A once thriving City that is now an obscure village

What do Banavasi, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal, Halebidu and Belur, Somanathapura, Manyakheta or Malkhed, Mayurkhindi, Talakad, Manne have in common with Gundlavaddigeri.

Gundlavaddigeri is a small village, just a little over a hundred kilometers from the City of Hospet in Bellary taluk. It has a population of less than a thousand people and we at the post are sure that its name has never been heard of by a majority of people.

But what is it that makes us place its name along with well-known places such as Banavasi, Badami, Belur and other places.

Banavasi, as all of us know, was the capital of the Kadambas (345-525), the first Kannadiga dynasty of our State. The beauty of Banavasi was such that even Kalidasa, the greatest Sanskrit poet of all times, admired it and mentioned it in his work, Meghadoota.

Kalidasa had been sent to Banavasi as an Ambassador of the Guptas. Today, Banavasi has a few temples that speak of the glory of  the Kadambas.

Similarly, Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal are well-known for their Chalukyan temples. Badami, which was earlier known as Vatapi,  was the capital of the powerful Chalukyas (543-763) and it has some of the most magnificent temples and cave temples of the Chaluyka period, some of which were built by Pulakeshi (609-642), who is often particularly described as one of the greatest Emperors of Karnataka.

Talakad was the capital of the Gangas (400-1000) and it was one of the major cities of its times until it was sacked by the Hoysala Emperor, Vishnuvardhana. Today, Talakad is nothing but ruins in a sand.  

Similarly, Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura are renowned for their exquisite temples belonging to the Hoysalas (1026-1343). All these places have ruins of temples.

Malkhed or Manyakheta and Mayurkhindi were once the capitals of  the Rashtrakutas (753-982) who ruled over large parts of south and Central India.

All these centres mentioned in earlier paragraphs were once known as major cities or urban conglomerates and each of them have had their tryst with history. Even today, they are in the news and they attract hordes of tourists and visitors. But how does Gundlavaddigeri get into this list of illustrious cities.

Gundlavaddigeri was earlier in Bellary district and it is today placed in Koppal district.

Archaeologists and historians now have discovered that Gundlavaddigeri was one of the biggest cities of its times in Karnataka and this was prior to the establishment of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1336 by Hakka and Bukka.

A 12th century stone deed in Halegannada (old Kannada), belonging to the Vijaynagara dynasty and some weapons used by people have been unearthed in the village.

The old Kannada inscription says that a lake was built in Gundlavaddigeri in memory of Yankubi, son of Kumbara Ponnayya. The inscription says the lake was constructed for  irrigation purposes.

The inscription has three lovely figures, a wheel of eight swords,  cow and a calf, which are the symbols of Shaivism.

Research has shown that Gundlavaddigeri was a big city before the founding of Vijaynagara. Even today, the village boasts of scores of  dry lakes and this is a testimony to the extent of the City that once Gundlavaddigeri was.

The stone inscription, measuring four feet by three feet, stood facing the North with a four-line script in Halegannada.

Gundlavaddigeri is surrounded by Gangavathi taluk towards North, Sandur taluk towards South, Koppal taluk towards west and  Hagaribommanahalli taluk towards South. All these taluks headquarters too were big cities at one point of time but while they are all fairly well-known even today, Gundlavaddigeri is even today an obscure and forgotten village.
Today, Gundlavaddigeri is surrounded by Bellary, Gangavati, Hospet, Sandur, Mundargi and Tekkalakota. Kannada is the local language here and there are less than 150 houses. The total area of Gundlavaddigeri is just 629 hectares and compare this to the thriving town it was more than nine hundred years ago.

What does this post tell us or rather what does it teach us. It tells us that just as centuries passed by, cities rose and fell and some like Gundlavaddigeri fell into obscurity, never to rise again.  

The Kalyani of the Queen

Thousands of tourists make a beeline ever day to the villages of Belur and Halebidu to gaze in awe at the magnificent temples left behind by the Hoysalas. Tour operators too have cashed in on the rich heritage of  Hassan district where these two villages are situated by adding Shravanabelogola to the tour programme.

If the temples of Belur and Halebiud stand our for its architecture, no less wonderful is the huge monolith statue of Gomateshwara in Shravanabelogala. These three towns form the tourist circuit and tourists are rarely if ever taken to other nearby areas where equally exquisite temples, Jain Basadis and other structures, mainly belonging to the Hoysala dynasty still exist.

One such place is Hulikere which is just five kilometers from Halebidu.

Hulikere is a small hamlet in what was once part of the huge Dwarasamudra city, the capital of the Hoysalas which was repeatedly sacked by the Delhi Sultans, particularly under the generalship of Malik Kafur.

Today, no trace of Dwarasamudra remains and the only monuments that testify to the once glorious capital are the many temples in Halabidu and a few scattered temples and other structures around the area.

Hulikere too formed part of the extinct Dwarasamdudra. Today, Hulikere is on the Hagare road and it is in the limelight for the only known Kalyani built by the Hoysalas that still stands the test of time.

As cane be expected of the Hoysalas, the Kalyani for them is not a mere well or a structure to hold water. It is a beautiful structure with small temples all round. The Kalyani is about 60 feet deep and it resembles a well built below the ground level.

The Kalyani is ringed on all sides by steps that lead to the water in the well. There are 12 sanctums with pinnacles (Shikharas)  and  14 sanctums without pinnacles.
The 12 sanctums represent the twelve Zodiac signs. The total number of structures around the Kalyani-27-stands for the  27 stellar constellations.

The water in the well and the 27 structures surrounding it represent the celestial sphere and its different constellations. This discovery shows that the Hoysalas could easily blend astronomy with architecture.

Inscriptions in the area ascribe the construction to Chattaya, a local chieftian who owed allegiance to the Hoysalas and this was possibly constructed during the reign of Vishnuvardhana or Bitti Deva, the Hoysala Emperor, who built the temples at Halebidu.

Unlike other wells built by the Hoysalas, some of which still survive in the Halebidu-Belur region, the Hulikere structure is ornamented with sculptures. It has thirty steps which lead to the water in three stages.

Disfigured statues of several Hindu gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Surya and others are placed around the well. The statues were taken out of the well by ASI officials and placed in the present position.  

The Kalyani is about 950 years old and locals say that it was the place where Shantala, the chief queen of Vishnuvardhana, took her bath. Security was so tight at this place when the Queen took her bath, that not even a tiger could enter the premises. Hence, the name Hulikere.

Shankatala was unmatched for beauty and dancing skills. She was a devout Jain and she was the daughter of a Hoysala General. She agreed to marry Vishnuvardhana only if he agreed to marry her childhood friend Lakshmi.

Vishnuvardhana, who all along had decided against marriage, was so infatuated by the beauty and simplicity of Shantala that he agreed to her terms. When the marriage took place, Vishnuvardhana ended up marrying seven women, including Shantala and Lakshmi.

Vishnuvardhana and Shantala had a son and daughter. The daughter was born sick and there are inscriptions that say she died young. A heartbroken Shantala committed suicide by throwing  herself from the cliffs of Shivagange now in Tumkur district. There is a point in the hill which is called by her name. She prayed at the place before jumping to her death. Another story of her death and this one is  by Jains is that she undertook Sallekhana or fats unto death at Shivagange.

Even today, you can see a matchless carving of Shantala in the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu.             

Another important legend connecting Hulikere with the Hoysalas is of their founder King, Sala, staying at this very place for several years.

Sala was young and he was just building the Hoysala Empire. Historian and epigraphist, Prof. S Settar also confirms that Sala did stay in Hulikere.

Historians say that the well was built exclusively to supply water for Abhisheka in the temple of Halebidu. The worn out steps indicate that the well water was being used by the people.

Another record says that Vishnuvardhana saw the old temple when he was proceeding from Belur to Halebidu. He immediately gave grants to the temple, had it renovated and ensured that the worship was carried on uninterrupted. The grants included dry and wet lands, a tank, oil mills for supply of oil to burn lamps in the temple and money for establishing a Brahmin settlement with two rows of houses.