾಬಾಲಿಕೆಯರು, ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣ, ನಂತರ ಸಿಗುವ ಸಪ್ತಮಾತೃಕೆಯರು, ದೇಗುಲದ ಹೊರಗೋಡೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಉಬ್ಬು ಶಿಲ್ಪಗಳು, ಸತಿಗಲ್ಲಿನಂತಹ ರಚನೆ, ಕಂಬದಲ್ಲಿನ ರಚನೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಶಿಲ್ಪಕಲೆ ಒಂದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಒಂದು ವಿಭಿನ್ನಶೈಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದು ದೇಗುಲ ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಅರಸರ ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾರ್ಪಾಟ್ಟಾಗಿರಬಹುದಾದ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಯನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. 
ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಸಾದವಾಗಿ ಕೊಡುವುದು ನಿಂಬೆಹಣ್ಣು. ಜನ ಹರಕೆಯಾಗಿ ನಿಂಬೆಹಣ್ಣುಗಳನ್ನು ದೇಗುಲದ ಎದುರಿಗಿನ ಧ್ವಜಸ್ಥಂಭದ ಪಕ್ಕದ ಕಂಬಕ್ಕೆ ಚುಚ್ಚುವುದನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಬಹುದು

ವೀಕ್ಷಣಾ ಸಮಯ: 
ದೇಗುಲ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗಿನ ಏಳರ ಸುಮಾರಿಗೆ ತೆರೆದರೂ ಗರ್ಭಗುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯ ದರ್ಶನವಾಗುವುದು ಒಂಭತ್ತೂವರೆ ಸುಮಾರಿಗೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯವರೆಗೆ ಅಲಂಕಾರಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಪರದೆಯನ್ನು ಮುಚ್ಚಿರಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಉಳಿದ ವಿಗ್ರಹಗಳನ್ನು , ದೇಗುಲದ ಪರಿಸರವನ್ನು ಸಂದರ್ಶಿಸಬಹುದು

ಈ ಲೇಖನ "ಪಂಜು"ವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗಿದೆ