Sri Yoga Nandeeshwara Swamy Temple, Nandi Hills, Bengaluru / Bangalore, Karnataka.

21^st August 2018.

This temple’s visit was a part of the Bangalore & Kolar Heritage Visit. The following are the places to visit in the Nandi Hills. Sri Yoga Nandeeshwara Swamy temple, Tippu Summer House, Amrutha Sarovar, Basara mandapa, Andhra ganga, Arkavathi River origin point, Tippu drop, Sri Gavi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple, Nallikayi Basavanna, Brahma Ashram, Palar River origin point and Horse steps. Part of these structures is constructed within the fort, built during the Vijayanagara period. Visited second time, a part of “Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Heritage walk”, from 25^th to 28^th December 2025, organised by “எண்திசை வரலாற்று மரபுநடைக்குழு".

Moolavar    : Sri Yoganandheshwara

Consort      : Sri Parvati

 

Some of the salient features of the temple are...

The temple faces east with an entrance mandapa. Two stone stambhas and a balipeedam are after the entrance mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum walls have reliefs. 2 tier Rajagopuram is on the South side. Both Yoga Nandeeshwara and his consort are facing the east direction in separate temples with an interconnecting mandapa. The Mandapa pillars have the relief of Shiva's various forms. Brass dwarapalakas are at the entrance of the main sanctum.

ARCHITECTURE

The temple consists of snactum sanctorum, antarala, and ardha mandapam. The sanctum sanctirum is ona simple pada bandha adhistanam with jagathy, three patta kumudam, and pattikai. The bhitti starts with vedikai. The pilasters are of Brahma kantha pilasters. The prastram consists of valapi and kapotam with nasi kudus. The single-tier Nagara vimanam is on the prastaram / bhumi desam. Both vimanam above Moolavar and his consort are built in the Dravidian style of architecture.

Lord Veerbhadra is the form of the Shiva Linga situated in the centre. The shrine dedicated to Goddess Parvati is on the right Side. Gajasuramandana, Lingodbhava Murthy, and a meditating Vishnu dancing Ganapati are depicted. in bas relief on the temple's four black pillars. "Doddamhanadoni, a water tank adore the temple premises.

Ambal Sannidhi

HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS

Yoganandeeswara Temple, a Dravidian structure, was built in the 11th century by the Cholas. The tales of Shivaji's son Shambhaji reclaiming the Nandi Hills from the Mughals are chronicled in a Nagari inscription on the temple's exterior wall.

Even though it was claimed that the temple was built by the Chozhas (with a Bana period foundation), the present sanctum and the mandapam seem to be built by the Ganga dynasty, during the 13th to 14th century or even the Maratha period. The outer wall has the Marathi inscriptions, belonging to Sambhaji (Chhatrapati Shivaji’s son).

Ref:

Display board at the temple

Marathi inscription

TEMPLE TIMINGS:

The temple will be kept open between 06.00 hrs and 18.00 hrs.

HOW TO REACH:

The Nandi Hill is about 60 km from Bengaluru/Bangalore and 81 km from Kolar.

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

 

Tree roots in different shapes 

Tree roots in different shapes 

   Pillar reliefs

 Pillar reliefs

 Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

Pillar reliefs

East side entrance 

West side entrance 

Temple tank

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA--- 

Sri Panchalingeshwara Temple / Sri Pancha Lingeswarar Temple / Sri Nageshvara Temple / Sri Naganatheshvara Temple, , Begur, Karnataka. – A BENGALURU AND KOLAR HERITAGE VISIT.

21^st August 2018.

This two-day trip was planned to visit Temples in the Western Ganga and Nulamba regions, which were once under the control of the Chozha Dynasty. Our first visit was to the Panchalingeshwara Temple, at Begur, a southern part of Bangalore. The temple complex consists of 5 Shiva Linga Temples and Parvathi Sannadhi.

Moolavar : 1. Sri Nageswara Swamy 

                2. Sri Kali Kamateshwara Swamy 

                3. Sri Nagareswara Swamy 

                4. Sri Chozheshwara Swamy 

                5. Sri Karneswara Swamy.

Consort :      Sri Parvati

Some of the important details are…

The temple faces east with a recently built 5-tier Rajagopuram. In addition to the east, there are 3 more Rajagopuras in the other three directions with a 10-foot-high compound wall under construction at an estimated cost of Rs 7 to 8 crores.

Sri Nageswara Swamy Temple... This is the main temple in the temple complex. In the sanctum Shiva Linga. Moorthys of Ganesha, Bairava, Vishnu, Suryan, Chandran, Saptamatrikas, Kasi Viswanathar, Subramaniyar, and Samundeeswari are in the mandapam. The mandapa ceilings have the bas-reliefs of Uma Maheswari and Ashtathik Balakas. Urchava murtis are kept in the ardha mandapa. Sri Parvati is in a separate sannadhi and Navagraha is near to it. At the entrance of the sanctum a Ganesha with 2 hands believed to be the oldest Ganesha found in South India. This temple was constructed by  Western Ganga King Nitimarga-I and Erayappa Nittimarga –II, in the 8^th Century AD. The sanctum Vimana was built with stone.

Sri Nagareshwara Swamy Temple…built like a separate temple. The moolavar and Rishabam are big. Rishabam is in the Mukha mandapa. A Suryan sannadhi is in front of the temple.  In the Ardha mandapa sannidhis for Ramalinga, Chamundeeswari, Bairava and Vinayagar. This temple was constructed by  Western Ganga King Nitimarga-I and Erayappa Nittimarga –II, in the 8^th Century AD. The sanctum Vimana was built with stone.

Sri Kali Kamteeshvara Swamy Temple…Goddess Kali is in a separate sannadhi and a Shiva Linga with Shiva’s face. Rishabam is facing the goddess. A stone sthamba is in front of the temple. This temple was built by the Gangas and later renovated by the Vijayanagara Kings. The sanctum Vimanam was built with stone.

Sri Karaneeshwara Temple… This is a small temple without any Vimana. The Moolavar Shiva Linga is small. A Rishabam is in front. The sanctum Vimana was built with stone.

Sri Chozheeshwara Temple…This temple is also facing east with a Rishabam. There are no other idols other than Shiva Linga.  The temple was believed to be constructed by Chozhas, hence the moolavar bears the name Chozheshwara.

 Sri Chozheshwara Temple with Nagara Vimanam

In the outer prakara a 30-foot stone sthamba, Dwajasthambam, and balipeedam are after the entrance of the east side of Rajagopuram. Kulothunga Chozha and his wife’s inscriptions are behind the Rishaba sthamba. Hero stones and inscription stones are also found. An 890 CE inscription stone mentions the name of Bengaluru. This inscription stone with the other two inscription stones is erected near the south side of Rajagopuram. The details of the hero stones will be written in a separate post.

The temple Complex has the Contributions of the Gangas, Chozhas, and Vijayanagara Dynasty. The Dravidian architecture temples existed before 1100 years, but the City was founded by Kempegowda only about 500 years before.  It was a Jain settlement once.

HOW TO REACH:

8.3 KM from central and 18.6 KM from Bengaluru / Bangalore Railway station

LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE

 Sri Chozheshwara Temple

Sri Chozheshwara Temple

 Sri Chozheshwara Temple- Pillar

 The earliest Vinayagar of 8^th century with 2 hands

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---

“Mahila Sakthi - மகளிர் சக்தி” – The Power of Women at Integral Coach Factory ( ICF), Chennai, Tamil Nadu – A MADRAS DAY HERITAGE VISIT.

25^th August 2018.

From dawn to dusk, we use many travel services like cars, Trains, airplanes, etc. for our commutation. Each service has its own story, and many people's labor and efforts are behind that. It will be a mixture of happiness and sorrow to earn something to survive. The  Integral Coach Factory, short called ICF, manufactures coaches  for the Indian Railways, in which we used to travel, for work, to enjoy holidays, to go to distant places, etc.

About ICF…..

The ICF, spread over 473 acres, was established in 1952, and production was inaugurated on 2^nd October 1955, Gandhi Jayanthi Day, by Jawaharlal Nehru, and the latter's furnishing division was inaugurated on 2^nd October 1962. So far, ICF has manufactured 54131 coaches, since its inception, in approximately 500 designs. ICF also manufactures Stainless Steel (SS407) coaches and so far it has produced 1162 SS coaches with a life span of 40 years. Its latest designs are 160 km/ hour “Train 18” and “Train 20”. Apart from internal needs of Coaches for Indian Railways & Metro Railways, exports to 13 foreign countries including Sri Lanka. ICF Completed its 60 years of service and celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 2015. A total of 10485 employees are on roll, of which 1218 are female employees.

ICF has two divisions namely Shell and Furnishing. In the shell division, only shells are manufactured and in the furnishing division accessories like berths, electrical  fittings, and toilets are added. The factory is maintained with good ventilation, lighting, and neatness. Mural paintings are done on the factory walls which changes the factory atmosphere. Some of the mural paintings are done by the employees and their Children. Footpaths are painted with green. The new divisions are inaugurated by one of the employees and the top performer of the month is rewarded and a photo is displayed in the Administrative block. ICF takes care of its employees with a colony to live in, a hospital, a park, a playground, a swimming pool, and recreation facilities.

About our visit…on ”Mahila Sakthi”

After Mr Sudhanshu Mani took over as General Manager, there was a sea of positive changes in the working as well as in the employer and employee relationship in ICF. One such change was the  introduction of the “Mahila Sakthi”, team. As of date, 137 female employees are working in the Mahila Sakthi team. They were given in-house training to do similar jobs that the men were doing in two shifts. At present, the Mahila Sakthi team is engaged in the Manufacturing of berths and electrical wiring of AC and non-ac coaches (using 1.5 sq mm to 150 sq mm copper wires with a color code of Red, Yellow, Blue, brown, black, and green.), Repairing and rewinding of fan motors, the rectification of Welding machines, Welding of Stainless Steel (SS407 and the sheet thickness ranges from 2 mm to 8 mm) Shell side walls (in two lengths ie 10 meters and 11 meters), which includes preparation, Hardware Stores – in automated storage and retrieval system - (receipt, inspection, store and issue with code numbers) and Testing of meters. The Mahila Sakthi team works with a target of 12 coaches per month, the same target given to the men workers.

Even though the 25^th Saturday was not a working day for the Mahila Sakthi team, they were asked to work during our Visit and explained their job. ICF had arranged a bus to pick us up from the Museum, Transport inside the factory, and drop us at the starting point. To the top of all Mr Sudhanshu Mani, General Manager of ICF and Finance Head met us in the conference room and interacted with us was an unforgettable experience. I extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Sudhanshu Mani GM, Finance Head Mam, Hema Ramesh APO, and Mrs. Nivedita Louis for her one-month hard effort to get permission and arrange this Heritage Visit. Thanks..ma.

LOCATION OF THE ICF:    CLICK HERE

Welding

Manufacturing of berths

Bunching of electrical wires for the coaches 

At Store 

Grinding /Finishing and Welding

Welding

The Mahila team in the winding shop

The best performer of the month is displayed 

The photos of employees are displayed in the Administrative block   

The ICF Family tree

Conference room

General Manager Sudhanshu Mani interacts with us

Resurgence Road leading to the furnishing division was created in remembrance of the Vardha cyclone, which uprooted many trees in the ICF premises and damaged many structures  

 Rail Museum

A sculpture  using the scrap material made by the employees

A sculpture  using the scrap material made by the employee - Yazhini and on the back of the retired  first-class rail coach of  Blue Mountain railway

 A sculpture  using the scrap material made by the employees

The retired in 1965. meter gauge coach which ran between the beach to Chengalpattu

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---