Exploring Chikkaballapur_Prat 1

Day One: (26th January 2018)

Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple & Gudibande Fort

Sunrise near Mysore

Sugarcane fields

Farmer out skirt Mysore

Empty Road

Lush Banana Field

Out House

Lake View

Way to Shivaganga

Sultan Pet Village

Surroundings

 Kalyani (Temple Water tank) Entrance

Kalyani

Buffaloes behind the tank

Large earthen Pots

Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple :

Which was located at Nandi grama Chikkaballapur District, one of the oldest temple built in early 9th Century the temple complex has two large shrines: the "Arunachaleswara" shrine to the south built by the Gangas of Talakad, and the "Bhoga Nandeeshwara" shrine to the north built by the Cholas. It has the sculpture of a king considered to be that of Rajendra Chola. In between there is a small intervening shrine called with "Uma-Maheshwara" shrine with a kalyana mantapa ("marriage alter") supported by ornate pillars in black stone with reliefs depicting of the Hindu gods Shiva and his consort Parvati, Brahma (the creator) and Saraswathi, Vishnu (the preserver) and his consort Lakshmi, the god of fire Agni and his consort Swaha Devi, and decorative creepers and birds in bas-relief. This is typical to Hoysala architecture. (Source: Wikepedia)

Ruined Mantapam

Temple Surroundings

Huge car wheel

Restoring Temple car

Huge Wheel

Interior

Dvajasthambham (Flagstaff)

Well Inside the temple

Old Pulley to take water out from well

Vasantha Mantapam

Nandi

Lord Ganesha

Naga

(Photo Credit: Karthik)

(Photo Credit: Karthik)

(Photo Credit: Karthik)

Road towards Gudibande Fort

Gudibande Fort :

Gudibande Fort was built by a yogi and a local chieftain called Byre Gowda some 400 odd years ago in the 17th century. It was believed that he belonged to the Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagar empire. It can be said as a concise replica of the Madhugiri fort. The fort has seven levels with interconnecting escape routes which would help soldiers to flee in case of emergency. On the top of the fort is a Shiva temple known as "Sir Rameshwara Temple", established by Sage Vishwamitra and Lord Rama which is believed to be one of the 108 Jyotirlingas . The strong pillar with a square base has well sculpted images. One can also have a good view of the Byrasagara reservoir. The fort’s main feature, is the rain water harvesting. It is said that there were around 19 rock ponds at different levels of the fort.However, the water channel system devised by Byre Gowda was said to be unique.Linking nineteen water bodies and tanks called dhones they could in all hold nearly 3 lakhs litres of rain water.

Gudibande Fort

Steps

Steps towards For

View From Top

Temple on Top of the Fort

Carvings

Local Girl Manvita posing to Camera

Gudibande Lake

Sunset