Me: Hi Jitu, whats plan for tomorrow?
Jitu: nothing.. have 1-2 small tasks to do, what is your plan?
Me: Lets have bike trip to to Somnathpur tomorrow.
Jitu: What time should we leave?
Me: How about 7:30 am?
Jitu: All right.
Me: I will call you around 6:30.OK.
Jitu: OK.
Me: OK then. See you tomorrow.
Jitu: Yep.
As planned we started around 7:30, feels good on bike after so long time. Crossing small villages we enjoyed the ride. Idea was to visit Somnathpura and Talakadu, and if it gets late in the evening spend the night in Mysore. We took Bangalore-Kanakpura-Malavali-Talakad-Somnathpur route which is not in a good condition. Alternative is Bangalore-Mandya-Somnathpur-Talakadu route. Still Somnathpur to Talakadu road is in very bad condition, a strech of 10-12 kms which you can not avoid. On the way we saw many people with their bulls marching. Going ahead we saw fair where bulls were on sale. It was big event, around 400 bulls were on sale. And we went on doing window shopping. One pair of bull costs around Rs. 50k. And you would be surprised to know that these bulls were insured too. Its high time now if you don't have a life insurance. :D
At the end of Talakdu village there is Lord Shiva Temple. The tower of this temple look like it has been recently constructed. At the door of the temple we see two Dwarpal carved in stones. Temple has a typical Vijayanagar Style of architecture which one finds in Hampi. There is nothing striking or special about this temple or its architecture when compared to Somnathpur or Hampi temples. This place was found under the sand on the bank of river Kauvery. And it is believed that around 30 temples are still under ground. And there is a mythical curse behind the temples buried under the sand. the curse called “Curse of Talakad” by Alamelamma on the Wodeyar dynasty (erstwhile Maharajas) of Mysore. "Talakadu Maralagi, Malangi Maduvagi, Mysooru Arasarige Makkalagadirali"- the female Alamelamma cursed this way. (translation- May Talakadu be filled with Sand, Malangi be a Whirlpool and Mysore Kings shall not have offsprings")
Behind this Shiva temple you will find another temple excavated from sand dunes. Construction work is going on to renovate this temple. These temples were built in Ganga Dynasty which preceded Hoysalas. There are small other Shiva temples surrouding this temple. You can skip if you are not here for pilgrimage trip. There is small place where you can have decent lunch.
After having lunch we were headed towards Somnathpur. As mentioned earlier road is in very bad condition. Somnathpur temple is built by Soma who was DandaNayaka (Danda-Punishment, Nayak -leader) in Hoysala Dynasty under the king Narsimha III in 1268 AD. This temple is maintained by Archeological Survey Of India. At the right side of the entrance there is 60-70 feet tall Deepstambha (Deep-light, Stambh-Pillar) carved out of single stone. On the left hand side of the entrance there is big stone carved in old kannada language with details about the temple like donations made, sculptor name etc. As you enter the temple the first thing strikes is the symmetry of this temple. This is trikuta (tri-three) temple, which means it has three garbhagruhas ( centre or sanctorum) where three idols of Krishna are place in same building. Temple at Bellur is ekkuta having only one Garbhagriha, Halebidu having dwikuta (dwi- two) having two Garbhagruha. And Bellur and Halebidu temples were built much before Somnathpur temple. So one see the pattern here Ekkuta(Bellur), DwiKuta(Halebidu) and TriKuta(Somnathpur). Unlike Halebidu or Bellur temples this temple is complete which took 68 years to built. And one finds the names of the sculptors below the sculpture. This temple is dedicated to three forms of Vishnu which are Keshava, Janardhana and Venugopala. The carving on outer walls are magnificent with fine details. At the bottom of the wall you will find the lines of Elephents carved representing stability, next line of Horse representing power, next line is of flowers representing beauty and so on. Outer wall carvings also show Ten Avatar of Lord Vishnu similar to Bellur. Unlike other temple there are few statues of representing Kamasutra positions. And when our guide says this temple is complete unlike Halebidu or Bellur, no wonder why this temple is called as “Complete”.
This temple is highest degree of Hoysala Architecture which is fusion of South indian and north indian style of architecture. On the outer walls there is examples of of both south indian and north indian style of architecture. Inside temple you will find panchsheela (panch-five, sheela-stone) pillars. These pillars are made out of five stones which are carved separately and grooved together later. The ceiling of the temple is astonishing. It represents various phases of Banana flower from bud till the fruit is ripen. Any description of temple will not do a justice to the beauty of temple one has to see and experience it. That's why we visit the places instead of watching all the photos on the net.
And as day recedes we start our journey back to bangalore. Happy to have seen amazing temple built 700 years ago.
View Larger Map
