ಕ್ಷಣಪ್ರಭಾ - Kshanaprabhaa

Chatachattahalli , a village situated about 5 kilometers away from Halebidu, boasts of an old Hoysala temple, believed to be constructed by Chattaiah Perumale , who held a notable position in the Hoysala kingdom. The temple, which is a Trikuta architecture, has Chatteshwara as its main deity, and also contains Suryanarayana and Harihara in other two sanctum sanctorums. The temple though, is currently in deplorable condition, and with no care being taken, this piece of history is slowly collapsing to obscurity. EDIT: The temple was restored around 2013, with efforts from Shri Haranahalli Nagendra and others, striving to ensure that the historical monuments and temples in and around Hassan district survive for the upcoming generations. Here is the video compilation: Chatteshwara Temple, Chatachattahalli from hmvprasanna on Vimeo .

Basadihalli, which now appears as a separate village on the outskirts of Halebidu, was very much part of the capital city "Dwaravati" or "Dwarasamudra" of the Hoysala dynasty. Devout Jains right from the beginning, Hoysalas had constructed and nurtured hundreds of Jinalayas during their reign. Very few of them have stood the test of time. The three temples in the Basadihalli Jain temple complex date back to 12th Centiry AD, with the construction beginning during the reign of Vishnuvardhana. The Parshwanatha Basadi, also known as "Vijaya Parshwanatha Jinalaya" due to the fact that Vishnuvardhana's victory in Bankapura coincided with the inauguration of the temple, was constructed in the honour of the much respected Hoysala commander in chief Ganga Raja . His son Boppadeva was instrumental in getting this built. The statue of Parshwanatha, about 18 feet tall, looks stunning even today, with a seven headed serpent carved in such a way that it is pro...

Kondajji, a little village situated about 17 kms from Hassan, is home to a 14th century temple of Varadaraja Swamy , also called Allalanatha. Legend has it that this extraordinarily beautiful 11 feet tall image of Varadaraja, a form of Vishnu's Janardana aspect, was on its way to Belur, for it to be enshrined at the Channakeshava temple complex. But for some reason, it could not make it all the way, and was apparently running the risk of being deserted. An old lady (Ajji, which means grand mother in Kannada) decided to buy the statue and establish it in a temple at that place, and hence, it is believed that the village got the name "Kondajji" (Konda + Ajji). Although the story stated above is linked to the times of Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana and Shantala, the fact that it is a statue of 14th century would mean that this might have occurred during the reign of Ballala the Third. The statue itself is mesmarizingly beautiful, and the temple, as expected, does not hav...

Although well known as the native place of former India cricketer Javagal Srinath , the village of Javagal in the Arasikere taluk of Hassan district, Karnataka has managed to remain out of limelight. Even the presence of a 1250 AD Hoysala architectural masterpiece in the form of a Lakshmi Narasimha Temple has not managed to draw the attention of tourists. This trikuta temple is home to Lakshmi Narasimha, Veera Narayana and Venugopala in its three sanctum sanctorums, and on the outer walls, carvings of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, Dancing Saraswati, Lakshmi, Indra, and others can be seen. Mallitamma, the genius sculptor of this era, is believed to be the the chief architect of the temple. Here are some pictures of the temple: Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Javagal from hmvprasanna on Vimeo .

This grossly neglected trikuta temple built circa 1100 AD at Adagur village of Hassan district houses Lakshmi Narayana as the main deity, and also contains Venugopala and Saraswati in the other two sanctum sanctorums. The temple bears similarity to many early Hoysala period temples, like the one in Doddagaddavalli. There is also a statue of Ramanujacharya and an incomplete inscription in the temple premises. Compilation of a few pics from the temple: Lakshmi Narayana Temple, Adagur from hmvprasanna on Vimeo .

One of the crowning glories of the Hoysala architecture is undoubtedly the world renowned Channakeshava Temple complex at Belur, Karnataka. The vast complex housing multiple temples has been built over centuries, beginning from the time of Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana's reign. The temple was inaugurated in 1117 AD , and king Vishnuvardhana appears to have taken special interest in getting it built. The complex is home to the extremely artistic Channakeshava temple, where daily prayers are offered even today, and two shrines for Keshava's ladies, Soumyanayaki and Ranganayaki, an additional Veera Narayana temple, and the legendary Kappe Channigaraya temple, where the idol for worship carved by Jakkanachari was found to be from a faulty stone and was rendered useless. The main deity is also known as Vijaya Narayana , as Hoysalas tasted success in a major war around the same time the temple got inaugurated. Also present in the complex are a beautiful Kalyani, the famous gra...

Another Hoysala temple at Turuvekere that is contemporary to the Channakeshava temple is the Moole Shankara temple. This clearly brings out the religious harmony that existed during the Hoysala reign, with both the Vishnu and Shiva shrines built close to each other at pretty much the same period. "Moole" in Kannada means "corner", and the temple, as with many other Hoysala temples, is at a corner of the Turuvekere town. Here is the photo compilation of the temple: Moole Shankara Temple, Turuvekere from hmvprasanna on Vimeo .

I could resurrect my Hoysala expedition last weekend after a gap of almost 2 months, and this time, the town in focus was Turuvekere, a panchayat town in Tumkur district of Karnataka. The town has two temples clearly mapped to the Hoysala period, and one of them is the Channakeshava Temple that stands amongst the old Agrahara rows of houses at a corner of the fast developing town. Construction of the temple is known to have begun in 1258 AD, during the reign of the Hoysala king Narasimha the 3rd . His well known Commander in Chief Somanna (most likely the same famous commander who built the Somanathapura temple) has played an instrumental role in the temple getting built. This ekakuta temple hosts the statue of Channakeshava, which, although not as big as the ones found inside the sanctum sanctorums of Somanathapura, Belur or Kaidala, boasts of its own beauty and perfection. As usual, here is a video compilation of the photos I took at the temple: Channakeshava Temple, Tu...

Another temple of the Hoysala period standing adjacent to the Channakeshava temple at Kaidala is the Gangadhareshwara Temple . It looks as though this temple was never completed, and the grills and the doors have been installed afterwards, along with other enhancements. A possible recent land dispute has meant that the temple is closed for the visitors. From what is visible from outside, the temple has 4 beautifully carved pillars, and two inscriptions of great historical value, which are all gathering dust due to the neglect. Here is a little video of the snaps I took at the temple: Gangadhareshwara Temple, Kaidala from hmvprasanna on Vimeo . Similar stories of Hoysala Expedition

My quest of Hoysala temples took me to the district of Tumkur last weekend, to a village named Kaidala to be exact. The little temple of 1151 AD in this village is one of great heritage. Legendary sculptor of Hoysala period, Jakkanachari, is believed to have built this temple at a ripe old age of 86, with the help of his son Dankana. The beautiful statue of Channakeshava that is being worshiped even today, is supposedly his last work of art. The temple was built at his home town of Kreedapura, which is now known as Kaidala. The name Kaidala is due to the legend that says that Jakkana got back his hand ("Kai" in Kannada) that he had severed after a flaw had been found by his son Dankana in the Channakeshava statue he had sculpted at Belur. There is a little statue on the wall of the this temple of Kaidala, and it is believed to be depicting Jakkana and his son. As usual, here is a compilation of some pictures I took at the temple premises: Channakeshava Temple...

Last weekend marked a visit to Somanathapura, a village near Mysore, home to one of the most famous temples ever built under the reign of the Hoysalas. It is a prime example for the grandeur of the Hoysala style of architecture. The temple is known to have been built in 1268 AD , during the time of King Narasimha III , by his commander Soma. Mallithamma was the leading architect of the temple, which also had great contributions from Masanatamma, Bameya, Chameya, and other noted sculptors. This trikutachala temple is home to the deities of Keshava, Janardana and Venugopala, and the outer walls of the temple are adorned with tens of hundreds of neatly carved images. With me on this trip was Karthik, who has been equally fascinated by the historical and the architectural aspects of the Hoysala temples, and the best part was that we did not know how to reach Somanathapura until we got down there! Now that we have been there, if you are relying on the public transport, the best rou...

The beauty of Raga Charukeshi has captivated me in the last couple months. This raga, which originated in Carnatic music, has made its way into Hindustani as well. The raga has been used to depict various moods, mainly the pinnacle of Bhakti. It also renders itself very well to both ecstasy and sorrow, which not many ragas can manage as seamlessly as Charukeshi. I have been digging into many of the songs and renditions of Charukeshi in carnatic music, hindustani, dhrupad as well as movie songs. Here is a collection. The favorite being the fusion by Anoushka Shankar and Nitin Sawhney. 1. Carnatic: Adamodi Galade sung by Charulatha Mani , where the composer, Saint Tyagaraja , begs Lord Rama to speak to him: 2. Movie: Song Shyam Teri Bansi Pukare from the movie Geet Gata Chal (1975) 3. Movie: Kripaya Palaya Shoure composed by Swathi Thirunal , rendered by the legendary K. J. Yesudas , in the Malayalam movie "Swathi Thirunal". 4. Hin...

On the same day as my Kikkeri Brahmeshwara Temple visit, I had visited this huge and attractive Panchalingeshwara Temple , situated just 5 kms away from the town of Kikkeri. The village that is host to this majestic temple is Govindanahalli, which also belongs to Mandya district, and seems to be lost from all the modernization that the rest of the world has seen. This 1237 AD Hoysala temple is built on the outskirts of this small village, surrounded by large paddy fields and coconut plantations, adding to its ageless beauty. The temple is dedicated to the 5 aspects or facets of Lord Shiva, which are, Sadyojata (for the western direction), Vamadeva (for the northern direction), Aghora (for the southern direction), Tatpurusha (for the eastern direction), and Ishana (for the skywards direction). Each of these 5 aspects of Shiva have a separate sanctum sanctorum of their own, and each of them are connected through one enormously elongated Navaranga. Inside this large hall, one...

On the 3rd of this month, I had been on my second leg of the Hoysala Expedition, covering two places which are close to each other. One was Kikkeri, a town belonging to Krishnarajapete (K. R. Pet) Taluk of Mandya district. Although it is in Mandya district, it is easily accessible from Channarayapatna of Hassan district, for those who would be traveling from Bangalore. The second place was Govindanahalli, a village 5 kilometers away from Kikkeri. The focus here is on the temple in Kikkeri, a place that is famous as the birthplace of the Kannada poet Dr. K. S. Narasimhaswamy. The town is home to the 1171 AD Brahmeshwara Temple built with the Hoysala style of architecture. The temple houses idols of Brahmeshwara, Venugopala, Ganesha, Suryanarayana, and Kala Bhairava among others, apart from the intricate carvings showcasing Nandi, the vehicle of Shiva, and the ten incarnations of Vishnu, and the trimurtis, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. The clinching feature of this temple for me wa...

ISRO today has successfully launched the indigenous PSLV C15 satellite from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, overcoming the debacle of April. Every successful launch from ISRO brings to the fore, the technological advances the country is making in the field of space research. This also brings back memories of a personal experience shared by former president of India, Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. "Dreams are not what you get when you are in sleep, dreams are those that don’t let you sleep." I have heard many people quote this over the last few years, and have read it as being attributed to at least half a dozen people, including Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I don't know where this quote first originated, but I am one of those blessed few who have heard it direct from Dr. Kalam himself. It was February 2007, convocation of the Visvesvaraya Technological University for the 2006 batch of engineering graduates, and having secured a rank in Computer Science...

My Hoysala expedition hit the road running a week ago, with a visit to Doddagaddavalli. Doddagaddavalli, a small village in the district of Hassan, Karnataka, is home to the little known architectural marvel, a Lakshmi Devi temple of the Hoysala period. Inscriptions prove that the temple was constructed under the reign of King Vishnuvardhana, in the year 1114 AD, thus making the temple one of the oldest in the country. Vaishnavite, Shaivite and Jain influences are all in full display, and the temple houses shrines of Lakshmi, Bhoothanatha Linga, Kali and Vishnu. Also in display are rare and intricate carvings of Astadikpalakas (gods of eight directions), fiery Betalas (demons), and multiple inscriptions from the periods of different Hoysala kings. Here is a compilation of some of the pictures I could take on a rather gloomy day. The "almost-about-to-rain" weather added to the countryside look and feel, complete with cool breeze throughout the time spent in the village. ...

I had been to the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens last month a couple of times, primarily to capture on my camera, the blooming flowers of spring time and the re-energized little birds and animals there, and this is what I could manage (click on each of them for enlarged versions) :

After years of gap, I had the honour of talking to one of the most wonderful human beings I have ever come across till date, Shri. L. S. Raman (LSR). A well known Hindi Lecturer who taught at the Navodaya Composite College at Channarayapatna, has been for a long time, one of the best authorities on Hindi language and literature in Karnataka. After retiring in 1993, he kept himself among little kids, something that he enjoyed, by joining as an advisor and teacher at the Chaitanya Vidya Shala primary school. He was very deeply involved with the school till 2006, after which he moved to Chennai, where he is settled now, with his family. What was striking with the conversations I had with him this week was that, although nearing 80, he still has the same levels of affection, memory, clarity of thoughts and expression, which made him the favorite among his students. I still remember him teaching Hindi, English and sometimes even Social Sciences to us at Chaitanya Vidya Shala. I don...

Arnoldous Mauritius Blignaut, the superstar all-round genius, has returned to the Zimbabwe national cricket team after a gap of almost 5 years, and looks in great shape. If he can reproduce the brutal blitzkrieg he brought out a couple of months ago in the Zimbabwean national T20 league for Tuskers against the Mountaineers, then international teams beware! Here's what he did that day: Andy Blignaut turns it on for Tuskers from hmvprasanna on Vimeo . Hoping for a couple of such sterling performances from him in the upcoming World T20 Championships in the West Indies...

Photography from high adrenaline sports action sometimes brings out some of the most wonderful moments ever captured, thus immortalizing those moments for eternity. I stumbled upon one such photograph recently, from an IPL cricket match of 2009, when Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer R Vinay Kumar took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar , the iconic skipper of Mumbai Indians. Here is the photograph: What you see here, is a single frame that captures deep dejection on one face, and pinnacle of ecstasy on the other. Pure magic. This brought to mind a Kagga verse from Dr. DVG , which is haunting me for a couple of weeks now, the one where he presumably describes a moment of deep meditation. What these photographs capture is nothing less than that, obviously if you just keep all other things involved in IPL - politics, money, power, etc. - aside. Here is the verse: ಹಿಂದಣದರುಳಿವಿರದು ಮುಂದಣದರುಸಿರಿರದು ಒಂದರೆಕ್ಷಣ ತುಂಬಿ ತೋರುವುದನಂತ | ಒಂದೆ ಕಣ್ಣೊಂದೆ ಗುರಿಯೊಂದೆ ಮೈಮನಮರೆತ ಸುಂದರದ ಲೋಕವದು - ಮಂಕುತಿ...

I Could not help but get these thoughts last week... (Click on the image to enlarge)

Here are the links to all 8 parts of the alphabetical review of Zimbabwean Cricket in the year 2009: A - Alistair and Co. Back in Business B - Business as Usual for "Boom Boom" Chigumbura C - Charles Coventry's Coveted Innings Part 1 (A, B, C) D - Dylon's Dream Domestic Debut E - England's Ashes Win has Zimbabwean Flavour, Again F - Franchise Cricket Brightens Future Part 2 (D, E, F) G - Graeme Cremer creams Kenya H - Hamilton's Merry I - Injury woes of Utseya and Co. Part 3 (G, H, I) J - Jarvis Junior Jumps in from Nowhere! K - Kenya Marauded - Not Once, But Twice L- Lock Locked Out Part 4 (J, K, L) M - Maruma Stakes Claim N - No Sight, but Great Vision - du Plessis Continues to Impress and Inspire O - Ozias Bvute becomes the Face of ZC Part 5 (M, N, O) P - Priceless Price Scales New Heights Q - Queens Sports Club Roars Back to Life R - Ripped Apart in Chittagong Part 6 (P, Q, R) S - Sibanda's Bradmanesque First Class Season T - Tatenda Taibu's Troubl...

V - Vermeulen is Back With a history of unbelievable run ins against the establishment, including the burning down of the National Cricket Academy of Zimbabwe in 2006, former test cricketer Mark Vermeulen was all set for 25 years of imprisonment with hard labour. But in a curious turn of events, he was acqutted on the basis of the fact that he was suffering from a medical condition known as Partial Complex Epilepsy, which had led to the sudden surge of erratic behavior. Given a chance against all odds to mend himself, Vermeulen showed that he had not lost any of his cricketing class, by piling up huge scores one after another in the 2008-09 first class season in Zimbabwe, and staked claim for a national team call up. One of the most unlikely comebacks of sport history was complete when Vermeulen scored a magnificient 92 in his comback to international arena, representing Zimbabwe against Bangladesh on 9th august, 2009 . He did participate in many useful opening partnerships after that ...