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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Gorantala Madhavraya Temple


 

This temple is located just before one reaches Kadri Lakshminarasimha temple.  The temple can be easily missed in the melee to reach Kadri.  We stopped at Gorantala to have cup of tea and to our pleasant surprise we found this ancient temple which is resurrected and maintained in good condition. This temple is named as Madhavaraya temple, built in the Vijaynagar style.  The nautre and elements are beautifully combined to provide the temple with plenty of wind and solar energy.  The architecture of the temple has a combination of Chola lion symbol.  The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.



The sculpture on the pillars are finely carved with Ugra Narasimha and dancing posture of artisans of the period.  The life style prevalent during the times have been well portrayed.  However the artefacts on the of the temple wall is missing either due to vandalism or kept in safe custody of the museum.


The gopuram of this temple is incomplete, even the unfinished monolith speaks volume of its size and conception.  In the case the edifice was complete it would have been a wonderful and famous monument of its era.  The landscaping obviously is of recent origin.



I was lucky to capture all these images without the help of flash in the camera due to bright sunlight.
I am sure travel buffs will enjoy visit to this place which gives an idea how an ancient temple was conceived and executed to combine all elements of nature.


Location : This temple is located approximately 130 kms away from Bangalore.  One can reach this destination from Bangalore NH7 towards Bagepalli, and take a right deviation on NH7 towards Kadri, One reaches a junction point wherein one has to take a right turn towards Kadri just 2 kms at the bus stand one can find this temple at Gorantala.