ADHVAGATI

The priest says it was built by the same Malla Byre Gowda of Avati  ( 16 th cent) who built the original fort. But the Venugoplaswami temple inside Devanahalli Fort is today an amalgam of styles. It has a typical dravidian tower, chalukyan style sculptures, ( though much less flamboyant than elsewhere ), a Vijayanagar style presiding idol in the sanctum and two Ganga period Vishnus with prayoga chakras standing guard outside the tower. The wall panels are most interesting as they show scenes from the much loved epics, like a picture book. The pillars in the navaranga have assorted images, which range from the basic to the exquisite. It is a living temple and the paraphrenalia for the Teru festival were getting spruced up, all gleaming and  pretty, when we visited.  The Vishnu of the Gangas , with prayoga chakra .  Was painting him necessary ? 

Wonderstruck by the Devara kaadu ( Sacred Grove) Nallur Thopu , now called Nallur Biodiversity Heritage Grove .The first of such sites in India.  Near Devanahalli .  54 Acres , 295 Tamarind trees , the oldest being 410 yrs old . The Thopu is believed to have originated 800 years ago , under Chola reign . To prove which , some remnants of a Chola period temples are found scattered in the grove,. Still , the beautiful sculpted walls stand intact .  Just outside the Grove are two other plain ones have fallen apart. And the stray shepherd there spins a tale of pots of treasure dug up and spirited away from there .....yarns for our entertainment i guess !    Inside the grove is also a fully rebuilt Gangamma temple of unknown antiquity.  There's a forlorn beauty , finding  the little, lonely temple nestling among the giant old trees.........     Gangamma Shrine : 

Bhongir Fort . Bhuvanagiri, actually. Location : Nalgona District, Telengana. Built by the Western Chalukya King  Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya IV in the 10th. Century . It snakes up a 500 -600 Ft high bald monolith , ending in a modest sized citadel ( bala-hisar) at the summit. Since the hill is a lonely  outcrop standing in a flat  expanse , the view from the summit is amazing , reaching far into the horizon on all sides. Quite a strategic location for an outlook. And the fort is supposed to be impregnable as well, its entrances well hidden by boulders.  The climb up can be strenuous, often inducing vertigo. Thank goodness for those occassional railings.,  Water conservation and rain waterharvesting seem to have been thought of at that  early date, for deep natural gashes in the rock are walled and converted into reservoir tanks.  Some doorways  and arches in the bala -hisar  bear the stamp of Islamic influence ; it transpires ...

Instant reaction when told "this is Vasco da Gama's First Grave" ?  Incredulity , of course. How many times did poor Vasco die and get buried ? No , that's not it, got it all wrong !  He died only once , but got buried twice.  That aside..... to the Church now.  One of the first  buildings the  enterprising Portuguese erected in Kochi, right after the local Raja gave them his benign nod to put up a " fort" for their trading  purposes, was a logwood Church dedicated to  St . Bartholomew .  That was in 1503. With further privileges granted by the Raja, it was reconstructed in brick and mortar in 1516 and the grand new edifice was dedicated to Santo Antonio, patron saint of Portugal. (  Bye, Bartholomew? )  It underwent further name changes as it changed hands among other colonisers. In the meanwhile, Vasco da Gama touched shore the second time in 1524. And  died. He was laid to rest  in this church with a simple grave stone...

It is mentioned everywhere, in tourist info sites, brochures , historical notes. There are sign boards directing one to it, all over the old town. One is convinced The Dutch Cemetery is one of the not -to -be -missed sights  in Fort Kochi. However, when  one does land up at its gates, one finds it firmly locked, with a forbidding notice looming above : Tresspassers will be prosecuted. No intention to tresspass ofcourse. But feeling cheated all the same, one trudges up the street wondering why they should  plant sign boards everywhere if they had no intention of allowing  it to be seen .  .......at the other end of the street stands a handsome old church . Would this  Portuguese church have the keys to the Dutch cemetery ? Would they open it if requested ? No harm in asking ....... Bingo. The key is indeed in the custody of the priest, says the smiley faced Watchman, but priest is away attending a funeral.  The next day, after exploring ...

   Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica , Fort Kochi. Five centuries old Roman Catholic place of worship , one of the landmarks of Fort Kochi .A handsome white edifice with two soaring spires built  in a blend of Indo-European and Gothic  styles.  The interior is  richly decorated with frescos and mosaics, created by the 19 th Century Italian painter, Fra Antonio Moscheni and his Indian student, DeGama. But the building  itself is not 500 year old.  Commander Dom Alfonso Albuquerque of Portugal, arriving  with the second exploratory fleet,in 1500,  helped the king of Cochin to repel the predatory advances of the Zamorin of Calicut . And  received , as thanksgiving, the right to build a Fort in Cochin . The generous  King  must have thought the whitepeople would load their ships with pepper and sit around happily confined to their little fort ! Alas, alas ! History turned out so different !  In 1505, the King pe...

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...