Unexpected Exploration

We are very happy to share this special post. With this our future journey to explore ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE appears very exciting. 

How do you feel when you discover something new? Excited? Curious? Yes, absolutely, we felt the same during our visit to this calm and undisturbed village.  Hardly had we thought that our visit to the ancient Lakshminarasimha temple will result in this new find, which can be an important evidence to know more about this less known historical place. We had every reason to be thrilled.

The lush green vegetation around HARADASE village.

Historically this land was under the rulers of one of the Kadamba branches of Chandavara. Surrounded by rich and beautiful evergreen forests of Western Ghats, this tiny hamlet is inhabited by small farming community. In some ancient inscriptions and scriptures there is a reference to an important religious centre ‘HARIDESHA’, which is identified with the present HARADASE village.

A foot path leading to the temple. 

During our recent visit to Haigunda for our conservation activities, we decided to take a short trip to HARADASE and take the blessings of Lord Lakshminarasimha. Though the date of the establishment of the temple is unknown, it is believed that the idol of Narasimha belongs to Chandavara kingdom. Close to the temple, inside the forest on a mound, an idol of HULIYAPPA is found. It is said that people used to worship HULIYAPPA to save their cattle from tiger attack. But till now there is no authentic evidence to connect the dots and missing links to reconstruct the history of the land.

Lord Lakshminarasimha - The visit to this temple was a blessing in disguise 

A stone slab with engraved letters in Kannada ' Sri Narasingadeva' found near the temple.

After travelling along the intertwining rough path which passed through the forest, we reached the temple. While taking a stroll around the temple, we observed a few stone slabs lying near the fence. On enquiring, we came to know that these stone slabs were recovered during excavation carried out for the purpose of temple renovation. One of the slabs attracted our attention as it had some carvings. On a closer observation, we found that it was an inscription!! The stone inscription was broken at the bottom. We could also find the broken piece lying nearby. On aligning both the pieces we could get the entire inscription.

The broken pieces  of stone inscription were aligned together

The inscription was unclear. It was covered with soil and other semi-solid substance. Even after a thorough wash the letters were not clearly visible. A creative mind finds unusual but useful solution!!!! It was decided to smear white lime solution on the entire stone slab, after drying wipe with wet cloth carefully so that the engraved depression part stays white and the remaining part is fully wiped. It worked!!! Now the inscription was fully readable!!! The white letters on the black stone looked beautiful too!!! The inscription has the carving of Shivalinga on top and the sun and the moon carvings on right and left side on the middle portion. Very interesting!! And we were the first to find and put it here on social media an inscription at HARADASE.

The carving of Shivalinga on top portion , surrounded by script in kannada.

The Sun on the right and the Moon on the left 

Inscriptions, apart from being vital political documents, are endowed with great cultural significance. HARADASE has been one of the important religious and cultural centers of ancient period. Now the challenge before us is to read and interpret the inscription, which we are going to meet shortly. Does the inscription throw light on the life and beliefs of people of those times? Does it reveal anything about the ruling kings? Does it reflect anything upon the forest ecology? How many more such inscriptional evidences are hidden unnoticed?
Imagination sets sail!!

Many broken and soiled stone slabs with carvings and scripts lying around the temple.