An Adventure called Jatinga Rameshwara - Part 4

    There was something on a rock that looked like a painting from far! Coming close, we realized that it was indeed a painting (a single one) but faded in color. It was hard to recognize the subject of the painting, though for us it looked like a design pattern painted with red ochre color. Thinking this place would not offer much, we were back to the base of Dodda-betta (the big hill), and generally started wandering around the hill surroundings. The place looked like a perfect habitat for wild animals. Walking along, we found a small cave that had enough water in it and some figures drawn with red ochre and white colors. After investigating these pictures closely, we realized that the red ones were surely pre-historic in nature but the white ones were the not so useful contribution of our generation! A few red ochre paintings were clear and the color was distinct.

Faded Cave Painting

Small Cave

Cave Painting

  The cave paintings were of men riding various animals and of humans, but sadly most of these paintings have been carelessly vandalized by the modern art of our generation. We searched the neighboring caves too but found nothing. We moved a little further and spotted another group of cave paintings of which, only one was clearly identifiable as a Deer. We found many other caves and ventured into a few in search of paintings, but in vain. We had to move on to other places and so we decided to return to our vehicle, though this time we chose to descend from the other side of the hill. The path chosen downwards was an adventure by itself. Without a proper route and surrounded by thorny vegetation, our descent proved less easy than expected. The descent though, was the second best part of our adventure after the spotting of the cave paintings!

Men riding various animals

Water inside the Cave

Deer Painting

Balanced Rock

Cave Entrance 

We were able to sight another ruined temple on the neighboring hill and decided to explore the same. Our next destination was Bramhagiri which is about 5 km from here. At Bramhagiri, we met Mr. Manjunath, the official caretaker of all the Asokan Edicts present in and around Brahmagiri. While discussing about Jatinga Rameshwara, he very excitingly told us about his experience during his last visit to Jatinga and that, one early morning he was chased away by three sloth bears.  It is a fact that the locals of Jatinga regularly sight bears on this mountain and hence people always prefer to go well equipped and in groups. We were frightened for a second listening to all this and thinking back of our adventure in Jatinga. It sent jitters as we remember strolling around Jatinga leisurely and fearlessly!

View of the Hill

Ruined Temple

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AN ADVENTURE CALLED JATINGA RAMESHWARA Part - II

   For a while, we were absorbed in witnessing the place that had connections with one of the greatest of emperors of India and the last ruler who ruled the entire Bharatkanda. Hereon, we moved towards the Rameshwara temple complex. As per the legend and one of the inscriptions present here, this place is believed to have been the place where Jatayu, the bird that courageously fought against the demon Ravana to save Goddess Sita from his evil hands was killed. Lord Rama installed a Shiva Linga in memory of Jatayu and hence the name Jatinga Rameshwara. According to an ASI official whom we met later during our journey, there is a grave on the hill top made of big bricks, probably of the same bird. 

Lord Anjaneya

Elephant Carving at the Entrance

Entrance to Temple Complex

   According to another inscription, this temple was a ruined brick structure with beautiful Shiva Linga in it, which was later renovated in AD 962, using stone by a person named Lingshivaji, who was responsible for building the other temples in the complex. Lingshivaji supposedly was a beggar. Later in AD 1064, the Kalyana Chalukyan King Vijayaditya made more improvements to this temple. There are at least 5 stone inscriptions present here that describe stories relating Jatinga Rameshwara to the Ramayana, Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Nolambas and Palegars.   

 

Rock Inscription

Rock Inscriptions

 The most important temple in the complex is the Jatinga Rameshwara temple. There are many small temples dedicated to Lords Virabhadra, Ganesha, Parushurama, and Mahisasuramardhini. The most striking feature of the temple complex for us was the Keerthistamba (Pillar). The pillar stands tall and is beautifully carved.   

Jatinga Rameshwara Temple

Temple Complex

Keerthistamba

According to the book ‘Bramhagiri’ by Dr. S.Y. Somashekar, enough evidence exists to confirm its association with pre historic times.

 The real adventure had just begun…………….   

Asoka's Edict, Jatinga Rameshwara

     One Saturday, we planned to visit Chitradurga and explore Brahmagiri and its environs the next morning. Brahmagiri is one amongst the most ancient places in Karnataka and is located in Chitradurga district and also very close to Bellary. The three sites of archaeological importance here are Brahmagiri, Asoka Siddapura and Jatinga Rameshwara. All the three sites house minor rock edicts of Emperor Asoka of the Mauryan period which were first discovered and reported by Sir Benjamin Lewis Rice in the year 1892. Our plan was to explore Brahmagiri, Asoka Siddapura and finally Jatinga Rameshwara. But while traveling towards Brahmagiri as per our plans, we missed the cross that turned right towards Brahmagiri and proceeded further. On inquiring, we realized we had come too far and had to make a U turn to return.  While returning we found a board directing us towards Jatinga Rameshwara and hence decided to explore this place first and later move on to the next site.

Good Morning

  Jatinga Rameshwara is a hillock located off the Bangalore - Bellary highway. It houses a fort and Asokan minor edict. As we approached the hillock, we realized there was none around and so we ruled the hill. The place covers a vast expanse and viewing this wide stretch of hill range, a momentary doubt arose in our minds of whether a complete coverage of the place would be possible. We set our time limit as we had two more sites to explore and started our ascent. Steps are laid up till the first tier of the fort and hereon, the terrain turns flat making our walk easier. As we walked on, we found a shelter and a little further was a temple complex.

Climb Up to Jatinga Rameshwara Hill

Old Rock Cut Steps V/s Recently Laid Steps

First Sight of Shelter and the Temple Complex

   We headed towards the shelter in search of the Asokan edicts. We entered the room and started examining the rock for the presence of any edicts. Finally we found a few letters etched on the rock that remained intact while most of the letters have been rubbed away and erased due to wear and other various natural activities. The efforts of one British Officer Sir Mortimer Wheeler who was solely responsible for building a permanent shelter in order to preserve the rock edicts is worthy of mention and much appreciated. From here, we moved towards the temple complex.

Plumeria tree and Shelter

Asokan Edict

Continued here …..