HUBBALLI: A beautiful 11th-century sculpture has been documented in Ulluru Mutt of Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada district this week.
The Ulluru Mutt is located below the foothills of Sahyadri and nearby a small stream. The site currently has a small modern shrine of Ganapati.
The expert team has found architectural remains of an ancient temple, mutilated sculptures and an inscription. It was headed by Prof. T Murugeshi, Associate Professor, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty College in Udupi district.
"The mutilated sculpture, locally identified as Mahavishnu but, iconographically is a Janardhana. It holds pinda in its frontal right hand, Gadha in the left, and at the back left it holds Shanka and Chakra in right. The image is in a standing posture of Samabhanga, having an ornate long Karanda mukuta as its headgear, the curly hairs on both sides of the head are a great testimony of its grandeur," explained Prof Murugeshi
"The sculpture has a hollow rim of charming prabhavali with firedecorations on the top edge, a graceful face with a handsome nose, lips,chin and eyes make it a marvelous one. It wears rich ornaments, Makarakundalas in its ears, Kantihara, necklace, Kaustubh Hara, Udarabhandha, Bhujakeertis, Tolbhandhis, bangles on both the hands. It wears an undergarment with Simha Keerthi at its waist belt. It’s about 80 cm in height without a pedestal and 85 cm with padma pitha. This masterpiece of art was executed during the period of Chalukyas of Kalyana," he said.
Prof Murugeshi explained that the Bhagavata cult had been in Uttara Kannada from the 7th century. "The earliest Vishnu sculptures discovered at Gokarna and Igunda are both dated to the 7th century. During the Chalukyas of Kalyana, trinity worship was very popular and a large number of Trikuta temples were built in the Chalukya Kingdom, where the Sun, Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped equally. Ulluru Matta was also a centre of trinity worship," he added.
Inscription Dates Back To the 14th Century
The inscription found has written in Kannada and Tigalari script. It refers to Kamadevarasa and Basavayya of Chandawar which was a sub-capital of the Alupas of South Canara. The epigraph is still under detailed study. It was written in the early characters of the 14th century.
"We are yet to decode the inscription details. The research is underway. The local temple authorities were planning for a new temple. That is when the village heads wrote a letter to us asking to document the old inscription and unattended sculptures," Prof Murugeshi said.
Murugeshi is credited for documenting and discovering several ancient artifacts in Udupi and its surroundings. His recent discoveries include Nagara Kallu in the Udupi district.