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Keladi Rameshwara Temple
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This is one chapter of history our nehruvian marxist historians willfully omitted from our history books. Its a story of a fearless queen who fought against all odds & won to protect the progeny of one of the greatest emperor of Bharat, Chhatrapati Shivaji.
This is the entrance to the Rameshwara temple.The temple has tremendous history behind it. Including Chhatrapati Shivaji. It looks very unassuming until you walk through its door, what you'll see and hear next will make you proud of our hindu heritage & valour.
This is perhaps the only known kingdom & temple to have successfully repealed Aurangzeb at his very peak. The battle was led by a Queen.
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| Entrance |
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| Panaromic view |
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| View from the Temple side |
More on the temple first, it was built in the 16th century by the nayakas of Keladi after the disintegration of the Vijayanagara empire. The temple has shrines dedicated to Rameshwara, Veerabhadreswara & Parvathi.
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| Veerabhadra temple |
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| rear side of the temple |
This is the dwajasthambam opposite the garbhagriha, on to it are carved various deities, but two carvings at the very bottom stand out. Carvings that of the Keladi Chennama, the queen who handed barbarian aurangazeb a bloody nose & a proper defeat. Did your history books mention it? Carving beside that of Rani Chennama is that of Rajaram Chhatrapati, son of none other than Shivaji Maharaj, who aurangazeb was hunting for.
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| dwajastambam |
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| Ganesha |
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| Rani Chennamma with Maratha prince Rajaram |
Jihadi marauder aurangazeb after getting a whiff of the presence of Shivaji's son Rajaram in Keladi attacked the kingdom ferociously.Rani Chennama simply refused to surrender & fought on to protect Shivaji's son & won. Keladi would remain independent for more than 150 years.
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| Keladi Chennama |
The Rameshwara temple at Keladi is home to the carvings of Shivaji Maharaj himself. Both the Marathas & the Nayakas had tremendous rapport.Identical carvings of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj can be seen at the temple.
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| Shivaji Maharaj Riding horse |
The Gandaberunda carved onto the ceiling of the Keladi temple, the magical bird is also the official emblem of present day Karnataka.
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| Gandaberunda |
Carvings of Sarpas(snakes) & Navagrahas on the ceiling.
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| Ceiling carvings |
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| Ceiling snake carvings |
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| Navagraha ceiling carvings |
The famed Yali pillar, which is part lion, part horse & part elephant.
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| Yali Pillar |
The Rameshwara temple is one of the few temples that features the carvings of sage Bhringi, the great sage & bhaktha of Shiva who is cursed by Parvathi. The Rameshwara temple is one of the few temples that features Bhringi, the great sage & bhaktha of Shiva who is cursed by Parvathi. Cursed for the fact that he recognized only Shiva & not Shakti, but later realizes that there is no Shiva without Shakti vice versa. For that he is given a 3rd leg to support himself. This sculpture of Bhringi is unique to the Keladi Rameshwara temple.
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| Bringi Rishi |
Carving of a parrot feeding its little one.
The Keladi Nayakas had established diplomatic ties with China, carving of a Chinese traveler praying to Shiva. Notice the pattai-vibuthi.
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| Chinese traveler |
Suvarnamatsya, the mermaid who attempts to ruin Lord Hanuman's journey to Lanka carved onto the walls. Very unique to the temple.
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| Suvarnamatsya |
Carving describing the thala prastaram, 0 & 1 corresponding to laghu & drutham. Its basically a beat pattern used in Carnatic music.
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| Thala prastaram |
Carving of a Keladi royal with his attendant by his side. Also seen to the left is his Senapati.
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| Pillar carving |
The magnificent brahmakamalam in all its glory carved onto the ceiling. Can it get any more precise & intricate?
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| Brahmakamalam |
All possible gopuram/vimana/shikhara types carved onto the interior walls. Each one is different from the rest, takes up a good portion of 3 walls.
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| Vimana/gopura carvings |
Dwajasthambam & Veerabhadreswara temple
A secret passage from the Veerabhadreswara temple. The secret passage would lead to the outer prakaram & exit.
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| Secret passage |
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| Passage |
A panel consisting of the carvings of the sapthamatrikas that of bramhi, maheswari, kaumari, vaishnavi, varahi, narasimhi & chamundi followed by Ganesha along the passage.
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| Saptamaatikas |
All kinds of animal hybrids carved onto the secret passage way. There's a camel as well!
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| Animal carvings |
Solar eclipse carved along the same passageway ! Rahu the serpent onto Surya
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| Solar eclipse |
The temple served as a military base as well, weapons were stored here. From this very place that Rani Chennama led her attack on aurangazeb.
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| Weapons storage area |
The wooden ceiling on the Parvathi temple, every flower petal is unique. None the same. Various musical instruments too are carved on the wooden ceiling, including a violin! The wood used here is type of a sandalwood. Highly valued.
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| Various musical instruments carved onto the wooden ceiling |
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| Sandalwood pillar |
Carvings on the outer walls, many of these include optical illusion carvings.
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| Optical illusion carvings |
A hybrid depicting various aspects of vaasthu. Head of a lion, torso of a tortoise, legs of an elephant
& a variety of goodwill carvings
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| Vaastu carving |
The rear portion of the Temple & the water well.
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| Temple well |
Panoramic view facing the exit.
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| Exit |
The ASI plaque.
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| ASI Plaque |
And then it was time to leave... Which as always I didn't want to.. But had to. The Keladi Rameshwara temple is one of a kind & a must visit
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| Temple gate |
