The Great Konkan Run – Day 15: Shravanabelagola
and Kasargod
This is the second year in
a row you are in the Konkan in the rains. You have done the Maharashtra and Goa
legs and you remember most of it. Maybe because you have been to some places
twice and written brief posts about them that you can recall bits and pieces of
the travels.
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| View of the pushkarni and Chandragiri from Vindhyagiri or Doddabetta which is 3347 feet high - Sharvanabelagola in Karnataka |
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| Shrines dotting Doddabetta |
In the last leg of the trip,
you drive from Bangalore into Kerala. In just a few days you pack so much of
Kerala that the trip has turned into a blur and you don’t seem to recall which
places you actually visited and in which particular order! But then blame it on
Kerala. Every city, town and village has so much beauty and history that it is
difficult not to just lose yourself; and hence the need for the unravelling of
the hours to give the trip a coherent pattern.
And there is no better way to
recall than to write a few blogposts just when you think you are in that zone
just having finished some huge twelve posts from the same year’s earlier road
trip in Gujarat. So, you will start from Day 15 as you leave on a cool monsoon
day in this beautiful state that you love for a state that you have never set
foot upon yet. Also, instead of going to the more popular and touristy South
Kerala, you will enter from the North, seeing places away from the usual trails
and in monsoon you hope to have the places to yourself. You will come back to first
fourteen days memoirs in the near future.
You leave Bangalore early
in the morning before the nice rat-racing IT geeks clog up the roads taking the
suburban Highway 48 that rings the western part of the city. Monsoon clouds
drift in the sky. It is going to be a nice day to drive through the
countryside.
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| Love these signs in Karnataka and MP |
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| So Many Choices So Little Time |
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| The first view of the hill - Sharavanabelagola |
British Library
Photograph from an album of 40 albumen prints by Edmund David
Lyon. Shravanabelagola in the Hassan district of Karnataka is a site sacred to
those of the Jain faith, especially venerated by the Digambara sect of Jainism.
It comprises the Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri hills and at the summit of the
former, larger hill is a colossal granite statue of the Jain saint Bahubali,
dating from the 10th century. For over 1000 years it has ranked as the world's
tallest monolithic free-standing sculpture with a height of 18ms. The serene
statue is known locally as Gomateshvara. It was carved at the behest of
Chamundaraya, a minister in the court of the Western Ganga king Rachamalla IV
(ruled 974-99). Bahubali, the son of Rishabanatha, the first Jain saint,
himself achieved sainthood through meditating for several years and the statue
portrays him standing upright, with vines growing about his limbs. This view
looks towards the Vindhyagiri hill and the Jain shrines on the summit. Lyon
wrote in his 'Notes to Accompany a Series of Photographs Prepared to Illustrate
the Ancient Architecture of Southern India' (Marion & Co., London, 1870),
edited by James Fergusson, that this '...is a view of the Rock taken from
below, close to the camping-ground. The enclosure at the top is the temple, and
above it, the head and shoulders of the statue are also seen. There is no path
of any sort up the rock, and visitors must scramble as best they can to the
door seen in the wall, by which the temple is entered'.
You have not seen this
South-Western part of Karnataka so far including Mysore. It is time to tick off
one place in the list - Shravanabelagola, the great Jain pilgrimage town with the colossal
monolithic statue of Shri Bahubali. Turning south off the Bangalore-Mangalore
Highway brings you to the banks of the Kalyani nestled between the hills of Chandragiri
and Vindhyagiri. It was on Chandragiri that Chandragupta breathed his last in 298 CE living as an ascetic.
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| The 620 steps cut into the rock will take you to the top |
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| Vindhyagiri to the South and Chandragiri to the North - Shravan Belagola |
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| British Library |
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| View of Chandragiri where Chandragupta Maurya (reign 321-298 BCE) spent his last years as a Jain bhikshu |
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| Dogs are always companions at heritage sites |
Today, you have only time
to climb Vindhyagiri to go have darshan of Gommateshwara. Taking off your
footwear you set off to climb the rock cut steps over the gentle rockface. It
is not warm and your feet are comfortable. You still remember when you actually
scorched your feet walking on the burning floor at the Simhachalam Temple in
Vishakhapatnam. On
turning back you can see the town with the Pushkarni – Belagola or White Pond spread
out below. On the other side of the pushkarni is the other hill called Chandragiri where Chandragupta
Maurya spent his last days as a bhikshu.
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| Love how Karnataka ASI takes care of their heritage. Here the inscriptions are covered with plexiglass |
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| Chandragiri |
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| Doddbatetta in Sharavanbelagola |
Today,
as you climb, cool breeze builds up, the views get better and sun stays hidden
behind the clouds. The
bunch of these sprightly elderly ladies would climb few steps, take a break, then again climb a
flight and take a break. And they are covering every point of interest on the
hill methodically at a fast clip. They would disappear into a mandap, pray and
make their way to the next shrine. So even as you are making your way to the
top, the ladies are already descending, having done their job.
Once on the top, you walk
through the gateways and shrines that remind you of Hampi and Vijaynagar and
always puts in a happy mood. Granite pillars and walls, inscriptions on the
rock, relief images on boulders, hero stones, largely undamaged deities in the
basadis that dot the hill and the general vibe as you climb the last few
flights that are steep with few left over boulders providing natural fencing
and protection.
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| You have seen similar reliefs at Jain sites; can be seen on the way up to Gwalior Fort |
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| A woman hunter who has just stepped on a thorn! Or the love story of Chenchita & Narsimha! |
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| She reminds you of the Dancing Girl of Hampi - her skirt is the same but has a different hairstyle. What is she holding in her left hand? |
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| The always adorable Darpan Sundari. She could also be Mohini who turns Bhasmasur to ashes - another mind boggling chapter in HIndu Mythology |
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| Now this is something new and you see couple of such reliefs here - Monkeys apparently love jackfruits and will not let go of them or share them |
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| There is a crocodile lying in wait on the steps |
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| This overseas guy is apparently happy today |
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| Is this Dandiya Raas? Yes it is played in all southern states and is called Kolata in Karnataka |
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| Look at her hairbun! |
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| Wonder what those holes are for? |
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| Bal Krishna tied to the pillar by Yashoda! |
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| Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman |
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| Now this is never seen before - women performing acrobats and tricks |
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| Oh yes, bagful of money? |
The best part of Vijaynagar architecture style is looking for these relief images which usually denoted everyday life
and would be inspired from mythology and local tales. Some are animals – both terrestrial and
aquatic; there are kolata dancing women, scenes of Nat women performing street acrobats, there are hunting scenes, guards who definitely look foreign and similar to the ones on the walls
of Mahanavami Dibba of Hampi; the thrill is to find these images hiding in
plain sight and then trying to figure out what they depict.
Every
now and then you see the
58 feet tall monolithic statue of Gommateshwara peeping above the fort like
granite walls. This part of Karnataka seems to be dotted with Bahubali statues.
You had visited the lesser known site at Karkala in the neighbouring district
of Udupi, again built on an atmospheric wooded hill.
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| The 58 feet Gommateshwara was installed in 981 CE during the Western Gangas Dynasty by their general Chavundaraya |
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| Hoysala Influence too |
And then you pass the
narrow gateway to emerge into the courtyard and see the huge idol of
Gommateshwar standing there like He would have for more than thousand years
depicting Him meditating with vines climbing his legs. The experience is
humbling and when you look at Buddha and the Jain Tirthankars you do wonder
what they went through giving up everything, meditating for years and then
attaining this salvation and becoming Gods. It is too far-fetched and
unattainable for a critter like you. You say silent prayers and come down the
hill.
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| The White Pond of the Shravana |
The Pushkarni or the Kalyani
provides lovely views for some photographs. The town is not a mess like most
pilgrimage spots are. You load up on some water. Kerala is waiting.
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| Plantations on the way - Malabar is known for coffee and spices |
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| Black Pepper Plantation - Black Gold |
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| Coffee Beans |
This is the perfect route
for a road trip. The route taken is CR Pattana, then swinging by Hassan, Sakleshwar and Subramanya. The road passes through coffee and spice plantations. This is first time
you are seeing the coffee plants. You remember passing through tea plantations
on your way to Kaziranga National Park and on the way to Dibrugarh from
Sibsagar. Rains come down in sheets, swollen streams run past the road.
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| The Misty Western Ghats that come alive in the monsoons |
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| The voluptuous Payaswani river |
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| The Jalsoor Cherkala road flitting through the two states |
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| One of the prettiest roads in India - The Jalsoor-Cherkala road as it winds through the Western Ghats not able to make its mind to be in Kerala or Karnataka |
One of the prettiest stretches of
roads brings you to God’s Own Country for the first time. Driving from
Subramanya in Karnataka to Kasargod, Kerala’s northernmost district is a
delight. But do remember to turn right at Jalsoor. This is the Jalsoor-Cherkala
SH 55. The NH 275 will continue North towards Mangalore. The road zig-zags
through dense woods in pitch dark with rain pouring down and seemingly unable
to make its mind whether to enter Kerala or stay in Karnataka. Apparently, the
road keeps moving back and forth between Karnataka and Kerala. The ‘Welcome to
Kerala’ and ‘Welcome to Karnataka’ signs will keep alternating every kilometre!
Now you would really want to drive on this road in daylight when you could the drive could have been relaxing and taking in the sights and sounds of Western Ghats. Speaking of sound, the evening sounds of birds and the jungle reach a crescendo amid the fresh glossy leaves of fifty shades of green. The curvy Payaswani river keeps company
on the left all the way to Kasargod.
Kukke
Subramanyam Temple dedicated to Kartikeya has a gilded shikhar that glints in
the night. Would have loved to stop and have darshan but it is pitch dark, road
goes through a jungle and it better that you keep going. You will drive for
another 90 kms through the lovely stretch of asphalt.
It is late in the night
when you reach Kasargod. You are tired but feeling relieved that you are
finally in Kerala. Finding a roadside shack, you will have the first of the
many Parotta meals in the coming days in Kerala.
The journey continues.
Day's
Stats
- Route
Taken – Bangalore to Shravanabelagola; then turning south at Jalsoor and
then Kasargod in Kerala
- Distance
covered today – 410 kms
- Total
Distance covered so far - 410 kms
References
Other Similar Posts on this Blog
The Bahubali Gommateshwara of Karkala in Udupi
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