By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

Nov 1: India is a land steeped in rich cultural heritage, and ruled by several dynasties. The history that was taught in our schools spoke briefly about the prosperous glory of the Vijanagar Empire in South India founded by Krishnadevaraja in the 14th century

During the times of Vijayanagar, native feudal lords were appointed to govern local provinces like Barkur which was ruled by the Alupas and Suralu which was ruled by the Tolaharas.

So it was an afternoon of adventurous discovery as we tried to revisit some ancient structures that were built centuries ago and have managed to face the ravages of time.

Our first stop was at the Suralu mud palace, probably the oldest mud structure that was built five hundred plus years ago, with local materials only like clay and wood, having no foundation or metal holdings at all and still standing in good condition!

I could just imagine the master skills of the workers of the 15th century to be able to put up this strong architectural marvel in a region where homes even now get battered by extremely heavy rains.

We entered the front courtyard which must have been a part of extensive royal events. We admired the intricate carvings on the strong wooden entrance pillars. Even the main door called Hebbagilu was very impressive.

I could imagine the king settling disputes among the villagers at the inner courtyard called Pattadi chavadi or the royal women of the Tolahara family peeking behind the windows of the first floor balcony at all the local action of the community.

I walked around the mud palace and looked inside the dark anterooms on the backside which must have been used for storage or family events.

And this mud palace is the only living testimony to the rule of the brave Tolahars who fought against the Portuguese, yet were defeated by Hyder Ali.

I wonder if the ancient glory of this place would be understood by the new generation who may just drive past this place thinking it is a very ordinary looking structure and not realizing that it is an ancient architectural marvel.

We went searching for the Barkur fort and were surprised to find just its location of about 20 acres, covered completely with wild growing shrubs and plants. The present barren land holds many secrets to the former days of glory where the Barkur fort of the Alupa rulers was used to govern the region.

In 2019, the Government Tourism department had cleared the land for the Alupa festival with an intention to start a heritage walk to relive the glorious days of the Alupa dynasty. Sadly the only visible structures now were some stone stumps in between the tall shrubs to which the royal horses or elephants used to be tied up. The approach road to a small pond which was used by the royal queens was also completely covered with wild shrubs. There is almost nothing left of the original Barkur Fort of the Alupa dynasty.

This area which had Jain Rulers is known for the many basidis which are Jain Temples of worship. Our next stop was at Kathele (meaning dark) Basidi. This archeologically conserved national monument has the ruins of three ancient temples next to each other.

The original Vishnu temple still has sculpted dwarapalakas at the side of the only small door at the entrance. This basidi looks dark as it is covered with walls and roofs on all the other sides (and so the name).

The local guide also took us to the adjacent original Shiva temple with a sculpted Nandi bull at the entrance. This place was comparatively well lit up and is called Bellaku (meaning light) Basidi by the locals.

We also saw the ruins of a platform where the holy bath rituals of the images of 24 Jain Theerthankaras would be held.

Continuous excavations in local lands kept bringing up assorted stone idols which were kept in the shrines, though there is no worship rituals conducted in any of these three temples now.

If you are interested in imagining how the simple rulers of local dynasties lived, then do smile and visit Barkur.

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.