"Manne" is a village of Nelamangala Taluk, Bangalore rural district. Though we knew only of its location somewhere near Nelamangala, we set out to find this place. After reaching Nelamangala and inquiring, a bunch of people we first met told us we had to travel about 24 kms from here to that place and gave us directions. We were not really convinced with their directions and the distance as our pre-trip research said Manne was only about 8 kms from Nelamangala. We thanked them and proceeded further to ask the next few, but in vain. Since most of them were unaware of this place, we had to move on. Finally we met someone who told us the distance to Manne is about 9-10 kms from hereon. We were pleased by his answer and since it matched our research we moved ahead following his directions assuming they were right .
We reached Budihal on NH4 (Tumkur road ) and as per the man's directions we had to make a right turn here. We wanted to make sure we were on the right track and inquired a few people around but none seemed to know about the place. Finally, an elderly person came to our rescue. He gave us the same directions as the first bunch of people had given us (the 24 kms travel) and told us we had to travel about 16 kms to reach our destination. Without wasting any more time, we proceeded further. At last, we were greeted by a welcome arch of the place which read " Welcome to the Capital of the Gangas - Manyapura ".
 |
| Welcome to the Captial of the Gangas- Manyapura (Manne) |
The Gangas are one amongst the many strong dynasties that ruled Karnataka during the 9th - 12th Centuries. They started their rule with Kolar as their capital, then shifted to Manyapura and finally Talakad. Manyapura, the then capital of the Gangas today is nothing but neglected ruins. We would like to add that Manyapura somehow has failed to make its mark in any which way possible unlike Talakad and Kolar. There are many temples here built during the period of Gangas, some of which have been completely renovated while the others are in ruins. We saw that some efforts were being to restore and maintain some of these temples though not sufficient. We had the wonderful company for 4 kids who also guided us across the village to show us different places and we must say they knew much about the same and felt proud too.
 |
| The Famous Four! |
The first place we visited was the "temple of Kapileswara" which is about 1200 years old. It looked very grand, though in complete ruins. The life-sized Dwarapalakas, nicely carved windows and perfectly designed pillars are the only remains.
 |
| Kapileswara Temple |
 |
| The Decorative Door Frame |
 |
| One of the Magnificent Dwarapalakas |
 |
| A Closer Look |
 |
| Designer Pillar |
 |
| Nicely Carved Windows |
 |
| Window Frame Work |
 |
| Depiction of Romantic Scenes |
 |
| Carvings on the Window |
 |
| Window from the Inside |
 |
| Rear View of the Temple |
 |
| Inner View |
 |
| A Perfect Picture-Guides, Photographer, Temple, Cows, Cycle, Shepherd Lady & MUV |
Continued here
Related Posts:
1.
Sri Mallikarjuna swami Temple, Hirenallur
2.
Sri Eshwara Temple, Anekonda, Davangere
3.
100 lesser known temples of Karnataka
Another hidden gem... Just great, there are so many such wonderful places in India that we are not aware of, the pics are breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! A hidden gem indeed! I continue to be amazed at the beauty and incredible history of India that I have learned about through my many Indian blogging friends. Thank you for your incredible photos and the history you share! Wishing you a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
What a discovery! Good photos too.
ReplyDeleteRajesh.
that sure is an amazing place!
ReplyDeletenice work on the temple and you always manage to cover a lot of different places!
ReplyDeleteseen 1st time ..thats lovely carving :) thanks for sharing Team G
ReplyDeleteGreat..! Looks like you visited this place mid noon.. Harsh sun is showing up on some snaps..
ReplyDeleteFelt very sad at the state of ruin this beautiful structure is in. Hope it gets restored.
ReplyDeleteAvani in kolar was the first capital of Gangas, later they migrated to different parts of karnataka after being defeated in battlefield, this is a ripper of sorts, great discovery Dinesh. I loved the fragments of history captured.
ReplyDeleteDinesh my request is to have an icon in Indiblogger, many a times i miss your post due to common icon, which does not indicate your identity, pl do so
ReplyDeleteThis is certainly an interesting place. thanks to you for bringing the pictures to us. you people are really adventurous and i think lot of research also goes along with it.
ReplyDeleteOur country is so rich in culture and heritage. It is not only the responsibility of the authorities to safeguard them, but each individual is equally responsible.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images. I would also like to see these in person.
Very rich culture and heritage we have. It seems to be no one taking care to the architectures.
ReplyDeletebeautiful pics
ReplyDeleteits ancient trasure
Great work I heard that a historian has also made documentary on Manne.If somebody can get it,it would be wonderful
ReplyDeleteI wanted the information of the place and u gave it to me .A good job.Please, continue your research like this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the whole team who did research on our native........
ReplyDeletefeelin maself proud 4 bein taken birth in manyapura:)
ReplyDeletegreat job!! thanks for the information about our village with such beautiful pictures... can anyone suggest some books on manyapura history??
ReplyDeleteThis is my village I will tell u what I learnt from my grandfather .Lot of artifacts were found here including Shivlingas .Stone tablets found bybmy grandfather have been embedded in the temple walls of Mannama the village diety.There is another temple inside the village built by a courtesan which has paintings on the ceilings.The temple on the bank of the lake has a linga found here .The history was orally told by my grandfather during the jatra of Mannama.
ReplyDeleteHello Savitha,
DeleteCan you please share the photos if possible. I could not trace stone tablets mentioned above.
Will be thankful. Manne will get the importance due it shortly
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Digging-for-traces-of-Ganga-in-Bengaluru/articleshow/53973043.cms
Which Ganga dynasty ruler shifted the capital to manne?
ReplyDelete