Treasure Hunt or Ignorance
Just few days back sad news surfaced. An ancient Hoysala era Mahakali idol was found damaged in Doddagaddavalli near Hassan District, Karnataka.
This sad news took me back to lockdown memories, when I got chance to visit Belur and Halebidu after lockdown was open and only intrastate travel was allowed.
I had been to Belur before but this time I was hoping less crowd and ample time to explore temples in Belur and Halebidu. I was not disappointed though it was drizzlling all the day.
After crossing Hassan and before Belur, we took a right turn and reached small village of Doddagaddavalli to see the lessor known Laxmi Devi Temple.
Temple is unlike other Hoysala temple as its not built over Jagati (platform) and its unique because of chatuskuta design as it has four shrine of Mahakali, Mahalaxmi, Vishnu and Bhutnatha
Unfortunately this statue of Mahakali is now damaged
There are two types of stories emerging, one the idol was toppled and damaged by some miscreants trying to find hidden treasure. There was no security at the temple. Many believed that this could not have happen had ASI deployed night watchman for the security.
Second the idol was not properly maintained and broken due to negligence. Interesting thing to note that other idols were not touched and no evidence of vandalism. Priest of the temple had complained to ASI official many time about idol being shaky and not stable.
Whatever the reason is, one thing is sure that it's great loss to our heritage and history. This incident also questioned the ASI ability to maintain, protect historical sites and monuments.
Wow beautiful temple in in Belur and Halebidu.
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