I am on yet another trip to Brahmavara near Udupi. A short trip of two days.
I had some free time in the morning and went driving in the interiors.
I was looking for lesser known old temples in the vicinity. It is a good way
of traversing through the interiors and the old structures appeal to me
in an unexplainable way.
The very fact that they have been in existence for centuries and the
religious rituals are being performed day in and day out without a break,
appeal to me and humble me. And since these temples are not
‘tourist attractions’, there is no crowd and no ‘development’. The
places still retain some old world charm and the surroundings are
usually clean and un disturbed.
This morning I ended up visiting three old temples.
The ‘Panchalingeshwara’ at Barakur, ‘Mahalingeshwara’ at Brahmavara
and ‘Santana Gopalakrishna’ temple at HandaDi. I could not gather much
information about the first two but the Gopalakrishna Temple provided
lots of information.
Santana Gopalakrishna temple is located on the bank of the ‘Sita’ river and
the surroundings are pleasing and picturesque. It happens to be built by
the ancestors of my hosts Smt Shalita and Sri Ravindra shetty. The
centuries-old temple has been reconstructed using the funds donated
mainly by the members of the four families known as the ‘HandaaDi
Naalkumane’ - the four well known families of the village HandaDi.
The six hundred years old idol is re-installed in the new structure.
Smt Shalita happens to be the great great great great and much greater
granddaughter of one of the four families, HandaaDi PaDumane.
The stone plaques preserved in the premises give the history of the original
installation as well as the description of the lands along with the income
from these lands (taxes) gifted by the then ruler ImmaDi Narasimha of the
Vijayanagara lineage. The year mentioned is 1492 AD. It states that the
idol of ‘Gopinatha’ was installed by Sanku Hegade who was the son in law
of one of the local lords HosabaNNa Setti who was under a greater lord Mabu
Setti. It also gives clear and complete details of the lands and states that the
income should only be used for the maintenance and conduction of the daily rituals.
I spent a very satisfactory time roaming around the surroundings.
The installation of the centuries old idol in the aesthetically pleasing
brand new structure brought to the mind Sri D V Gs lines
ಹೊಸ ಚಿಗುರು ಹಳೆಬೇರು ಕೂಡಿರಲು ಮರ ಸೊಬಗು
ಹೊಸಯುಕ್ತಿ ಹಳೆತತ್ವ ದೊಡಗೂಡೆ ಧರ್ಮ
ಋಷಿವಾಕ್ಯದೊಡನೆ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಕಲೆ ಮೇಳವಿಸೆ
ಜಸವು ಜನಜೀವನಕೆ ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ !
