Hampi (panoramic view)

Hospet Shree Ram & Shree Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Mandir

Shree Ram & Shree Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Mandir

It was the long weekend of Gandhi Jayanti back in Oct 2006. We were planning a trip to Hospet along with family friends. However they were not able to make it. I did not want to spend my long weekend in Bangalore so decided to leave for Hospet anyways. I wanted to visit Hampi a second time too. So that night I went and booked whatever tickets were available. The Volvo tickets were not available for the forward journey however I did get a Volvo ticket for the return journey. I got a red bus ticket. We had never traveled by the red bus and did not what to expect. I had never seen it in Blr. I knew it was the cheapest when I bought the tickets but at the last minute, I did not have any other option.

After a rickety racktey travel in the night and a fussy Dad who kept swearing under his breath, we reached Hospet at 7.0 am. We got off the bus and called up Ravi. If the devotees remember we had a MSN group on Shree Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Maharaj. I had met Ravi on this group. He was very generous to help me with the address and details. He was waiting for us at the Mandir along with the trustee and other devotees. 

We took an auto to the temple. It is a little outside the town and in the midst of green fields just off the main road. It's quite peaceful like a typical village temple.

Ravi Hospet, if you happen to read this pl. share the temple address in the comments. I will add it here.

 L to R: Ravi, Dad, some devotees, extreme right Chief Trustee

We were very warmly welcomed by the devotees. They had just finished the Kakad aarti session. We promised them that we will join them for morning and evening aarti while we were in Hospet.

Later we came back to the town center and checked into Hotel Mallige, it's a 3 star, the best in Hospet in those days, I don't know about now.  We kept our promise. We attended Kakad aarti and sejaarti for the 3 days while in Hospet.

The Mandir like most  Shree Brahmachaitanya Mandir is on the top dedicated to the Lord Gopal Krishna as Shree loved cows and other animals.

  In the cellar is the samadhi

There are paintings of Tukamai, Aaisaheb and Brahmananda Maharaj in the cellar.

There are few devotees here but they are carrying out pooja and celebrating all the important days in Shree's life. The routine is similar to that performed in Gondavale all with aarti, bhajan, pher-phugdi, pravachan reading etc. Then followed a lot of conversation and sharing stories of our associations with Shree and the devotees. It is always such a rewarding experience to know about the devotees spread across the country, wherever Shree had traveled. I am touched most when I hear these Kannada vernacular people singing all the aartis and bhajans in Marathi. Even in Bangalore temple I've seen this but Hospet is a small typical North Karnataka town. They learn from books that have Marathi written in Kannada script! They learn it like we recite Sanskrit shlokas without understanding and are very keen to know the meaning of the Bodhavachan of Shree.

When we visited we were the only visitors to the temple yet they served us prasad once. We tried to tell them we will manage out but they insisted that the Archak makes an offering to the God so we can have the same as prasad. We could not refuse when offered with so much love and care. The Archak himself served us that day. He went all out putting a rangoli around our plantain leaves and served us wearing sovaLa/ Madhi.

It was Dasara on one of the days and since we were on travel we did not even remember. However the trustee surprised us by inviting us to his home for dinner. We were in for more surprises when his mother spoke to us in Marathi! They had organized a sumptuous dinner and served us with a lot of aagraha.

On the day we left they gave us tokens for memory along with tambulam.

We felt blessed.

Address: 
Sri Radha Krishna Chaithanya mandir,PDIT engg. college Road,
Gokul Nagar,
Dam Road,
Hospet-583203
Bellary -Dist
Karnataka. 

27th Nov 2005: Kudal Sangama

Kudal Sangama

It was afternoon when we reached Kudal Sangama. November in North Karnataka is hot. We passed the Sabha Bhavana, it had a huge metal dome shinning in the afternoon sun. I was amazed how the progress was happening in this remote place, unawares that I was going to be surprised no end as we moved on. We lunched at the KSTDC's Mayura Hotel, enjoyed the North Karnataka thali with Katak jolad roti.

We then proceeded to the Sangamanatha Temple. As is customary removed our chappals on the stands and raced through the tiled courtyard our feet blistering due to the heat. There wasn't much rush and we got darshan immediately. I do not remember much about the insides of the temple now. This temple is located at the confluence of the Malaprabha, Ghataprabha and Krishna rivers rendering the place holy. The temple service is on since the last 800 yrs.

I am Marathi and if it had not been for the Amar Chitra Katha there was a rare possibility of knowing about Basaveshwara. He was a social reformer who propagated casteless society and as it always happens this great reformer was reduced to be known as the founder of Lingayat Dharma. It is a pity why we have to make great men Saints and limit their visions by our thoughts. Basavanna or elder brother as he was loving called was beyond all this and his life story enumerates just that.

We were sitting at the edge of the river when we noticed many people walking towards some bridge like structure. We too started walking towards it.

The top had a dome we took rest a while and took in the beautiful views of the glistening rivers confluencing, yet showing distinct colors. I inquired with a person if there was something there that we were missing. Quite hesitantly he said if you are ready to walk down 9 floors. Then there is a Samadhi that you can see. Wow! a Samadhi in the middle of the river and we were standing at the top projection of it! I was awestruck !! What an engineering marvel.

The story goes like this. When the Almatti Dam was built. The river bed expanded submerging the Samadhi of Basavanna which was supposed to be on the shore. So the engineers built this dry well. It is about 9 floors deep. There was rush near the Samadhi that day but am sure must be a divine experience to sit there in silence on most days. I loved the simplicity of the Samadhi.

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Later we went to a nearby place which was like a theme park on the spiritual history from the region. It is a modern day depiction and did not really impress me.

We started back for Bangalore and reached Corporation in the morning on 28th Nov 2005.

26th-27th Nov 2005: Bijapur

It was late evening by the time we reached Bijapur. The KSTDC hotels were full so we were put up in a budget hotel. It was stinky on the stairs and I got worried about what kind of a room we would get. It was clean and minimal. I told my self it was the last night, before I would be in my own bed.

We had dinner of North Karnataka Thali and retired to bed. Next morning we were going to see the city. I had been to Bijapur couple of times before and knew a bit about its history. Our first visit was to the signature of Bijapur the Gol Gumbaz. The beauty of Gol Gumbaz is in its simple but artistic design and acoustics that are a marvel of architecture even today. The dome is the second largest in the world! The whispering gallery echos even the tear of paper 7 times. It was designed for pleasure performances when microphone were not invented. Today is home to the tombs of the courtesans. It gives a wonderful view of the city from the terrace around the dome.

When Bijapur is mentioned this Gol Gumbaz flashes first in memory
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The tombs and the simple designs on the exterior

We then went to the see the Mailk-e-maidan the canon that was made in Ahmadnagar and then brought here. This canon when fired had caused 500 people to go deaf. It weighs 55 tons and in 4 mts long and 1.5 mt in daimeter with the mouth like a lion swallowing an elephant.

Malik-e-Maidan, the cannon that deafened 500 people

The citadel of Bijapur

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The Jami Masjid hall, The stone chain handing from the ceiling

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The empty tank that must have been full of water at some time in history

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The carvings on the pillars, arches, doors evrything is so exquisite

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The Quran inscriptions in gold



Jami Masjid campus

We then went to see the Jami Masjid, it is home to the inscription of Quran in gold. The prayer halls are empty at most time, it take you back in time with the beautiful arches and the water tank reminding you of th Adilshahi era.

At times I felt like I was in Lucknow. We went on to Kudal Sangama from Bijapur. I was awestruck by an engineering marvel in this remote place but for now I will close here. Come back to read and find out what it was?

26th Nov 2005: Aihole

It was dusk when we reached Aihole and the entire heritage site looked wonderful. soaking in the pinkness of the evening sun. While the Durga temple looked luminous as the though the sun streamed a focus on it. It looked resplendent golden. I was stunned by its beauty and at such a moment I am still.

As is seen here the mix of architectural styles gets us guessing. I thought I was entering a stupa when we went into the Durga temple. It is neat sculpturing charachteristic spacing out of large figurines than intricate carvings.

Mahishasur Mardini in Durga temple: you see it in Pattadkal too.

Lad Khan temple : Would you believe this was the home of a Barber?

This temple has Shiv linga but due to the panchayat hall built in people wonder if it was a meant to be a temple or was it home to a barber? I was wondering about the status of barbers in the kingdom. Our guide told us about the barber angle and am trying to find it on records about this temple, not been successful yet.

Here the interlocking of stone is what leaves you spell bound. No concrete was used and the building still stands the test of time, wishing that the barbarians had not touched it, we would have been able to study the structures in their completeness. The jali windows are beautiful allowing just enough light and air for people circumventing the temple.

Long shot of the complex

The excavation and restoration at the heritage site.

Aihole is such a small town. When our bus stopped at the site. The tea stall owner ran to get tea powder so he could get bussiness from us. Tough the tea looked disgusting we bought it coz we knew for another couple of hours we would get nothing.

The bus took off in the direction of Bijapur through bumpy roads and impenetrable darkness. We were to halt for the night in Bijapur. Come back for the next post to read about it.

26th Nov 2005: Pattadkal

Pattadkal is situated on the banks of the Malaprabha river. Though at one time it was a temple town where the Chalukya kings got crowned now it is a sleepy town which wakes up only to the tourist buzzing in the temple complex. Pattadkal was home to the Chalukya family dieties. The complex is now a World heritage site.

The first thing that strikes you here is the meeting of the architecture styles from the North & South India that is known as the Hemakuta style . There are a group of 10 temples here the ceilings, walls and pillars are adorned with beautiful sculptures. It is said that the Chalukya style of architecture achieved its peak in Pattadkal.

We visited one temple which is still functional, while the others are in ruins as they were desecrated by the muslim intruders. There are 2 beautiful large Nandis carved in green granite that even today shine like just polished.

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A lot of rehabilitate work is in progress here so we were not able to explore all the temples from inside. My favorite is ofcourse the Virupaksha temple.

It was late afternoon and we had one more destination to reach before proceeding to Bijapur for the night's stay so we moved towards Aihole.

26th Nov 2005: Badami

The Nataraj statue with 18 hands depicting 81 mudras from the Bharatnatyam form of dance.


We reached Badami in the late morning and even though it was Nov it was hot. Though the roads were really bad these heritage sites are extremely well maintained by the Karnataka Govt.

The mid morning sun made the red sandstone hill resplendent. As we climbed the steps to the caves I was unprepared for the site. I almost gasped at the greater than human sized carvings, a glimpse of which I caught as I reached at the entrance of the first cave.

The guide told us stories about these sculptures. He pointed out how these cave represented unity in diversity. They were home to Shaivism, Vaishnavism as well a Jainism and Buddhism. Read more here about the history.

I found it really amazing to see how the stand stone lent itself so well for the carvings. The layers in the cross section provided a visual of drapery to the statues. It looked as if the clothes carved were really draped on them.

We climbed a few steps towards the second cave and the apple green pool in the ravine was another soothing surprise. It was a little cooler on this side of the hill as the towering fort cast a shadow. For security reasons the fort was closed for visitors.

The sight of Agastya Lake reminded me of Ruskin Bond's The hidden Pool

There was a small museum at the foothills which we checked out. We did not visit the dargah, may be some other time. From here we proceed to have lunch and then were on our way to Pattadkal.