BANDE MAHAKALI TEMPLE IN CHAMRAJPET BANGALORE

 BANDE MAHAKALI TEMPLE  is a higly popular and visited temple in the city of Bengaluru Bangalore and is a magic of the chieftain of Bangalore under the Vijayanagar kings  SHRI. KEMPEGOWDA whose touch of administrative class made many contributions to the city and the basic foundations of the city can be attributed to him.

KALI  is a highly worshipped Goddess in India and it is apt that people of vision envisaged such temples across the length and breadth of the country, Many such temples were refurbished and renovated by successive rulers. This temple is also result of such enterprise. BANDE in Kannada means rock. There are more than three major hard rock formations in the vicinity of this temple and this temple could have got its name from these rocks. Some say it is because of the word BANDI which means vehicle in Kannada and in yore it was a place flocked by travellers travelling to Mysore from places like Vellore where they took shelter in this place .However the rock theory has more credence. KEMPEGOWDA thought it prudent to use the hillock on which this temple is situated as a WATCH TOWER  considering large number of population flocked this area. Since there are many hillock in this area the entire place is safe from many incursions from inimical people because a watch over the township called GAVIPURAM where this temple is situated can be made on all sides. The word GAVI means cave in Kannada. This area must have had many caves that offered shelter to travellers who were guarded by sentry who used the watch-tower to pre-empt any aggression. Many of these caves must have been privately owned and rented for public use. Organised robbery was a common affair during these times and a place is vetted and authenticated for safety from marauders.

Water from all these hillocks empty into the Kempemanabudhi lake nearby which feeds the VRUSHABAVATHY RIVER downstream. The name of this lake must have been KEMPANNA BUDHI KERE which has morphed and changed with time. BUDHI is a respectful kannada word for a LAND LORD  ....KEMPANNA refers to SHRI KEMPEGOWDA. THIS PLACE IS NOTHING BUT THE CLASS OF  KEMPEGOWDA.

This is a highly thronged temple in the city. How to reach this place?This place is GAVIPURAM EXTENSION near Ramakrishna Math in CHAMRAJPET AREA. IT MUST BE THREE KILOMETERS FROM lalbagh metro station. MANY PEOPLE TAKE AUTO FROM THIS METRO STATION AND BACK.This place is also adjacent to Hanumanthanagar and Srinagar and also the BULL TEMPLE and BUGLE ROCK are not far away.

When you enter the temple premises to the left is an entry to the sanctum sanctorum.. If you walk straight on the hill you see the watch tower on the left side and the Kempabudhi kere can be seen ahead. Many rocks on this hillock are being eradicated through modern means to create space for people but the lake is clearly visible from this point and also the horizon of the city with tall structures.

KADATHUNADAN KALARI SANGAM KALARIPAYETTU

 

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KALARIPAYETTU is an important martial art of Malabar with a history of many many centuries. Warriors of Malabar both men and women used the training they received in the Kalari at various junctures in history largely in the area of Ambush warfares. Kadathunad the modern day VADAKARA was in ancient times a key Kalari hot-spot. These warriors were also used by the VIJAYANAGAR kingdom to secure its borders from intrusion along the Thungabadra river. The Kalari military training schools were shut down by the East India Company.

There is need to revive this domain in the modern day world. Scanning through the net I found an institution in Manantavady which is dedicated to KALARI. The general administration and other Governmental agencies must study how this ancient tradition can be used fully in modernday progress and upkeep.

They say the Chinese martial art forms of Karate and Kung-Fu have their origins in this Martial Art.Atleast the schools like this one must be given support that they might need.

SIR GARFIELD SOBERS WITH K N TILAK KUMAR JT. MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DECCAN HERALD

In this file photo is seen Sir Garfield Sobers in a seated pose with the young K N Tilak Kumar ..photo taken in Chennai by an Englishman Mr.Leslie Wilson Sr  sports writer of DECCAN HERALD whose son is also in the back-ground of this photo during a visit to Chennai in 1966-67 when a team of students from St. Josephs European High school made a visit to Chennai (Madras) during a test match.

ASHOKA PILLAR JAYANAGAR BANGALORE

 

BULL TEMPLE IN BANGALORE

 

Where is the Bull Temple in Bangalore ?

It is in the Basavanagudi Area on Bull Temple Road. Jayanagar is another place close - by

What is this Bull Temple?

It is a temple dedicated to BASAVA  largely created by the artisans of the Vijayanagar Empire  and is in one of the hard rock hills near modern day Lalbagh.A hard rock has been chiselled into a Bull.

There are other temples near this Bull Temple which is worth seeing once.

LEELA MANIKKKOTH - THE FLAMBOYANT DOCTOR AT ITI HOSPITAL

 During our times at the ITI Hospital we had a doctor by name Leela Manikkoth who was good at her profession and did a good job at the hospital. Much later she had opened a clinic in the jubilee building on Old Madras Road. I did meet her once in the corridors of this building when I had gone there for some work.

There is  a professional link between her and our family - that she was a student of  Dr.  Madhavan Nambiar   at Manipal. Dr. Madhavan Nambiar is the son of Dr. P C Nambiar  from our family connections.

She brought a rare charm and aura to ITI hospital which simply cannot be forgotten.

THE GLORIOUS HILLY TERRAINS OF BANGALORE

 The larger city of Bangalore has its own set of hilly terrains which are unique and special, largely settlements of the past which has become modern townships with its own characteristic features. The VRUSHABAVATHY river flows close to these terrains at some places and these terrains feed water into the VRUSHABAVATHY  and other lakes. The very nature of these hills must be a source of large amounts of water.

When we exit the city of Bangalore from the modern day city Market towards Mysore there are mountainous formations on both sides of the road. To the left side was once upon a time a large chain of mountains which culminate at the big hill seen inside Lalbagh. The hill seen within Lalbagh is of solid rock formation and is a source of many streams and lakes. But the chain of hills that run almost parallel to the Mysore road are not hard rock formations but of hard soil making it more useful for human habitation. These hills could be called the LALBAGH HILLS  considering that they originate at LALBAGH. To the right of the modern day Mysore Road when facing towards Mysore are also many hill formations which could be seen as an extension of the MAGADI HILLS.

Along the extension of the LALBAGH hills are various townships of modern day Bangalore -very different from the rest of the city because they owe their origins to hill formations and have large amount of vegetation and age-old trees and flora. The place is salubrious largely because of altitude and water formations and depict a domain where environment and development have gone hand-in-hand.

To my understanding the starting point of this region of Bangalore would be the ASHOKA PILLAR in JAYANAGAR which descends into BASAVANAGUDI and then to BANASHANKARI and then to HANUMANTHNNAGAR  and then into GIRINAGAR also encapsulating a place called AVALAHALLI AND THYAGARAJANAGAR and into HOSAKEREHALLLI adjacent to the VRUSHABAVATHY river  and the hill formation deeply descending into RAJA RAJESHWARI NAGAR  all upto KENGERI covering many Kilometres. No place in Bangalore has such a stretch of Hill formations. In most of these sectors there are no high-rise apartments though they can be seen today at HOSAKEREHALLLI..

Many of  these hills are  getting ravaged towards HOSAKEREHALLI for modern day  life styles but the entire stretch could be called the modern day hilly side of  the city.