Musafir

The outer walls of the main temple are carved with excellent craftwork which is not at all found in any of the temples constructed in recent times. The whole outer wall contains carvings of Rama, Krishna and other gods and goddesses.

There are multiple small shrines in the Temple Complex. The most notable ones are the following.

Sri Bhuvaneswari Devi: This small shrine of the goddess is filled with Black Granite Stone. The walls and the pillars of this shrine are also black. The most beautiful feature of this temple is the wall panel above the door to the inner sanctum. The carvings are so miniature and so very detailed, we wonder how many days would have been taken to carve them.  

The room with a Pin - Hole Camera: This cannot be called a shrine but it is a must visit in the temple complex. There is a small room with nothing inside but a small hole in one of the walls through which light passes. Through the hole, we can see the main gopura of the temple at a distance. The surprising aspect is that if we see the blank wall, we see the image of the gopura in inverted position. This is a 15th Century Pin - Hole Camera Technique.

Pataleswara Swamy: This shrine is in the cellar of the temple complex. The way to the the cellar is very dark and steep that extra care need to be taken moving down. Even the shrine is very dark with a very small hole in the ceiling for light. The inner sanctum is locked and is obviously a Siva shrine with the presence of The Nandi in front of the shrine.  

There are other smaller shrines of Rathnagarbha Ganapathi, Chandreswara Swamy and Rudraksheswara Swamy.

The Matanga tank is the holy tank of the temple and located just outside the temple. Any rituals related to the lord are held near the tank. There is an old Durga Shrine near the tank.

From here, i move to the Hampi Bazaar area.

To be continued…