The Ulsoor temple is a marvel
of stone and it is a tourist attraction. Much has been said and written about
it but there is one more similar temple in Bangalore that has not received the attention
that it deserves. Nor is this temple on the tourist map.
Though the areas where this
temple is located is situated amid one of the most heavily traversed roads of
Bangalore, very few people and fewer motorists care to stop and spend time at
this temple.
What is more astonishing is
that this temple too is built by the Cholas and it is located in one f the
oldest localities of Bangalore .
However, neither Bangaloreans nor tourists seems to have heard of it, let alone
come to visit it.
This is the temple of Someshwara in Madivala. The temple is said
to be as old if not older than Madivala. The temple is a virtual delight for an
epigraphist as its walls are full of writings and records, some as early as
1247. This was the time when the Hoysalas were dominant in this part of Karnataka
and their Emperors, Vira Narasimha and Veera Someshara defeated the Pandyas, Gangas
and the Cholas.
The 1247 record refers to
lands donated “'below the big tank of Vengaluru” by a resident of Veppur, now called Begur. This probably means
that the earliest Bangalore
we know existed somewhere in and around Begur-Madivala.
Today, Madivala has lost almost all its links with the past. Talk of Madivala and the only thing that springs to the mind is theCentral Silk Borad Road junction and the
massive traffic hold up ever day.
Today, Madivala has lost almost all its links with the past. Talk of Madivala and the only thing that springs to the mind is the
The road engineering here is
so bad and the traffic so heavy that vehicles keep on piling up regularly and
at all hours.
None of the exhausted motorists
have any inclination or even desire to stop for a few minutes near the silk
board junction and take in the centuries old Someshwara Temple .
The Someshwara temple is a
structure in stone and large portions of its outer walls are covered with
inscriptions in Tamil and Snaskrit. The script used here to inscribe writings
in Sanskrit is Grantha and this is yet another proof of its antiquity.
This script was widely used
between the 6th century and the 19th century mainly by Tamil speakers in South India , particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, to
write Sanskrit. This script is in restricted use in traditional vedic
schools or patashalas.
Other inscriptions relate to grants
made during the reigns of Hoysala king Ballala III and Chola king Rajendra. One
record, from 1365, mentions a land grant at Tamaraikkirai and this today is known as Tavarkere locality.
Apart from the inscriptions,
the outer walls are sculpted with images of
various gods including Ganesha, Durga and Vishnu.
The garba griha and artha
mantapa of the temple appear as they were constructed. These inner chamber is small
and dark.
There is a beautiful Nandi
placed in the artha mantapa. It faces the Linga, which is believed to have self
manifested.
Though the temple was built
by the Cholas, it was substantially renovated and repaired by the Vijayanagar
Emperors.
The temple is open for
worship from 7:30 a.m., to 11a.m., and again from 5:30 p.m., to 8:30 p.m.
Maha Shivratri, every
February, Pradosham which occurs once a fortnight and every Monday is special for
this temple.
The temple is very near the silk
board junction. It is located near the Mariamma Temple
and the place to alight if traveling by BMTC bus is Kuvempu Nagar bus stand.
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