The Mysterious Pre-Historic Stone Cricles, Varlakonda

        It happened by chance that, while reading a book on Megaliths, we found the names of  familiar places viz Perisandra, Gudibande (Chikkaballapur District) and their surroundings, which interestingly were mentioned in the list of Megalithic sites. We could relate these unusual structures to the ones we found in Varlakonda as the description in the book closely matched our observations then. Varlakonda is a small village situated on the NH 7 (National Highway) and is equidistant  from both Perisandra and Gudibande (about 8 kms). We always wondered of what those unusual structures we found at the base of the fort meant. We were absolutely thrilled when we realised it could be one of the megalithic sites.
         The term Megalith is derived from two Greek words 'Mega' meaning big and 'Lithos' meaning stone. It describes a monument or structure made of large stones. 'Megalithic Culture' is an intriguing subject of study  in the Archeological field. Many Megalithic sites are found across Europe, Asia and Africa, the best known being the Stone Henge, present in Wiltshire of the United Kingdom. Though the dates of beginning of this culture is not exactly known, excavations have revealed the type of activities and purposes of this culture. Their conclusions though, are not completely sure.

Megalithic Site, Varlakonda

        As we read the book, we could instantly identify a few of the structures to be similar to Stone Circles, which are basically stones arranged in the form of a circle. Apart from these, were two cists (box-like structures), which essentially housed a covering on top in the form of a stone slab/s. They are two of the many types of megalithic structures, classified based on their appearance. We were astonished that  people actually lived here.

Stone Circle and Cist

Side View of the Cist

The Cist

Stone Circles and Cist

      Are these really stone circles is a big question. If  yes, then what could be the reason that these structures were built and why did the people who occupied the place (Varlakonda Fort) later on, not disturb or dismantle the same. Surely, a mystery lies behind these amazing structures.

For Directions and Distance: Click here

        Reference : The Megalithic Culture in South India - B K Gururaja Rao ( With due respect, we would like to mention that the Author studied the subject of Megaliths as a part of his doctoral research and  has made a commendable effort to produce the details of megalithic sites and its culture in South India.)

Related Posts:
1. Rock art at Usgalimal 

Pandava Caves Rivona Goa - 2

                After exploring the Pandava caves, we walked back to our guide's house in order to thank them for their generosity in accompanying us  to the caves. On exchanging information about our places visited, they revealed the presence of  another Pandava cave in this place and  gave us directions for the same. We thanked them and proceeded further to explore the next cave. We reached the Lord Shiva temple,  parked our vehicle and  inquired with an elderly person sitting inside the temple. He told us we had reached the right place and directed  us to the cave. 

Entrance to the Pandava Caves

           At the first look, we thought it could be ruined house, though we were wrong. The presence of  a "Havan Kund" (havan - a sacred ritual performed using fire; kund - pit) outside the cave indicated  that  Rishis or Monks may have lived here and performed 'Havan' or 'Homa' as a part of their daily chores. As we entered  the cave, a flight  of rock cut steps lead us to the central portion of the cave which had a  wonderful ceiling and an opening at its center for the entrance of light. There are two perennial springs originating from inside the cave which served as the main water sources  for the Rishis/Monks. The water currently is being used for irrigation  by the Local farmers. We found a  small carving of Lord Hanuman inside the cave.Though the historians associate this cave with the Buddhist Monks, the locals believe that the Pandavas resided here for sometime during their exile.

Cave Entry

 Rock Cut Steps

Natural Water Spring

Cave Ceiling

  Cave Interior

Lord Hanuman Carving

Natural Water Spring

Pandava Cave Complex

Altogether, it was a wonderful experience exploring the caves. 

Direction from Panajim: Panajim - NH17 - Margao - Take left turn - Quepem - Tilamol - Right turn - Rivona

Distance from Panajim: 65 km

Places to Visit Around: Usgalimal, Kurdi,  Surla, Canacona, Margao and many more.

Pandava Caves - Rivona, Goa - 1

          Our next destination after Kurdi was Rivona, which served as a home to the Pandavas during their exile. We imagined the Rivona Pandava caves to be similar to the Arvalem Pandava caves. Though we reached Rivona with least difficulty, it was rather tricky to locate the Pandava caves. We inquired about the same to a few locals and got mixed answers which helped us the least and confused us more. Finally, we picked a house and on asking them, we found that they were familiar to the place and requested them to guide us to the cave. We had the company of two kids who lead us to our destination.

Pandava Cave

          The cave is believed to have been associated with the Pandavas of  Mahabharata (epic), though the historians date the cave back to the 6th century and believe it could be of Buddhist origin. The cave is simple with only a Peeta (Seat) like structure inside. It is said that the Buddhist gurus sat on this Peeta, meditated  and preached  principles of Buddhism to their disciples .There are steps by the side of the cave leading to a water pond.

Peeta

Cave Entrance

Natural Cave

Cave... First Look

Rock cut Steps

Water Pond 

    To be continued ................

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, Bandipur

  "Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta"(Wiki), one of the most favorite spots of Bangaloreans is situated  inside the Bandipur National Park of Chamrajnagar district.The word Himavad means Misty.  Lately, the hill range is being governed by  the forest Dept. with strict rules and regulations owing to the illegal activities that are carried out here. Amongst the many legends associated with this place, an interesting one relating to one of the lakes, the 'Papanasini' (meaning washing away all the sins), as told by the priest is as follows: It is said that, in the hill ranges of Gopalaswamy betta, no crows are found now. The crows that existed took a dip in the Papanasini and on attaining moksha, turned into Hamsa (Swan) birds and reached heaven. We could not sight a crow either. There is a good chance of sighting wild life, especially the spotted deer, gaur and elephants.

 Journey of Life

Smiling Sunflowers

Hovering Dark Clouds

Curving Roads

Misty Gopalaswamy Temple

Gopalaswamy Betta

Wow! What a View

Go Green

Fern Spores

One of the 77 lakes

Crumbling Fort Wall

 An Experience of Nature's Reality

From the start of the Forest Check Post, the duration allotted to visit the temple and return  is only an hour and thirty minutes. A nominal fee is collected at the check post. Overall, a beautiful and serene place.

Twin Hoysala Temple,Sindaghatta

     Sindaghatta houses another Hoysala temple apart from the Lakshminarayana Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. This is the "Sangameshwara - Jangameshwara Temple". This temple is different from the dwikuta structure, usually found facing each other. Here, the two structures are adjacent to each other, similar to the Harihareshwara Temple of Hariharapura.

Sangameshwara - Jangameshwara Temple

   The temple is east facing and built on a raised platform. It has two separate entrances, two separate Garbhagrihas, two separate antaralas and a common Navaranga. The door frames are heavily carved. Though the external features of the temple look simple, its internal features are intricate and heavily decorated.

Dual Entrance

 The Lovely  Pillar

Decorative Entrance

Carved Ceiling

Nandi

Dual Nandi

Saptamatrikas

Part of the  Door Frame having miniature carvings of  the Music Troupe

Hoysala Emblem

Dwarapalaka

The Hoysala Emblem depicts a man killing a tiger, and apparently the tiger was an emblem of their rivals, the Cholas at that time. May be they were code words as in the current military operations and may be the word  Hoysala/ Poysala probably meant 'Destroy the Cholas'. The priest of this temple was a very kind and knowledgeable man. He quoted a few lesser known facts and stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. He also enlightened us about Dwarka, the capital city of Lord Krishna found under water near the coast of Gujarat.

The Priest

The temple has been renovated by the Government with the help of Shri Manjunatha Trust of Dhramasthala and the locals, though it definitely requires further maintenance.

Directions from Bangalore: Bangalore - Mysore road  - B.R.Koppal - Right turn - Pandavapura - K R Pete - Right Turn  - After 7 kms turn Left  - Sindaghatta.

Distance from Bangalore: 145 kms

Places to visit near by: Hariharapura, Akkihebbalu, Varahanatha Kalahalli, Kikkeri, Govindanahalli, Hosaholalu, Sheelanere and many more.

 

Garuda lenka Kambhas (Pillars)

      Hoysalas, the true masters of Architecture are known for their magnificent and intricate carvings. They have always managed to include an  unique feature in their temple architecture. A quite intriguing and striking feature seen at one of their temples is the "Garuda Lenka" pillar. Three in number and rising up to about 15 feet, these pillars were erected during the reign of  the Hoysala Kings, Ballala-I and Narashima-III during the 11th century AD. This was done in memory of the heroes who voluntarily sacrificed their lives for the well being of the kings and prosperity and fortune of the Hoysala kingdom.

The Magnificent Garuda-Lenka Pillars

       Garuda, a large bird resembling an eagle (Lord Vishnu's vahana or vehicle ) also represents an ardent devotee or a servant who was ever ready to sacrifice his life in order to defend the king. Lenka is a word synonymous to Garuda while Lenkiti is the female counterpart.

 Significant Sculptures at the Pillar Top

Garuda, the King, Queen, Lenka and Lenkiti's - I

Garuda, the King and the Queen

Garuda, the King, Queen, Lenka and Lenkiti's - II

The Splendid Three!

             The  pillars seem to depict the king and queen traveling along with their devotees (lenka -lenkiti) on an elephant. The Garuda is shown to be kneeling on the elephant's head and facing the king while his hand is clasped firmly with the king's, a gesture that probably denotes the respect commanded by the king and the king's desire of achieving the supreme quality of Garuda while the tightly gripped hands could be a token of appreciation by the king for the willingness to sacrifice their lives. Our guess is that the central pillar depicts the king and queen along with the Garuda while the others include the Lenka and Lenkiti's, though we are unsure of the order of men seated so. 

      More details about the Location of these pillars here