Submerged ancient temple's reincarnation almost complete

Mysore, Mar 4 (UNI) Once submerged in the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir waters of river Cauvery, the magnificent 12th century Venugopalaswamy temple, relocated on the backwaters of Hosakannabadi village, will be rededicated in the coming months.

It was during the second decade of the last century that the imposing shrine, near here, literally met with a watery grave as the KRS was constructed to impound water for irrigation in the Cauvery basin districts.

When this UNI reporter visited the spot, work was progressing on a brisk note and more than 80 per cent of the restoration work had been completed. The outer prakara work was being carried out.

The relocation and restoration of the temple of such a proportion was reckoned to be the biggest such project undertaken in the State with private initiative. It had been made possible entirely due to the efforts of Khoday Foundation. Each and every temple stone was removed and reconstructed at Hosakannabadi with trained artisans and sculptors from Madurai and Thoothukudi from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry working round the clock to recreate the magic of their predecessors.

The original temple was a massive complex and the structure measured about 100 X 60 yards. Experts aver that the temple displayed Dravidian and Chalukyan style of architecture and art historians have been lavish in their praise by crediting it with significant architectural merit.

The complex was described as a symmetrical building enclosed by two 'prakaras' and the outer gate or the Mahadwara had verandahs on both sides, flanked by the yagasala and the kitchen. This was enclosed by the second mahadwara, which led to the inner enclosure and was akin to the Somnathapura temple. A complete description of the original temple was found in the gazette in the first decade of the last century when the temple was still intact and the KRS project was not yet conceived.

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