Malleswara Temple, Aghalaya - Get rid of your Sins

  "Aghalaya" houses a magnificent Malleswara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is situated  in between Melukote and Shravana Belagola. Though we had a chance to visit this temple before, we were not allowed to see the temple at that time as there was some trouble in the village. Also, we were just beginning to learn about Hoysala temples and so we did not realize completely what we had missed. Recently, we had a second chance to explore this unique and unusual Trikuta Hoysala temple at Aghalaya and so we did.

The Malleshwara Temple, Aghalaya

Trikuta (Three Chambers)

      Aghalaya means destruction of sins (Agha = Sin, Laya = Destroy). Nothing much is know about the temple's history, except that it was built by the Hoysalas during the12th Century. This temple covers a large area compared to many other Hoysala temples. It is a Trikuta temple, having three Chambers or Gribhagriha, all facing East. It is similar to the Govindanahalli temple (which is a Panchakuta temple, having five chambers). The interiors and exteriors set a good example of the Hoysala architecture. Another interesting feature was that though the outer carvings  were of Lord Vishnu, the deity worshiped in the temple was Lord Shiva.

Front Porch

Outer Ceiling

Nandi

Lord Ganesha

Mahishasura Mardini

Uma Maheshwara

Lord Shiva , Goddess Parvathi and Lord Ganesha

Decorative Work on the Pillar Top

Naga Stones and Perforated Window

Lord Vishnu's various forms and the Garuda-I

Lord Vishnu's various forms and the Garuda-II

First Three of the Dashavataras

Lord Panduranga Vittal 

Art Work on the Outer Wall

Renovated portion v/s Original

   Like many other temples around  this region, this temple was renovated by the Govt of Karnataka with the help of the Dharmasthala Trust. The priest here was a very gentle and kind person. 

Location : Between Melukote and Shravanabelagola 

Places to Visit Around : Shravanabelagola, Melukote, Sante Bachahalli, Kambadahalli, Bindigananavile, Govindanahalli, Kikkeri, Aghrahara Bachahalli, and many more

Umbalagundi Waterfalls - Madkeri Ghat

'Umbalagundi Falls' is located just off the Madkeri-Mangalore State Highway. There is a high chance of missing a view of  this falls as it is not visible from the highway, though the noise made by the gushing waters cannot be ignored if one has sharp ears.  A small trek downward takes us to the  base of the waterfall. As soon as we reached the base, we were greeted by a seven feet long snake and within  the blink of eye, it disappeared underneath the rocks. We were not lucky enough to get a good shot of it. Not disturbing the snake, we moved on. towards the falls. The water here falls from a height of about 25 feet, and is truly mesmerizing. A passer by local told us that even during peak summer period, the volume of water remains more or less, the same.

 Snake in its hide out

Umbalagundi Waterfalls

A Complete View of the Waterfall

Gushing Waters

Down Stream

        After having a wonderful time at the falls, we  moved on  and just after a little while, we were in for another surprise. We spotted another snake, this time comparatively  smaller in length, about three feet, which was on its way to the other side of the road.  We had to be a little quicker than the snake to catch him for a photograph.

The Banded Racer Snake

Just Like That -2

  Below is the compilation of a few more of our favorite captures (Click here for Part1).

The Full Moon

Straight As An Arrow

Pleasant Drive

Wild Flower

Purple Leaf  (Ventral Side)

A Fern

Wild Flower

Ground Beetle

Pill Millipede

Damsel Fly

Snail

Monitor Lizard

Spidy

Waiting for the prey

Back to Home

Lovely Sunset

Kalyala Waterfalls, Madkeri

           'Kalyala Falls' is located off the Madkeri - Mangalore Highway. It is visible from the highway and looks beautiful. Since the driving directions to the falls were known to us from our first visit, we quickly reached the last motorable stretch from where we had to trek down to view the falls. The drive itself  is a mesmerizing one, with the greenery around and the narrow and curvy roads. It feels through the drive at every stretch, as though there's something more beautiful in store for us to see! It was a complete feast to our eyes.

View of the Falls from the Highway

 Green & Lovely

Curvy Roads

          The trek downwards is not long and took us about ten minutes to reach the falls. We did not spot a single soul around the falls and that meant the entire place was just for us two nomads. We had get down parallel to the falls to reach the place from the where we could enjoy the waterfalls . It is multi-tiered and the water falls  from  a height of about 150 feet.We are unsure of which tier of the falls we actually start trekking downward.

A Quite Artistic Board Directing us to the Falls

Dense Forest

Jungle Path

Upstream of the Falls

A Lovely View

Starting point of  the Falls

Kalyala Falls

Wider View of the Falls