Exploring the Kotilinga Chakrateertha site and its surroundings

By Tharangini

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We were quite eager to visit the Kotilinga Chakrateertha site and a Shiva Temple, that is inaccessible during monsoons, on the banks of Tungabhadra,.

After successfully hiking up to Hirebenekkal, we were quite confident about being able to easily walk approach this place and visit a couple of temples nearby.

This place can be approached either by coracle or walk and with Srinivas as our guide, we decided to go by coracle and come by walk.

70+ years Mariswamy and his wife Saroja took us across Tungabhadra in their coracle. 

After a brief coracle ride, we were dropped off at a point closest to the the Lingas.  The water was calm enough in our coracle ride, giving us a chance to appreciate the ruins along the banks. Everywhere we turned, there was something to catch our attention.

Low level waters exposed a carving of a goddess on a rock. Every rock was a canvas
for the artisans of the Vijayanagar Era.

The almost worn out steps leading to an unknown place of worship or a meditation point for sages.

Another temple ruin as seen from the coracle. The stacking of cut rocks to
 achieve a perfect level for the base is clearly evident here. 

Another meditation shelter with barely visible steps, again as seen from the coracle.

The pair of Nandis nestled in the rocks keeping a watch on the river and its travelers.

When we got off the the coracle, what we had not bargained for was how Tungabhadra for over so many years had smoothened the rocks to such amazing perfection. She did not make it easy for us and that made navigating these rocks a pretty slippery ride.

Hirebenekkal almost felt like a walk in the park after this. 

A family of devotees greeted us as soon as we got off the coracle.

Lord Vishnu in Ananthashayana looking incredible. The small holes above indicate
some kind of roof or shelter was pegged in there. All the holes are perfectly symmetrical. 

Lakshmi Narasimha, clicked while precariously balancing on a rock.
The peg holes can be seen here too.

After a few minutes of climbing and clambering, with expert support from our guide Srinivas, we finally reached Kotilingeswara. 

Kotilingeswara or Sahasralingeswara as it is sometimes called are a set of Lingas arranged in a square. Though 'Koti' and 'Sahasra'  indicate crore or a thousand, totally they are much much lesser . Maybe just around 600 in each set.

A close up view of the large Linga in the center and the surrounding lingas

The indication of the direction to prostrate from.

There are a couple of sets like this but there are so many more individual Lingas all over the place. Just carved into the rocks here and there. 

Now the real reason behind carving these Lingas in this way is unknown, but there are a lot of speculations. Some say this was a way for general population to worship the Lingas, while others associate a numeric significance to the number of Lingas.

Anywhere we turned, we could spot Shiva Lingas carved out, either singly or in pairs. 

Another one, but with just the outer boundary

And another. It was so fascinating. 

A series of Nandis right next to the Kotilingeswara

An abandoned construction as seen from the Kotilinga Chakrateertha site

All these temples in the Kotilinga Chakrateertha site have been constructed during the reign of Vijayanagar empire and are dated between the end of 14th century and beginning of 15th century.

In the next blog, we will explore the Shiva temple that is accessible only when the water level in Tungabhadra recedes.

Location map:

The Shiva temple - Kotilinga Chakratheerta

By Tharangini

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After a short stop here, and being in awe of the entire surroundings, we were back to climbing and clambering, at times just sitting on the rock and sliding to reach a nearby Shiva temple.

This Shiva temple, despite its utter state of ruin, still had the power to fascinate us. The main deity is missing in the Sanctum Sanctorum, and the temple is filled with sand. There are carvings of both Vishnu and Shiva on the outer walls of the temple and various other deities on the inner walls. 

Though there is no clear indication of who this temple was dedicated to, it is presumed to be Shiva temple because of the dwarapalikas (door keepers) at the entrance to the temple. 

The temple is very small and we had to crawl under a boulder to access it, but  despite being in ruins, there were indications of rituals that were performed there by devotees. 

Unfortunately there was also plenty of litter around.  But overall, this place was still magic.

Let's move on to the images. 

Lord Vishnu stands tall in this carving.

Ma Kali sits with a demure smile, holding a sword, trishula (trident) and  a damaru (drum).

Shiva with Damaru (drum) and Trishula (trident) seen in this carving            

The presence of Nandi indicates this could be a carving of lord Shiva,
but the bow and arrow  along with the sword is an
 unusual weapon combination for Shiva. 

Sage Vyagrapada ( who had tiger feet) an ardent devotee of Shiva and offered only fresh flowers
that were even untouched by bees to the Lord. During his daily visit to the depths of the
forest his legs were constantly injured by the thorns and rough surfaces of the trees.
Seeing his devotion and to help his endeavour, Shiva granted the boon of tiger legs.
Hence got the Vyaghrapada (Vyaghra means Tiger and pada means legs).

Yoga Dakshinamurthy - Lord Shiva's sculpture and in this
sculpture, we can see Lord Shiva sitting under a banyan
 tree in a yogic posture while putting
one of his legs on a demon whom he has killed.

Mahishashura Mardini seen slaying the demon in buffalo fom

Lord Suryanarayana standing in his chariot with his charioteer Arun who guides
the seven horses led chariot.

Sri Krishna Devaraya with his wives Chinna Devi and Tirumala Devi with their children
-Timalamba, Vengalamba, TirumalaRaya.
 Krishnadeva Raya's head gear indicates they are in royal attire in this carving.

 Sri Krishnadeva Raya with his family and all of them are in simple devotional robes
 in this carving

The visit to this place would not have been possible without the able assist of Srinivas, our guide. He
is a naturalist and can be contacted for any birding tour across Hampi too.  

Sarvesh, who is a very knowledgeable guide of Hampi monuments was incredibly helpful in identifying some of the carvings. Though he could not accompany us to this place, he guided us through video calls and images.

Please feel free to reach us for contact information, if anyone needs to use the services of these very enterprising young men as a birding guide or a tourist guide in Hampi and the surrounding areas. 

Location map:

Hirebenakal - A Megalithic Wonder

By Tharangini

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Location map:

Cellular Jail – An epic memorial of our Freedom Fighters

By Meera

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Continued from Part 1

Standing amidst the vast structure of the cellular jail in Andamans, is an ancient Peepul - a mute witness to the untold sufferings and sacrifices made by our countrymen and women for the cause of India’s independence. In 1998, this tree was uprooted in a storm, but it was luckily saved and re-planted at the same spot. 

Now why was the Cellular Jail built by the Colonial British? This was basically to incarcerate the teeming revolutionaries who fought for freedom in every way they knew, threatening the imperialism . They were transported from different parts of India to undergo solitary confinement and do inhuman work. 

The first to be transported included people tried in the Alipore (Ghose, Das, Dutta) case & followed by the Nashik (the Savarkar brothers’) conspiracy cases. In fact, Veer Savarkar served 27 years in the Cellular Jail & was not even aware that his brother too was in the same hellhole. Savarkar spent 10 years in a solitary cell at the far end of a long corridor on the third floor.

During 1909-21, a large number of Gadar heroes of the first Lahore Conspiracy case were transported to the Cellular Jail. It was David Barry, head overseer who made the life of the revolutionaries miserable and horrible. With a very twisted mindset to met out torture in multiple ways, he ensured it was always a do or die situation for the inmates. 

During the Malabar Rebellion movement of 1921, many Mopahlas with some of their families were transported to the Cellular Jail. Later they were given farm tickets and allowed to settle in these islands

It was during 1933 when new political prisoners came to Andaman Jail & went on strike for better conditions in this inhuman jail. This was followed by more hunger strikes and continued till 1937 but later called off after long discussions with national leaders.

 Although many people went back to the mainland, many from different parts of India settled down in these islands which was so far off from the mainland. 

However, there was no end to their sufferings when the local born along with those who settled here had to bear the Japanese invasion in 1939. The British, unable to defend this invasion, had to flee for their lives. 

The settlers were punished, tortured and killed by the Japanese for no reason for more than three years. 

The arrested people were housed in the sixth wing of the Cellular Jail and tortured day and night by the Japanese and suspected spies were shot dead at various placed in the island. This episode is known as the  Homfreyganj massacre and most of the people who were shot dead belonged to the Indian Independence league.

It was on 30th December, 1943 that Netaji Subash Chandra Bose who unfurled the Indian national flag for the first time on Indian soil in the Andaman Islands. 

After the surrender of Japanese forces in 1945, the British once again occupied the island but totally abolished the penal settlement.

 However, the remnants of their barbarity and inhuman torture of freedom fighters can still be seen today in the Cellular Jail.

Do not miss this “freedom monument” if you visit Andaman Islands as the spirit of the freedom fighters still lingers on. 

And one can feel their unbelievable sacrifices to gain freedom for their motherland as we go from the first to the third wing of the Cellular Jail. Don’t miss the light and sound show that highlights the sacrifices made by freedom fighters as this has not been written in any of the prescribed school text books.

Cellular Jail’s Dark Past – The Forgotten Heroes

By Meera

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Amidst the cool breeze wafting from the Andaman Sea, we entered the historic site of the Cellular Jail – once derogatorily known as Kalapani (black waters). And, as we traversed cell after cell, it was impossible to not feel its dark past – The walls of this structure still seemed to hold the shrieks and moans of freedom fighters who were tortured and condemned to death inside this historic monument.

We quietly walked the dark cells & corridors from one end to the other. The silent, dark walls spoke of unspeakable horrors committed by the colonial British on freedom fighters with the start of India's War of Independence in 1857. It was nothing short of barbaric and the stories are so heart wrenching that it is difficult to be unaffected after a visit here. 

Presently, refurbished with detailed info, the cellular jail's painful history (built in different stages and levels) has been chronicled in a museum, very extensively with models, pictures, documents & of course, the light & sound show in the evening that attracts a lot of visitors. 

The model of the cellular jail is displayed in one corner which shows how it was the most protected site and escape route for the freedom fighters was impossible as it is bounded by the Andaman Sea on all sides.

The cellular jail took form in 1896 and was completed in 1906. Since the Colonial British were not satisfied with the Penal Colony islands here, they came out with this kind of penal settlement that was inhumane in every way. 

To make the Cellular Jail more severe and harsher, solitary cells were added it therefore has 698 solitary cells. So, one can only imagine the plight of 1000s of prisoners who were secluded without a hearing or any justice for decades. 

The well-maintained brick colored Cellular Jail has three floors with seven wings. In fact, each wing radiates in a different direction from the central tower. Dark & eerie, it still seems to hold the heavy negative energy from the countless tortured souls. It is such a difficult feeling to shake off, that I can still feel it as I am writing about it in this moment. 

Honaji was one of the five known soldiers of Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi who were all brought to the Andaman Penal Settlement as convicts in 1858. He was sentenced for transportation for life imprisonment in Andamans. The other four soldiers were Itu Patel, Lalai, Sadashiv Narayan Parulkar and Devi Prasad. 

In the Andaman Islands, these freedom fighters were forced to work in inhuman works such as swamp filling, forest clearing, earth cutting and other miscellaneous tasks to eventually get a Free Ticket. However, few could survive the hunger, disease, torture and the gallows.

One can still see and feel how freedom fighters were treated inhumanely by the colonial British. This is especially evident in the the oil grinding sites where prisoners were chained, forced to grind oilseeds. If they were unable to finish their quota of work, they were beaten & tortured till they were total wrecks. The oil mill site is a stark reminder of an imperialist force.

Scanty food, polluted water, sea water for bathing and always being chained resulted in unbearable pain & deaths of the prison inmates. Freedom fighters were also executed almost daily and hence cremation was very common.

In addition to this, many a freedom fighter & other prisoners also committed suicide as they were unable to bear the torture and unlivable conditions.


More in part II.