Tuesday, 5 February 2019

Aivarakhandapura


 My grandmother  Ammaji always used to tell legends and myths about her native which always surprised me how myths induce a human feeling of anger,lust,ego,attachment to the gods and it deeply explains how no one is indifferent to suffering after one takes up the human form and in this subcontinent there are many such places which have a significance in legends and myths of the land.
Aivarakhandapura also called Aigondapura located in the Bangalore rural district is also one such place which is lesser known for it being associated with the great epic Mahabharata.The name of the village itself gives us a clear picture as it can be literally translated to 'city which saw five men' which means the place which had sheltered the great Pandavas and according to the local folklore the elders of the village say that the village housed seven temples out of which only two remain with time.
In the center of the village is the temple of Dharmesvara,the legend goes that Pandavas in their twelve years of exile had consecrated shiva lingas in this very same place and also is said that in the cremation ground just opposite to the temple were the hundred kaurava brothers buried after the war in kurukshetra.
The Panchalinga shrine



Sri dharmeshvara linga 
 Yudhiṣṭhira linga 
Arjuna linga

 Bhima linga
Nakula linga 

 Sahadeva linga 

Bhairava-The Kshetrapala



Inscription stone installed during the chola regime.
 Ganga styled pillar 

Besides the fiva shiva lingas,there is also a sixth linga which was consecrated by draupadi who was the wife of the five pandavas but apparently the temple was closed and was in a very bad condition and in spite of the temple being rich with folktales and legend it remains neglected.



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