[vrprabhu]

The (our) past must have been glorious; people were talented and the symbols they have left behind indicates their vision. A look at some of the better preserved structures; wonder and amaze how such workmanship must have been executed.

This temple too is reportedly 2000+ years old - and well preserved, and abounds with carvings like these -




An apt example of intricate workmanship -




And this -



Would you believe me if I told you that the chain is not made out of metal, but carved from stone?!

[vrprabhu]

Here are a couple of more close-ups of the stone chains -





The second picture shows how the links of the chains have been carved in the pillar. Exquisite craftsmanship.

Some more shots of the stone pillars with intricate carvings -







Extremely difficult to get a shot of such places, without any human presence - as if reading my minding, a dog walks in the last shot!

And, finally, this is the temple spire -






This temple is quite famous; one of the few where the deity in an unique form. The place is supposed to be exact location where one of the devotees (who was a saint / sanyasi) of the lord took the form of a bee in order to circumambulate his God!

[vrprabhu]

For those you wondering as to why I keep rambling about the sculptures etc., pause for a moment and take a look at this work in progress -






A temple taking shape :




And the people involved (just four of them, working for a couple of years now) but plenty of material -






Here comes the hard part. These are the stone pillars which not only holds the temple together, but also are designed with various motifs -






A close up of finished motif (notice the difference in pattern with the earlier one):




These people have to work in tandem. There is no blue print - they carry out the work with design embedded in their heads. And, there are no room for mistakes.






At least these people are lucky to have power tools and them being second / third generation sculptors, have the benefit of experience. What about the sculptors of the old temples? Must have been exceptionally skilled and hard working - which is why I admire such works and enjoy the fruits of their labour.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

What about the sculptors of the old temples? Must have been exceptionally skilled and hard working...

No doubt they were. But one thing was the rulers of long ago who raised such intricate temples, forts and monuments, they had 2 very important things at their disposal: time and slaves. A lot can get done if you have the luxury of decades and an indentured workforce that spans generations. Of course the master craftsmen and builders may have been high officials and free men, but the heavy lifting was done by bonded labor.

[vrprabhu]

You are right, am1m. And they did have (grand) vision too, I guess.

The back of the temple has these water storage tanks; surprising to see covered with algae, indicating that water must have been present for quite some time (no rainfall in this area around the time I visited, though it was overcast) -




Actually, I never knew work was going on there. Just heard there was an old temple and on an earlier trip spotted a beacon, which turned out to be this -




And, since I had ventured thus far, God said let there be light




It wasn't an easy ride - there was no road. Just a roughly carved track (probably for tractors) to haul the load of stones up.

[jeeva]

Happy to know that I am not alone in the pursuit of exploring old temples and architectural remnants in general. Great thread.

[gadadhar]

Wonderful thread to show leftovers from the past.

One thing that stuck me is none of the sculptures in the snaps seems to be damaged. I have found most of the ancient temples down south to be damaged and sculptures broken with chopped heads and body parts during some invasions in the past.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by jeeva

Happy to know that I am not alone in the pursuit of exploring old temples...

Thanks, jeeva.

Actually trips like these help in multiple ways - exploring, riding on traffic free roads with greenery on either side, spending time with rural populace, enjoy solitude and muse the past

Originally Posted by gadadhar

One thing that stuck me is none of the sculptures in the snaps seems to be damaged. I have found most of the ancient temples down south to be damaged and sculptures broken with chopped heads and body parts during some invasions in the past.

Aah - you mean this kind of vandalism? - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post2040768 (Magnificent Maharashtra - The Mahalog!) - take a look at the second picture on post #617.

Actually, down south (especially TN, Kerala & Karnataka - considering the temples which I have visited), the damage is more likely due to poor upkeep.

If you look at these pictures, you'll understand.

The first four pictures gives an idea how grand the temple would have been when it was first constructed.













The next lot of our pictures how time and non-maintenance have ravaged it. Since it is located in an interior area and the locals have their own temples, this remains neglected.












This is a very old and historic temple located at the confluence of two major rivers. Sadly, one of the rivers is perennially dry and the other is dependent on (bountiful) rain and release of water from neighbouring state.

Legend has it that this was one of temples where Sage Agastya worshiped Lord Shiva during his stay here and carries his name.....

[vrprabhu]

Since this location is not very far and has very few people around (plus empty roads to ride), have made multiple trips to the temple. So too many pictures.

These pictures, hopefully, depict what was once a grand creation.

The way to the main sanctum-sanctorum, which house a shivaling -



And, beside the lord, is a shrine for his consort -




The pillars are apparently carved out of solid rock and have been well designed - not just aesthetically but also from an engineering point of view (load bearing pillars supporting the beams without any hint of binding agent like cement - the shape and weight ensured that laws of physics did the rest?)








The pillars are also intricately carved -




The multi headed snake forming a hood over the shivling has some mythology associated with it - don't know the details......

[adisan]

Nice thread. Wish this would be continued.

A few years back, a friend and I went on a trip, where in addition to planned temples, we also stopped at many temples which we saw on the way. On of those was on a big rock, similar to one of these photos.

[vrprabhu]

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 all travelling has come to a standstill.

I do have a few places / locations to add - visited when the first & second phase were waning, but don't have much details. Will just upload a few pictures shortly.

[vrprabhu]

One of the places which I had wanted to visit was to climb up this mountain and enjoy some greenery -





Nearing the base to start climbing, I was told by a local villager that it would be advisable to make the trek in the morning (it was nearly 5 PM then) and instead told to go to a nearby hillock, where there is an ancient temple.

There was practically no road to that temple, other than this -



The temple was on a small hillock; only one human being (appears as a small speck in this picture, but clear in the next) in the nearby vicinity!



The actual temple -





The temple was dilapidated - its spire (gopuram) crumbled. However, the shiv-ling was intact and unique - no base, only the vertical 'ling' being present.



There were some inscriptions on the temple walls and in front of the temple -








A tranquil set up! A farm house, pond and greenery all round....

[vrprabhu]

Went through my archives, and found this!

Indicators that an ancient civilisation existed here, which is now transformed into a local deity, reinforcing the fact that there were human settlement here thousands of years ago? There are also some other curious aspects / indicators, which are covered in the latter part of this post.

This is a common sight in these parts - cradle like structures, near the entrance of a shrine / temple (the old as well as the new) -





But, what is uncommon in this location was this -






Which is now getting transformed into a place of worship (keeping with the local belief in the deities they worship) -











But, clearly, these ancient carvings (bas relief?) of an even older sect -













This is how it looks like from the back (the lone palm tree has sprouted amidst the rocks to keep them company?) -






And, as commonly found in such places, there is a water storage tank in the rock; shaped in the form a foot (which locals believe to be the place where Hanuman stepped, when searching for Sanjeevani) -



There is water beneath these plants (it hadn't rained in weeks, so where does the water come from?). The plants, by the way, are actually of a lotus species. The second picture was taken after a couple of months, by which time the plants have dried up -



This dog is curious about what I find fascinating in here -



The best part was sighting these birds -



One of whom gave me a royal middle finger by displaying its dainty derriere?



And, walked away after giving a cold stare -



However, these boys were happy to oblige for a pose :



What piqued me was seeing this, which is obviously remnants of an old temple atop this rock? -


Couldn't find a way to climb atop the steep face of the rock and I far from an acrobat! And, there were other objects to kindle my curiosity (next post, ran out of the 30 picture upload limit)

[vrprabhu]

Here are the things which I found to be intriguing -

1. The rock (on which the bricks were seen) has some attempted carvings - I don't think these lines & curves are natural formations, has to be man made.








2. There has to be a reason why these stones / rocks are laid down in multiple rows. Query on the net throws up some interesting ideas (is there a connection between these and the stone arches i.e. two vertical slabs of stone and one sitting atop these horizontally - needs some research, I guess).














3. Last, but not the least, are these -





They are 'stone beds', which are reported to have been used by ancient people when they left their settlements to do penance; some are supposedly those used by the people who lay down here at the end of their life for their eventual passing away!

[deathwalkr]

Nice thread and heart warming to see bits of our ancient history still standing strong. Maybe we have a lot of such temples that it is common for us and so we don't give much prominence to them? Other than the big famous ones of course.