Mahakoota shiva temple Badami Chaturmukha shiva, ಮಹಾಕೂಟ ಶಿವ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ Bagalkote Karnataka tourism

two sacred thirthas are special, one is Kashi thirta another is shiva pushkarni thirta a chathurmukha linga is present here other than at this place the chathurmukha linga is present only at Nepal Babu: where are we going today? Me: we are going to Mahakuta guide: 15kms from Badami is Mahakuta to go from badami to mahaakoota need not go from this route those staying here after coming from hubli, hospete when going from here to pattadakal ahead there is a cross road with arch, after 12 Kms. on taking a right turn there you will reach mahakoota directly. If coming by hospete bypass Kustagi, ilkal, or when seeing Aihole and returning when going on bijapura route 7kms from pattadakal is Nandikeshwara village from there take a left and continue for 3 kms, you will reach Mahakoota we can from from that way as well as this way Me: to the right is it? guide: if we go to the left we will reach railway station Bagalkote if we continue straight on that road we would reach Pattadakal 3kms from here is Nandikeshwara from there we can go to pattadakal Me: where do we park? guide: on to the right guide: today morning we have come to the sacred Mahakooteshwara temple 42 kms from here is Bagalkote district this part of Bagalkote's religious and historical place this place was also ruled by the chalukyas in the 6th century and 7th century by Mangalesha, Vijayadithya these kings are ruled the place for the tourists here there is no entry ticket all can come and have the darshana here but only in this parking area there is a committee they have made parking ticket there every year there is a festival conducted here this is known as Dakshina Kashi but the road that we came by now these roads were not there back in 1970's people coming from various village had to come by walk back then now they have made a good provision for tourists and people to reach here not just for the temple festival but for more than hundreds of people be for tourists or for locals they have a provision of providing lunch for all this is arranged by the temple trust committee they give the food in the form of prasada to all but here the hundreds of shops which are there every year tendering is done for it and from that money they are managing the free food distribution the important temple as of now is this is known as Dakshin (southern) Kashi, the significant temple here is shiva temple, Mahakooteshwara temple now we are visiting now in the 21 st century when we look that this pilgrimage place be it these kind of shopping complex or these parking facility none of this existed other than the structure and monuments built by the Chalukyas nothing else was here, other than the thick forest as we can see in front of us the banayan tree, tamarind tree is there such a thick forest for the kings and saints of those days this was also a relaxing area for them this was also a area for doing Tapas from the time the community was formed since then this complex as the people visiting the place increased at that time they made these provisions for food and shops we can see the chariot house over there we call it as terina mane a wooden chariot is there during mahashivarathri that is in the month of March or the amavasya in the month of Feb that chariot is decorated then the chariot is pulled from here to there they do three day festival there after they get it from there to here and keep it back in its place at that time thousands of people gather there to stay here provisions of rooms have been made available we call this as yathri nivasa(guest house) along with filtered water all provisions are available along with that people from various villages come here and cook and make local food various kinds of rottis various kinds of north Karnataka delicacy's are brought here in baskets and sold here during afternoon hours people who visit here along with the temple food also consume these dishes and relish its taste this main entrance of theDakshnina kashi Sri Kshetra Mahakoota was built in the recent years this is not of ancient times but this too is built using sandstone and they have painted it since here weddings and other functions are largely done for them to cook the food they have made these rooms available this is a deepa stamba of recent times this is shiva, mahakooteshwara, shiva lingu to enter the shiva temple this is a maha dwara mantapa there is another dwara mantapa the minute we enter this mahadwara we will reach the temple before going to the temple there is a shiva kalyani it is spring water before entering any temple we remove our footwear, wash our hands, legs and face only then we enter the temple that is the tradition and culture of our country hence in this shiva temple there is a pushpa kalyani it is a small one, we will see that and then enter through the other dwara mantapa to see the temple Babu: look there tortoise Me: the minute it saw us it is moving inside the kalyani which is inside that is spring water, the water which comes from inside the earth 24 hrs that water will keep flowing such here we can see how clean is the water this water flows from the inner area this is a small canal like structure for the water from the puspha kalyani to come and this water flows that side, this water flows towards the trees and fields below none of the water gets wasted here why do we find this water clear it is because who ever takes bath over there, no one uses any soap, shampoo no one washes clothes there hence the water appears to be clean to us when ever soap or detergents enter water body it creates water pollution here inside we will see a very beautiful Ganesha idol this ganesha idol has been carved out of granite stone a mantapa is there here is a cradle too here the belief of the villagers and locals is the childless couple swing that cradle when they make a wish and promise they put few coins in the cradle and swing it do namaskara and then enter the temple here evening 5pm or 5:30 pm when we saw the Kappe Arabhatta inscription and when we came this way there we saw a road there that road is one of the ways to reach this mahakoota temple but someone without the prior knowledge of the road if he comes then he will get thoroughly confused because there is no clear marked roads the way is through the fields and farms hence figuring out which way to go we cannot decipher it is not just one field, there are many field and many walk ways there hence we will thoroughly get confused as to which way to go but this dwara mantapa there is a way for going from here during chalukya times the road by which we came by car, that route was not available the locals and villagers would come by walk way all the local and near by village people come by walk but those coming from Badami had to come by this route because the route by which we came now is 15kms distance from Badami to Mahkoota is around 15km the distance that we travelled to reach here it took us 10 kms extra from the way we came hence in ancient days via walk or by horses they used to come this way it is said that even during the Kings period this was the way which was used even now during morning hours people from Badami come here to swim some come here for a walk they know the route, so they use this route to go to Badami by this route it is 5kms to Badami here during important festivals or celebrations thousands of people gather here but from the time the festival of Banashankari has been stopped almost the same in all temples various such celebrations have been stopped at various temples government has not given the permission if they had permitted then here would be thousands of people there is the Shiva kalyani, there all guru take bath there if you wish even your girl child can take bath there but all prefer to bath here as the trust has made the provision of changing rooms here here they have made provisions for all facilities Maha dwara mantapa, similar kind of mahadwara mantapa we see in front of the temples not just in the temples related to the chalukyas be it in hampi of vijayanagara times, hoysala, rastrakuta or temple we got to such a dwara mantapa will be there for example our museum at Badami when we go towards upper shivalaya then we cross almost 3 to 4 such dwara mantapas if people have to come by walk from Badami for people coming by walk from 3 to 4 kms away this resting place is made for them at the maha dwara mantapa they can rest and then proceed further either towards the temple or towards the villages they can continue this is as per tradition in whole of India when you go to any village in front of the village will be the agasi bagilu or dwara matapa provision is made notice the other side of the maha dwara mantapa we can see the dwarapalakas Kala and Akali we can see their skeleton in Badamis first caves mukha mantapa there we see Bringi Sadhu similar kind of skeletal structure we can see here the full temple is not built by a single sculptor in hundreds of stones hundreds of stones carvings are shown be it the shila balike, or the men area or couples different sculptors have done various carvings in various angles a sculptor who does this only will do these skeletons only only he will be able to do these be it kala bhairava or be it the Bringi saint or any skeletal structure when they wanted to depict only the one who knows the skeletal system can depict it on stone to show correctly as to how many bones are there, how many veins are there which organ is located where, a person with this Knowledge can only depict it such on stone the sculptures who carve the statues are different those who carve shivalinga, nandi those sculptors are different notice how the eyes and mouth are carved but due to rain water green algae has grown on top of it since this stone is like a sponge this is a sedimentary rock on top we can see the carving of Ganesha a small statue of ganesha in north Karnataka we do not get to see tall mountains the tallest ones are the ones at Badami Cave which is spread across a stretch of 5 to 6 kms only there we notice the presence of mountains other than this across north karnataka we will not find mountains taller than this we will find such small forests, in which peacocks are in abundance and in some thick forests there are wild boars foxes and wolves only these kind of animals are there other than that in this kind of forest, the Kalinga snake leopard, bear no such animals are found in this part of north Karnataka those kind of animals are found only near Hampi where boulder stones are available these kind of lingas are there inside the forest there as demo they have carved many shiva lingas there are no ways to reach there, but on the rocks there small shiva lingas have been carved there we can see a temple notice the temple inside the forest there is no way to reach it, inside that temple there is the peeta of the shivalinga the shikara of the temple is in Dravidian style but there are no carvings on it just a temple maha means huge and koota means a group of when we count we find hundreds of lingas here Mahakooteshwara, there is only a temple of shiva here this temple is in South Indian Dravidian style the top part of the shikara there we can find the incomplete part may be even prior 1854 this was filled with mud, stones, thick forests when the ruling of chalukyas was over at that time there was no committee of state or central government this was surrounded with forest the locals identified this and took it under a committee the kalasha on top must have fallen off the local have applied lime coating to each of the stone as we can observe now state Archaeology Department releases funds that has been delicately chemically washed they have removed it by washing and have made the path way the maha koota that we are seeing now this kind of pilgrimage place, be it a religious place or a historical important place if we are in the coastal region of Karnataka this would have been a famous temple no doubt since this place has to develop a lot more compared to previous years this has developed a little for example be it the pathways or be it the compound walls few modern rooms all that has been done this temple has been restored by rebuilding this was not done by the committee this was done by tourism department very neatly they have rebuilt it here we can see the depiction of Kama sutra pictures here we can see them kissing mouth to mouth though they call it french kissing it was in India in ancient times this was done with the purpose that the temple should not be affected with evil eyes hence these are depicted here there are all shiva lingas here having a darshana of shiva worshipping style quite a lot has worn off due to rain, wind and sun this is a recent addition you can see there Bhaktha seva Venkateswara Keshava just like in talakaveri we can see here the spring water entering the pond this is not of recent times, 1500 years ago too this was there during the rule of chalukyas here we can see the fresh water coming out of the earth in the form of a spring you can notice that as much water comes into this pond equal amount flows out of the gate equal amount of the used water flows out every week the committee responsible for this open the gate full and they empty this water fully evening around 4 or 5 pm they open the gates within the next 1 or 2 day the water gets filled here but yet why they let the water flow out is here for an individual to have bath they charge Rs 5 ticket adults, kid, ladies any one can take bath here the problem here is to have bath there is a need of water of height of 1 and half meters in 2 meter water there are chances of a human drowning in that water be it adults or kids water will only come up to this level they have maintained it such the one who have dug this pond they have put the gate to that level if that gate is locked completely then the water may rise up to this level how much water comes from the earth, how many litres that we can make out all through the year it comes but only during rainy season they keep that gate open during june, july, September and august they will release more water from here as, if not it will create lots of problem for those who come here the Kone shankar linga board which is kept there in the corner Me: its arrow mark is facing downwards there any person having a bath he should know the route there he should drive into the water for 2 seconds and controlling his breath for 2 seconds if he goes and rises up there then there is a shivalinga there inside it after submerging there is a two feet high wall there after submerging on getting up, comfortably one can stand up, up to 4 people can stand there then they can have the darshana of the linga yes we need to go like this one needs to submerge in this angle only around one meter water is there that is it if one submerges and gets up like this then upto 4 people can stand there have the darshana of the peeta and shivalinga and return that was not done in recent times that was done in ancient times itself, except for those mantapas there these mantapas were built in recent years the shiva linga inside there inside this is the shivas linga inside this by submerging inside this water one has to submerge and get up on the other side but only those who know as to how to go in and how to come out only they will go there if any tourist or any new person not knowing the place goes there then on getting up their head may touch the stone which is below there the ones who know the route what they will do is they will comfortably go inside have darshana of shiva and come out inside there is a peeta and shiva linga see it is mentioned there as Shankar linga one requires only 2 seconds not even 5 or 10 seconds within 2 to 3 seconds one can go down and get up then upto 4 people can comfortably once if we go then it is easy, do you know how to go? go and show Me: Pawan is a resident of this village for us he will take this camera along with him and get us a darshana of Shakara linga Pawan catch he can talk now through the window here, he will keep his hand there and talk need some light, its too dark for camera go inside and shoot this not such, hold it the other way r Me: what all is there in 6th century, what all they have constructed technology was advanced in those days Me;yes in those days they had better technology comparing to the current period guide:in ancient days it was better Babu: Pawan must be as crazy as you, shooting full movie I guess Me: But no light inside. That is a problem Me: its low light performance is not so good, he is returning wow pawan is an expert how long pawan? Me: how long can you stay under water? guide and babu: how long can you stay inside water? Me: please do me a favour please shoot the spring water in any of the place yes got there wow pawan is such an expert he should be sent to Olympics guide: this place is used as a swimming pool by parents to teach their kids swimming Me: extra ordinary, i think this is also good for the skin? guide: yes it is, it is also maintained well and used for learning swimming comfortably, take your time, no problem Babu: capture it from below Me: only if you can if not, no problem he sat down to capture it Me: that will be sufficient Me: which place do you belong to? Nearby Nandikeshwara Me: do you come here regularly? Yes Me: you come here for swimming, super your name? Chetan Me: you dive very nicely this is chaturmukha shiva guide: here kannada film shooting was done Puneethraj kumars Natasaarvabhowma movie they had made a stage here like a kalyana matapa and also in the fighting scene it is there there was a lot of fight for that saying that nothing new should be created here they should shoot using what is there to erect that set they need to as it will block the way of the spring water, they used bamboo and all to tie it on my right side you can see the temple built by the chalukyas from 6th to 8th century in these three places Aihole badami pattadakal they had their ruling during the same time other kings have built various temples as we can see here inside every temple here there is statue of shiva even here it is there all this has been constructed using only Granite stone but in this region granite stones are not available only sand stone is available in this region red sand stone only these kind of stones are available here the upper portion has been done in the recent years this has been rebuilt they might have got it from some other place, the granite stone out there is the nandi mantapa where there is shiva there will be nandi his vehicle Me: that nandi is quite shiny guide: that too is not made out of sandstone it is more like a marble stone or granite these all are shivalingas found at various other places Me: the nandi is different isnt it? Ghante sara (Bell chain) foot should have been visible Babu: even the bell chain not visible here This part of the platform is recently made here the platform has been made using sand stone because in ancient days in 2016 or 17 the stones that we had seen are all this had cracked and broken now all these laid systematically above too we can see the carving of Brahma above on the other side is shiva, parvathi and nandi this was carved in 7th and 8th century, shivas idol is there the way the shivalinga is of marble or granite, similar same stone is used for making the nandi outside, this stone is quite heavy the circumambulation path is here the path to go around the garbhagriha here above we can see beautiful elephants these single elephants during the period of chalukyas, rashtrakutas, hoysalas or Hampis Vijayanagara thousands of beautiful elephants beautiful elephant tusk, legs we can see these carvings on this and that side in the sabha mantapa there are few carvings the family carvings can be seen up there they are not god and goddess stories like we had seen inside the Badami caves when a couple are sitting intimately the third person is sitting shyly this depicts the situation of war the style of the soldiers going to war like the gada yuddha between bheema and Duryodhana that style we can see here, notice the fist holing style the gada will be very heavy, so to hold it the fist one cannot hold it casually few dancing scenes are there the temple is unique and nice some animals or the mesh windows we can see vishnus vehicle Garuda on the window here we can see the hairstyle of those days here they have depicted situations of every day life this portion depicts gods thirshuladara shiva, shiva holding trishula, snake Chaturbuja avatara vishnu shivas form this side is matsya chakra the designs of the chakra which was there were different there is the design of the lotus is there in the mesh this is a very different this is Sthanakabrahma these all are dwarfs dwarfs dancing, some with flute, drums playing musical instruments wrestling shiva is holding Axe in his hand here is ardhanareshwara similar to what we saw at Badami is this Ardhanareshwara there is vishnu here where there is Visnhu, on the exact opposite side to it is Shiva shiva that side and vishnu on this side in his hand is shanku and chakra on that side is trishula dari shiva, with trishula, damaru and snake held in the hand this is north Karnatakas rekha nagara style shikara this is also Dravida shikara as well a s rekha nagara style here is a Nataraja, there was a mantapa which has fallen down inside is the peeta, shiva linga, nataraja dancing form of Shiva on one side playing the mrudanga on the other side playing the flute along with music troupe here we can see shivas dance as well inside the temple area we can see the varaha avatara more magnificent than what we saw at Badami cave no2 varaha statue we will see here here vishnus idol is very decorative in his neck is the chain of bell the face is intact in his one hand is chakra and in the other is shanka Bhoo devi was got back to surface by vishnu these all are stories of life in the first one a lady dancing under the tree the skill of communication Shiva, parvathi in shivas hand damaru is thre here is the snake here is the nandi using the gods forms they are depicting the human life instances here is ugra narasimha Hiranyakashapu bieng annhilated if the face was intact it would have been very beautiful may be local people and others since this has not been under any attack even in 21st century in Digital India it not easy to come here switch on your GPS you will not get internet here to build homes a mantapa kind of structure was constructed at a later period may be this was built in 15th 16th century Me: this is indo islamic style isnt it? guide: yes it is this is the main temple mahakooteshwara temple this has not been renovated yet the lime on the wall has been removed originally how it was, it has been made such, that we can see Here Ravana is holding up the kailasha mountain Ravana holding the Kailasha mountain, shiva and parvathi are above it these are shiva devotees worshiping shiva shiva parvathi dancing on top of nandi in this part this side is Nandi shiva parvathi this depicts the nurturing of the king this a beautiful carving of shiva known as thrishula dharana, shivas carving this whole temple has been washed all these carvings were covered in lime and none of it was visible the lime which they have applied to the shikara similarly it was done to the temple, here the trust in order to decorate the temple every year they used to apply different colours to the temple then tourism department and archaeological department created awareness that these all should become national monuments, the culture of ancient times should be known to the future generations and hence all this needs to be cleared bhikshatana shiva for shiva to go begging he did not have a bowl to beg the structure in the front is an recent addition it is not an ancient structure this is a recent addition of the navagrahas this is the name of the rishi and munnis, agasthya agastheshwara jambulinga later this has been renovated, some has been simply placed on the peeta in front of veerabhadra nandi will not be there there is an inscription which mentions that the king Mangalesha built this temple and that he donated this area Immadi pulakeshis uncle, King Mangalesha this Mahakoota inscription is found in the Bijapura Museum in the form of a pillar inside there is a eternal lamp, you can contribute oil to it Me: is it a eternal jyothi or fire? i have been working here for 8 years this is we are doing from the temple permission through tender it is a belief that if you put oil to the lamp then all your sins will be cleared this is known as southern Kashi it is as sacred as Kashi itself it is said that by having bath in both the kalyanis and then offering pooje here, all sins can be washed away this is known as koti linga, on this big linga small lingas have been carved on it on this these small lingas they have done within this koti(crore) lingas has been made, and it is equal to having darshana of Koti lingas Me: in a single linga there is koti linga pour it from top here is standing ganesha what is the temple opening timings morning 6 am to evening 8 pm everyday pooje we do, twice a day abhisheka will be there,afternoon pooje will be there for devotees stay provision of rooms are available provision of food has been made twice a day food will be provided, afternoon 12 to 3 pm night 8 pm to 9: 30 pm if a little delayed then too they will make provisions Me: in case more people come do they have lunch for all? generally the cater for the average crowd if more people are visiting then they can inform in advance if informed we will make it ready in half an hour Me: for rooms do they need to inform in advance for informing contact number is available, generally rooms are available there is no timing as such. We will be open even during afternoon 6 AM to 8 PM the temple will be open this Mahakooteshwara Kshetra known Daksiha Kashi in 550 CE was built by chalukya King Jaya suryas son Ranaraga later during mangaleshas period there are inscriptions mentioning the donations which he has given Aslo King Vijayadithya's royal courtyard dancer donated for the temple golden peeta and silver umbrella was given this is shown in the inscription agasthya munni had a promise that he had to install koti lingas for that reason he installed lingas in and around badami, aihole and pattadakal region then 1 was less in number to crore or koti then he did tapas at mahakoota temple area impress by his tapas that place was taken in the form of Mahakkoota here the speciality of Mahakoota temple is the two thirtas or kalyanis one is kashi thirta and the other shivapushpa thirta after having bath in both the thirtas then having gods darshana is the rule scientifically due to the presence of Ayurvedic important plant around the area by having bath in those thirthas it will not only cleanse one of all their sins even the diseases will be cured in shivapushkarni thirtha there is a chaturmukha linga other than this place it is available only in Nepal it is there at Pashupathi temple at nepal that is the speciality here Mahakooteshwara kshetras rathothsava is done annually on the day of adi poornima then it is the small chariot means the flower chariot next day the strong chariot means the big chariot, two chariot are there first day is flower chariot and the next day is the big chariot the celebration continues for 5 days during shravana season special pooje will be there during shivarathri too special poojes will be there Karthika season too special pooje is there Me: please tell your name? My name is veeranna im the accountant here there is a guest house in the guest house there is a large guest house the committee has made staying facility here for the visitors here 24 hrs they book in and out, if you come today at 12 noon tomorrow 12 noon you need to check out the rooms can be used by all people, poor, middle class or high class they charge a minimum sum of Rs. 500 be it at badami or aihole room this affordable are not available would like to thank the Mahakoota committee for making this provision in this building there are total of 57 building 9 dormitory's are there since 80 percentage visiting are for educational purpose due to the historical significance of badami, aihole, pattadakal so when they come for educational tours in one bus there will be 40 to 56 children for such school tours , for children stay they provide here it becomes easier for segregating girls and boys as well Me: they permit school children and tourist to stay here here water facility is very good 24 hrs hot water facility is also available though we provide water here all go and have bath in the thirtha as the archakaru mentioned the benefits of the Ayurvedic water there it is a very beautiful place to stay

2021-04-15 19:43

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