File:9th century Navalinga temple, Kukkanur, Karnataka India - 51.jpg

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A group of Hindu temples now dedicated to Shiva, originally to Shakti goddesses

Summary

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Description
English: These temples are located in Kukkanur village in northern Karnataka. The village is also referred to as Kuknur, Kuknoor, Kukanur, Kukanoor, and other phonetic spellings. It is about 7 kilometers northwest of historic temples of Itagi (Ittagi) and 40 kilometers northwest of Lakkundi group of temples. The Navalinga temples are close to the National Highway 367.
  • The Navalinga temples are from the 9th-century.
  • They are grouped around a central shared mandapas. Seven are quite similar shrines, while two are evolved versions of them. Inscriptions found here and in the village of Kukkanur refer to grants and gifts to temples of goddesses. This evidence suggests these were temples dedicated to Shaktism tradition such as Sarasvati, Kalikadevi, Chamundi and others. Quite likely, these temples were dedicated to the Saptamatrika (seven mothers group with one shrine to each), expanded to Navamatrika (nine mothers). However, like many other temples in the region, these were badly damaged and abandoned at some point, later appropriated and re-consecrated to Shiva. All nine shrines now have Shiva linga in them with broken, mutilated Nandi made of very different materials from different centuries, in front of them. The principal shrine near the Navalinga group is the Mahamayi temple here, and this is now an active temple of Shaivism tradition.
  • These temples were made over time, shrines were added on in the 2nd half of the 9th-century from a sandstone that erodes. History has proven this was an inferior choice as a construction material, unlike other temples in the region which used more resistant, harder and far more lasting material.
  • The temples have been repeatedly whitewashed, plastered and restored by the local community, making a close study of the artwork difficult. Yet, the details on the outer walls, the pillars, the legends depicted on the pillars, and the arrangement of mandapas are discernable. This makes these significant to the history of architectural innovations in this region.
  • The nine shrines share four mandapa (halls), with three halls aligned and the fourth added later on. Each shrine's sanctum has a vimana / sikhara (spire) in the early Dravidian style. The lalita-bimba of each shrine has Gajalakshmi.
  • Another notable artwork here is the makara with intricate scales (mythical fusion animals with florid tails – partly fish, crocodile, elephant, lion).
  • The reliefs on the pillars depicts scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
  • The outer walls have rich detail and embroderies, though portions have naturally eroded over the centuries.
  • The nine Navalinga shrines are a part of greater collection of temples that once existed in Kukkanur. Smaller, abandoned shrines are close by in ruined state along the path to a pushkarni (stepwell), as is the major Kalleshvara temple about 1000 feet to its east. Damaged and mutilated large statues, such as those of Brahma, Shiva and Visnu have been found here, some of them retained in temples, others moved to different museums.
Date
Source P. Madhusudan (ticket:2021031010007171)
Author P. Madhusudan
Camera location15° 29′ 26.9″ N, 75° 59′ 22.01″ E  Heading=0° Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

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Photographs created by P. Madhusudan, Telangaana, India uploaded by User:Ms Sarah Welch are released as CC-0.

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