Jump to content

File:9th century Navalinga temple, Kukkanur, Karnataka India - 5.jpg

Page contents not supported in other languages.
This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Original file (4,608 × 3,456 pixels, file size: 5.53 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Description
English: These temples are located in Kukkanur village in northern Karnataka. The village is also referred to as Kuknur, Kuknoor, Kukanur, Kukanoor, and other phonetic spellings. It is about 7 kilometers northwest of historic temples of Itagi (Ittagi) and 40 kilometers northwest of Lakkundi group of temples. The Navalinga temples are close to the National Highway 367.
  • The Navalinga temples are from the 9th-century.
  • They are grouped around a central shared mandapas. Seven are quite similar shrines, while two are evolved versions of them. Inscriptions found here and in the village of Kukkanur refer to grants and gifts to temples of goddesses. This evidence suggests these were temples dedicated to Shaktism tradition such as Sarasvati, Kalikadevi, Chamundi and others. Quite likely, these temples were dedicated to the Saptamatrika (seven mothers group with one shrine to each), expanded to Navamatrika (nine mothers). However, like many other temples in the region, these were badly damaged and abandoned at some point, later appropriated and re-consecrated to Shiva. All nine shrines now have Shiva linga in them with broken, mutilated Nandi made of very different materials from different centuries, in front of them. The principal shrine near the Navalinga group is the Mahamayi temple here, and this is now an active temple of Shaivism tradition.
  • These temples were made over time, shrines were added on in the 2nd half of the 9th-century from a sandstone that erodes. History has proven this was an inferior choice as a construction material, unlike other temples in the region which used more resistant, harder and far more lasting material.
  • The temples have been repeatedly whitewashed, plastered and restored by the local community, making a close study of the artwork difficult. Yet, the details on the outer walls, the pillars, the legends depicted on the pillars, and the arrangement of mandapas are discernable. This makes these significant to the history of architectural innovations in this region.
  • The nine shrines share four mandapa (halls), with three halls aligned and the fourth added later on. Each shrine's sanctum has a vimana / sikhara (spire) in the early Dravidian style. The lalita-bimba of each shrine has Gajalakshmi.
  • Another notable artwork here is the makara with intricate scales (mythical fusion animals with florid tails – partly fish, crocodile, elephant, lion).
  • The reliefs on the pillars depicts scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
  • The outer walls have rich detail and embroderies, though portions have naturally eroded over the centuries.
  • The nine Navalinga shrines are a part of greater collection of temples that once existed in Kukkanur. Smaller, abandoned shrines are close by in ruined state along the path to a pushkarni (stepwell), as is the major Kalleshvara temple about 1000 feet to its east. Damaged and mutilated large statues, such as those of Brahma, Shiva and Visnu have been found here, some of them retained in temples, others moved to different museums.
Date
Source P. Madhusudan (ticket:2021031010007171)
Author P. Madhusudan
Camera location15° 29′ 27.3″ N, 75° 59′ 22.36″ E  Heading=0° Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

Licensing

Photographs created by P. Madhusudan, Telangaana, India uploaded by User:Ms Sarah Welch are released as CC-0.

This license & permission applies only to the photographs and not to any protected works that might be depicted in the media itself. Unless stated otherwise, the content depicted in the media is in the public domain due to its age.

Creative Commons CC-Zero This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Captions

A group of Hindu temples now dedicated to Shiva, originally to Shakti goddesses

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

inception

2 March 2021

coordinates of the point of view

15°29'27.301"N, 75°59'22.358"E

heading: 0.0 degree

media type

image/jpeg

checksum

614abdccd476d8c249d743262e20da3473e3d267

determination method or standard: SHA-1

data size

5,802,088 byte

height

3,456 pixel

width

4,608 pixel

exposure time

0.00064516129032258 second

focal length

3.93 millimetre

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current11:43, 24 March 2021Thumbnail for version as of 11:43, 24 March 20214,608 × 3,456 (5.53 MB)Ms Sarah WelchUploaded a work by P. Madhusudan from P. Madhusudan (OTRS 2021031010007171) with UploadWizard

The following page uses this file:

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file:

Metadata

This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it.

If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file.

Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/File:9th_century_Navalinga_temple,_Kukkanur,_Karnataka_India_-_5.jpg"