*The Nannesvara is located in the southern part of Lakkundi (immediate west of the Kasivisvesvara temple). It is about 12 kilometers southeast of Gadag-Betageri twin city, between Hampi and Goa. It can be reached by India's National Highway 67.
<ul><li>A Hindu temple of Shaivism tradition, it is also referred to as Nanneswara or Nanneshvara or Nanneshwar temple.</li>
<li>Lakkundi is a small village-like town. Prior to the 14th-century, Lakkundi was a large, major historic city referred in pre-14th century texts and inscriptions as Lokkigundi – serving as a capital of the Hoysala dynasty. The city was destroyed in the Sultanate raids and wars that began in the 13th-century but rose from the ruins during the Vijayanagara Empire. The end of Vijayanagara Empire brought further social and political chaos to this region. Lakkundi was reduced to a galaxy of abandoned and mutilated ruins, spread over a cluster of small rural villages with a combined population of few thousand residents in the 19th-century.</li>
<li>Although with signs of major deliberate damage, defacement and some erosion, it is one of the more preserved temple in Lakkundi. This temple was among the dozens in this Lakkundi area that were rediscovered in the 19th-century by British archaeologists and scholars such as Henry Cousens. It was an abandoned temple that was then in ruins. The temple has been cleaned up and partially put back together. The mandapa, pillars, sanctum, ceiling, all damaged carvings and plan is original.</li>
<li>The temple shares some features with the nearby Kashi Vishwanatha temple (Kasivisvesvara). Its alignment suggests that it was likely a smaller shrine to the southwest in a much larger temple complex that had Kasivisvesvara as its center.</li>
<li>The temple has two entrances, one east, another south. The southern entrance is plain, while the eastern entrance is more elaborate. Prior to the eastern entrance is an open ranga mandapa supported with 16 pillars and 4 pilasters. These are lathe shaped and then carved in 8 different ways per early Hindu texts on stambha architecture. As one gets closer to the entrance, the artwork becomes more sophisticated.</li>
<li>The eastern entrance into the mandapa and temple is decorated with three <i>sakhas</i> (parallel layers) of intricate carvings, though they are far less elaborate than the Kasivisvesvara. On its Lalita-bimba is Gajalakshmi (Lakshmi with two elephants spraying water). The artwork on the door jambs include goddess Ganga, Yamuna, apsaras, dancers, musicians, a festive procession set in floral and jewelry like decoration. One layer includes amorous couples (mithuna, kama scenes), while some scenes depict artha and dharma scenes.</li>
<li>The closed mandapa is relatively plain, except for the polished and carved pillars.</li>
<li>The sanctum entrance is also relatively plain, with another Gajalakshmi on its lalita-bimba. Inside the sanctum is a Shiva linga.</li>
<li>The ceiling is also relatively plain, with a few lotus medallions.</li>
<li>The outer walls are plain with periodic depiction of the Hindu temple architecture at different scales. The top layers include gavaskas with Shiva depicted per Hindu legends (Nataraja, yogi, etc). This section shows signs of modern era restoration.</li>
<li>The sikhara has 3 <i>talas</i> and the original stone kalasam.</li></ul>
P. Madhusudan
2021-03-01 11:04:12
P. Madhusudan (<a href="https://ticket.wikimedia.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom&amp;TicketNumber=2021031010007171" class="extiw" title="ticket:2021031010007171">ticket:2021031010007171</a>)