Keshava Temple,Somanathapura

On the drive back to Bangalore we stopped at an ancient temple in an agricultural village on the banks of the Cauvery River. It was built in 1268 AD.

 It has ornate carvings of the gods and goddesses Vishnu,Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganesha. The engineering of the temple is a marvel. Standing in the temple makes you feel so small. It forces you to consider the greatness of what happened in the past and pursue that for the future(so sorry for the philosophy!)

 The temple is not used as a place of worship since it was the Muslims came and destroyed some of the idols. It was destroyed, looted and ransacked by two sets of Muslim invaders

Here is the entrance door:

 The pictures do not do justice to the temple. It is absolutely stunning to see and touch each of the carvings. The amount of detail in each and every carving is unbelievable. Here is iA view of the outside before entering:

I took many photos of the carvings up close here are a few to give you the idea. on some you can see some of the destruction done by the Muslims. Every inch of the temple has some form of destruction. Sometimes it is a full idol, maybe just an ear, nose or limb broken. It is such a shame.

Here are some of the intricate carvings on the facade:

A sample of the different columns that hold up the interior of the temple:

Here is a carving of Lord Ganesha, the god with the elephant head. He is known as the remover of obstacles.

This is the last carving I will show you from the temple. Notice the destruction of the limbs:

The agricultural village where the temple was located was also a fascinating place to walk around. The villagers were so nice and Maya and I took some quick photos, trying not to disturb the locals. Here is a quick view of a South Indian Village:

The women do get help to get that jar or sack on top of their head! (It was a question Maya kept asking and know it was answered):

This man dresses his bull up in colorful scarves and ribbons. he goes door-to-door in the village playing his flute. The bull will answer any of your questions about the future in exchange for money or food for the man. The bull stamps his hoof or nods his head back-and-forth in response to your question!

Here is a street with houses, the woman outside is washing clothes in a bucket:

A photo of me with my parents leaving the temple, priceless! :

Maya is having great fun on the car tides dressing up her grandmother in the various styles of fashion she sees along the way!

I can't say my mother is enjoying being her personal barbie!