Anegundi is a village in Gangavathi taluk, Koppal district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is older than Hampi situated on the northern bank of Tungabhadra River. Huchappayana matha temple (with black-stone pillars and dance sculptures), Pampa Sarovar, Aramane (a ruined palace), Ranganatha temple, Kamal Mahal, and Nava Brindavana are the major attractions. Nimvapuram, a nearby village, has a mound of ash believed to be the cremated remains of monkey king Vaali.
Anegundi, believed to be the monkey kingdom of Kishkindha (Kishkinta means in local language a forest where the monkeys lived) in the epic of Ramayana, is at a distance of 5 km from the historical site of Hampi. Anjanadri hill, the birthplace of monkey-god Hanuman, and the mountain Rishimuka are the other places near Anegundi associated with Ramayana. It is said to have one of the oldest plateaus on the planet, estimated to be 3,000 million years old. Local story-tellers refer to Anegundi as the maternal home of Bhoodevi (Mother Earth).
I had earlier posted an album of photograph so of the Durga temple at Huligi. This was as a part of my efforts to photographs some of the lesser known temples on the way to the Anjanadri hill in Anegundi. The photographs here are from two other shrines at Anegundi.
Shrine of God Ram (Photographs #1 to 10)
Photographs #1 to 10 are from the shrine of Ram. It is said that Ram and his brother Lakshman were here on their way to search for Sita who was kidnapped by the demon King Ravan. This is also the place where he met the gypsy women Sabhari who gave him the berries to eat (after she had tasted each one of them just to make sure that they were fit to be eaten by Ram!). This is just a plain structure and not of any architectural importance or magnificence like the shrines at Hampi. Thus not much photo opportunity.
However, we met up with some ladies who said that that their forefathers came here from the State of Gujarat and settled here since about six decades. They speak a strange mixture of Gujarati and Kannada. The colour, style and patterns on the cloth is distinctively Gujarati.
Shrine of Goddess Durga (Photographs 11 to 15)
A small shrine dedicated to Goddess Durga. What caught our attention were the innumerable small sachets of colored cloth tied to the tree. In many temples in India one would see such sights. The story goes that if one does this and prays you are rid of illness or to thwart any event that is likely to bring in an undesirable event or situation.
