A Day-Out to Kolar
                               Journey through Dynasties !
 

Kolar - It all started when we were looking for a place that could be visited in one day...

Then my hubby suggested why not kolar and nearby places.. Kolar is of historical importance since it was ruled by various dynasties including Gangas, Cholas, Vijayanagar emperors . An apt decision for a one day outing considering the distance from bangalore and most important of all, I can get to eat the famous Bangarpet Panipuri ... J

Having decided upon the destination, Vijendra plotted the important places in and around  kolar to be covered and we begun our journey at 7:00 AM ..

Thanks to the weather ,It was just perfect. A Pleasant day to drive :)  Since Mr. Sun was hiding behind the clouds!!!

1. We first hit Antaragange – Dakshina Kashi (kashi of the south)

Antaragange is around 65kms from Bangalore and 2 kms from Kolar.  This belongs to Shrata Shrunga mountain ranges. Kashi Vishwanatha temple is located on top of the mountain, Could be reached via steps, which might take 15-20mins. The area is under forest range. Many boards are planted depicting the details of flora and Fauna available in the forest.

Beware of the monkeys while climbing, there are  lot n lot of monkeys  through out the path and avoid carrying any food stuffs while climbing…

Beside the temple is the sacred pond , which gets the water from underneath the rock in between the 2 shrines of Basavanna (Bull) as shown in the picture. The water stream  is continuous and is alleged  it would never stop.  It is also believed that the water is from Ganges…

Though the place is very scenic , maintenance is really bad.. The pond is very dirty, garbage found everywhere,  including the vicinity of the temple. Even pradakshine  is not possible around the temple . An alarming situation to the Karnataka tourism department!!!

2. We then headed to the famous Kolaramma Temple situated in the heart of kolar… The town is named after the goddess kolaramma.. It's an ancient temple built over 800 years ago in Dravidian style during the Gangas dynasty.  It was then renovated during Cholas period - 11^th century . Further developed during 15^th century by Vijayanagara emperors.

Inside the garbhagudi  resides  the  idols of goddess kolaramma and saptha maathrikes (7 goddessess) in the form of L-Shape. People visiting this temple can feel the positive vibrations of goddess kolaramma …

Entrance has beautiful carvings on both sides of the dwaras (Doors). One can find kannada and tamil transcripts inscritpted on the walls of the temple.

Entrance of the Temple

Artistic Dwaja Stambha

Beautiful Carving Inside the temple

3.Someshwara temple is located 2 kms from Kolaramma temple. It's a place of architect’s delight.The temple was initially built by Chola’s during 11^th century, then  expanded by Vijayanagara empire .

Gopura

The Temple Gopura depicts the style of cholas. 

The  carvings inside the temple and pillars  showcases the typical Vijayanagara architechture , simliar to the ones in Hampi.

The temple has a beautiful kalyana Mantapa , The sculpture art on the Mantapa is just so oo wonderful..Eyes just wander which one to capture.. coz of so many artistic designs.







Heavy Pillars on the Mukha Mantapa  are similar to the ones in hampi, 
The other attractions in someshwara temple are :Shrine of Goddess Parvathi, Huge Kalyani ,Dwarapalakas . Vasantha mantapa, Yaaga Shaala....

Several Mythological stories, pictures of scared animals like elephants,horses , cow etc.. posing in different bhangis are sculptured through out the walls of the temple . This place really needs some quality time to spend.






















4. Mulabagilu Sri Veeranjaneya temple:
Mulbagal is 30 kms from kolar, Originally named Mudala bagilu means “Eastern Entrance”  to the mysore state during the Vijayanagar kingdom. 

The town is famous for the veeranjaneya hanuman temple & there is a mythological story connected with this , It’s said that after the war of kurukshetra, Arjuna installed the idol of lord  Anjaneya as a mark of respect and gratitude, Since lord Hanuman was the emblem in the flag (dwaja) of their chariot and also is considered to be reason for their victory. There are deities of Lord Srinivasa – Padmavathi , Sri Rama-Sita- Lakshmana.

5.Kurudumale  Ganapathi Temple:

This temple is 12kms from Mulbagal. The temple hosts a huge idol of Lord Ganesha which is 13.5 ft height. 

It is believed that  it was installed (pratishtapane) by   Trimurthis – Brahma, Vishnu & Maheshwara. 

The temple is considered to be very powerful and believed to grant all our wishes.. Hence forth there was a huge crowd and had to wait for sometime to get the darshan of ganapathi.

Just a few meters  away is the temple of lord Someshwara and is built on the rock with out any pillars. The temple has 2 styles of carvings from the famous sculptor JakkannaChaari and his son DonkannaChaari.

By this time we were almost tired and hunger bells were ringing.. Stopped by the road side, underneath a huge tree.. and enjoyed our home made puliyogre,curd rice with pakodas …Hm m m now regained the strength for some more exploration.. ….

6. Our next stop was to the very ancient Viroopaksha temple: 3 kms from Mulbagal and built by Vijayanagar rulers during 13^th Century. The temple resembles the Virupaksha temple of hampi. Has a huge tower , Matapas , Vast kalyani, Pillars .. Worth visiting . But needs some maintenance . 

Karnataka government should seriously take some action against protecting these heritage monuments which cheer our history and culture!!!

7. Avani (Gaya of the south)

My favourite one .. 9 kms from Mulbagal. This is the temple for Sita maate situated on top of a hill.. I guess this is one of the very few temples which is dedicated to sita.  

Oldest temple dates back to the period of Nolamba dynasty. There are shirnes of lingas one each installed by Sri Rama and his brothers and these are called Ramalingeshwara, Lakshmaneshwara, Bharateshwara, Shatrugneshwara.  

This place witnesses various  mythological incidents – Its been told that Sita gave birth to Lava-Kusha here,  Also believed that the war between Rama and Lava-Kusha took place in Avani.

Gopuras are very ethnic.. beautiful kalyani, The view from the hill is just amazing.. The place was very relaxing..The hill is also becoming trekkers choice.

View from Hill Top

There were 2 more spots in the list Bangaru Tirupathi & KoTi Linga, By then it's evening ... the sun was already on its way back to home.. since it was getting dark had to choose either of them,Skipped bagaru tirupathi and headed towards koti linga temple.

8.Kotilingeshwara Temple:

This is in kammasandra village of kolar  district, 6 kms from kolar gold fields. 

The temple is an amazing one with lakhs N lakhs of shiva lingas of various sizes , As of today its almost 85-90 lakhs lingas implanted… and the intension is the number to be elevated to crores very soon.. It has the world’s biggest shiva linga .

At the entrance 2 trees (sacred) are available, Nagalinga flower and Cannon Ball flower. Unmarried women tie yellow thread to these trees to be blessed with a happy married life.

The environment inside the temple is very pleasing and an ideal place for meditation !!!

Time to wrap up the trip with one last place , bangarpet …Most awaited destination for pani puri J

Truly you can get to eat very tasty , spicy pani-puris , Speciality over here is.. the pani they serve is colorless just like water but indeed very spicy and tangy … Varieties of chat items were available ,, of which my favorite was floating pani puri..

Pani puris turned to be my dinner for the day …and am still not satisfied ..

Will surely visit  Bangarpet again!!!

VR @ Manjarabad Fort !!!!

Manjarabad Fort

Manjarabad Fort , this was in my travel list for quite sometime !! And... Yes... It finally happened  :)
The Fort is also renown as the STAR Fort of Karnataka, Reason being the architecture of the fort ,which  is Star-Shaped.

The Fort is located in Donigal  on NH 48, which is 7 kms from Sakaleshpur.

Aerial View of Manjarabad Fort , pic from google map

During 1600A.D , Star-shaped forts  were a passion for Europeans especially France and Italy.

Manjarabad fort was built in 1792 by Tippu Sultan in alliance with French Engineers. This was a strategically defensive location due to the approach to the plateau from the coast beyond Sakaleshpur!

It is also believed , that there existed a secret tunnel  which connects manjarabad fort and the fort in Srirangapatna, which happened to be Tippu Sultan’s  headquarters .

 Fort ‘s existence was known only to few people until , its beauty was showcased in a very popular kannada song “Paravasha Naadenu “ from the movie “Paramaatma “ .

Steps to the Fort

Entrace to the Fort

The Tower shown below (donno what it is named), is so well planned ... which serves both the purpose for the soldier :
1. A Place to Aim & Shoot the enemies
2. At the same time a protective place which guards from Opposite attacks !!

     Few glimpses of the fort displayed ........

I Guess it should be a Pond !! 

View from one of the corners



one of the edge of the star-shaped  fort

And... finally it's VR rejoicing the atmosphere with my most favourite song "Paravashanaadenu Ariyuva Munnave" and right at  the place where it was shooted :)      Hm m mm feels Sooo GOOD :)

Here is the video clip from the song where the fort was filmed .........

Link to the complete song :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH_Pl7fIyYw