Temple of a different kind!

When I was returning from Belur to Hassan, we passed a village called Doddagaddavalli. My driver suggested that I visit this place as it has a very ancient temple, which is declared by Archeological Survey of India as a protected monument.  I agreed and what I saw there was something very unusual!

I understand that this temple was built during the year 1114 AD by a rich merchant called Kallahana Rahuta.

The temple is called Lakshmidevi Ttemple.

The entrance to the temple.

This temple has four shrines facing each other sharing a common hall within the temple. In other words there is one shrine each facing the cardinal directions, a very peculiar composition for a Hindu temple. The shrines contain both Vaishnava and Shaiva deities, namely Lakshmi, Siva, Vishnu and Kali.

An old priest who was there (who speaks broken English) told me that this temple was built on the ‘principle of balancing forces’. All I understood was that Kali (an aggressive God) is facing Vishnu who is cool and Shiva who is again considered hot is facing Lakshmi who is always cool.

One can see two skeletons standing as guardians on either side of the Kali shrine. (Please see the image carefully - you can notice a chopped head in the left hand and the machete in the right hand).

Extraordinary carvings can be seen in the ceiling of the temple.

Since the temple is far away from civilization, it has not been subjected to vandalism and hence is in reasonably good condition.

This is certainly a temple of a different kind!