Our visit to an ancient site housing a Menhir – a funerary stone in Bhadravati had roused our curiosity about megalithic times. But just not these, the recent findings and discoveries from New Stone Age in the Shivamogga district had fuelled our imagination and interest in not only this era but also other times – some of them recently.
After wandering around famous Hoysala temple sites in and around the district, I and Tharangini decided to take a peek at the famous museum housed in the Shivappa Nayaka Palace situated in the old part of the Shivamogga city. Accompanying us was Mr. Shyamsundar, an educationist and historian whose knowledge and descriptions about various rulers are pretty interesting.
Since we had landed in Shivamogga on the day of the annual Kote Maramma’s festival, thousands of people had thronged the city and they could be seen in every street and gully. And to reach any place, it was a herculean task as crowds pushed and jostled with one another. We had to walk for about two kilometers in the hot sun to reach the Shivappa Nayaka Palace that houses the Government Museum on Kote Road.
One look at the 17th century Palace housing the museum, we could make out
there was not enough space to keep the sculptures, stone inscriptions, hero
stones, and whatnot. On its part, the museum hosts different sculptures from
the Hoysala and Chalukyan era, gods, goddesses of different styles, ancient
coins, stamps, arms, armory, and personal belongings of King Shivappa.
But the outer area is overflowing with artifacts from every period and era. And there seemed to be more historical figures and figurines in the garden rather than inside the Palace. Many beautifully carved figures and figurines of Jain, Buddhist and Vaishnava, and Shaiva styles are on display in the outer area of the Palace. These were discovered and found in many villages of the district.
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| Hero stone at the museum |
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| Hero stone at the museum |
The Shivamogga Government Museum authorities have done well to record
and date all their findings here. Every sculpture or hero stone displayed here
mentions – where they were found, the era and the dynasty, etc.
According to R Shejeshwara, Assistant Director, Archaeological Museums and
Heritage Department, Shivamogga, there have been many findings from different
eras in the Shivamogga district – megalithic and Neolithic and all of them
have been dated, recorded, and documented for future generations to take a
look.
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