.....in continuous tense
Where would you expect to find a 800 year old temple ,with inscriptions in ancient scripts talking about grants and settlement of agricultural dues ? Certainly not in a busy residential layout with laundry fluttering in the balconies of matchbox -stack- apartments and shops offering cellphone recharge .....and the garbage collection truck tactfully skirting an enormous monolithic garuda sthamba standing in the middle of the forking road.
Domlur , it is. And above a stairway, right behind the sthamba, the centuries old monument. Completely redone ofcourse. But , retaining whatever could be salvaged after early 20th century urbanisation had dealt a merciless blow to it . The inscriptions are there. The pillars, with their curious motifs ,are there. Individual blocks, bits and pieces, are all there, fitted prudently into the modern structure....ok, so they had to fix the gate in a rather awkward way, closing on the face of some nice deities. But cannot complain. Grateful for whatever mercies.
The moolavar Chokkanathar , "The Beauteous Lord" , justifies his name. Chokka is a common name used for Shiva. Here , Vishnu appropriates it.
Shiny marble, granite and varnished wood notwithstanding, this small monument gives one the satisfaction of living in the continuous tense . The comfort of sensing the roots.
Shiny marble, granite and varnished wood notwithstanding, this small monument gives one the satisfaction of living in the continuous tense . The comfort of sensing the roots.
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