Hey guys, today I am going to show you a special temple called Chennakesava temple in Belur.
This temple is known for many strange carvings and engineering feats and the first thing
that strikes you is this beautiful giant tower.
Now if you zoom in at the top, the 2 ends are actually designed to look like the horns
of a cow, and they say this is why they call this tower Gopuram.
The word Go means Cow in Sanskrit language.
Now, if you climb this tower and stand on this tower and you look at the temple, you
can see that it is designed in a very peculiar way.
I don’t think there is a word to explain the shape of this main structure, it is very
odd, and it is also not evenly shaped, because the back has another unique flower shaped
design.
There are 32 corners in this temple and you can see that the entire temple is built on
a raised platform that has 3 different entrances.
There is a very strange pattern on the top, like an insect with 6 legs.
That marks the position of the main statue, in other words, exactly underneath that marking,
you will find the 9 foot tall statue of Chennakesava, inside the main chamber.
Right next to it, you can see another smaller structure designed with the same shape as
the main structure.
From the top view, they look identical in shape.
What is it?
When you look at it from the ground, you realize that it was first built as a smaller, primitive
model before the main structure was built.
Archaeologists confirm that yes, it was built as a model and this is why this structure
does not have much carvings on its walls.
And the main structure is completely adorned with carvings.
There are more than 10,000 carvings found on this structure.
Mainstream archaeologists claim that it took more than a hundred years to complete this
temple, and more than a thousand people worked on it at any given time.
And even though this temple is 900 years old, it is still a fully functional and active
temple, meaning that Hindu rituals are performed here every day.
But even though this is a Hindu temple, there is a very strange secret hiding in the very
entrance.
Just above the entrance is a brilliant carving with plenty of Hindu Gods.
There are 10 small carvings showing 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu, however, if you look at the
9th avatar, this is Lord Buddha.
And this is very surprising because today, we think Buddhism is a completely separate
religion from Hinduism.
However, we can see that 900 years ago, Buddha was incorporated into this Hindu Temple, and
Buddha was considered as one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu.
The temple not only shows Gods, but also shows how ancient human beings lived.
Here we can see that ancient people must have had balconies or decks in their houses.
The carvings clearly show multistoried buildings with every floor having a balcony where you
can sit out and relax, just like what we do today.
There are some carvings which have been deliberately destroyed for unknown reasons.
You can see this figure has gone through some considerable destruction, as though someone
took a hammer and kept pounding on the carving, we can see huge dents all over the carving.
Who is he?
And why was he destroyed?
He is Arjuna, a master archer and he is shooting on a revolving target that is shaped like
a fish, while looking at its reflection on a bowl of oil on the ground.
You can see a similar statue in other temples, so there is no doubt that this is Arjuna.
Locals say that originally, the string on his bow, produced 7 musical notes when tapped
on.
It sounds fascinating to imagine a stone string, that can produce various notes.
We cannot confirm this, but locals say that it was destroyed because people kept hitting
on this carving with smaller stones, which is why everything got destroyed and it has
severe dents.
Some argue that it was destroyed because it had other strange details.
The Chennakesava temple is known for its strange carvings.
Here you can see an ape like figure holding a telsecope to his eye and looking at a distance.
Did telescope exist in ancient times?
Here is another statue that has raised a lot of questions.
What is this bird?
It looks like a parrot but it has a very long tail.
Yes, it is a Macaw, but experts confirm that Macaws were originally found only in the Americas
and the Carribean, far away from India.
Historians claim that Macaws were only recently brought to India in the last few centuries.
Yet, how was it carved 900 years ago in this temple?
Here is another strange carving.
On one side, we can see a God called Vaisravana, he is the original Gold Digger, no not in
the modern sense of the word, he was actually digging for gold and precious gems from the
earth.
He is usually shown with his long boring tool that goes into the earth.
On the other side there is another God who is delivering the gathered Gold nuggets to
the Goddess in the center.
The center figure is called Swarna Bhairavi, one in charge of blessing people with Gold
and precious stones.
What is fascinating here is that, these 2 figures are wearing protective helmets, just
like today’s miners.
At least we are able to understand some of the carvings, but look at this one, it looks
human but has 2 giant wings, and is shown with multiple tools and weapons.
This is remarkably similarly to ancient Sumerian and Mesopotamian carvings, where the Gods
are shown with wings and weapons.
But there are stranger carvings.
These three figures are doing some weird activity.
The first guy is holding something on his face, it looks like a flashlight, or maybe
he is blowing a bugle.
The second guy is holding a baby or a monkey and is also holding something else in his
hands.
The third guy is holding a barrel in one hand and another unidentified object in his other
hand.
All of them are balancing themselves on some strange platform.
And a giant bird is watching them with a curious expression.
Who can explain this?
The carvings are not only strange, but also show advanced designs like this chain.
It looks like a real chain with multiple links, but it is made of single stone.
These 14 links look insanely realistic, making it look like a real metal chain.
There are thousands of fascinating carvings of Gods, there are skeleton like figures doing
a variety of strange activities, there are battle scenes from ancient Indian epics, and
plenty of animals.
There are more than 10,000 carvings here, this is why this temple is called ‘KalaSagara’
meaning an Ocean of Art.
I hope you visit this temple one day and enjoy its beauty.
I am Praveen Mohan, thanks a lot for watching, don’t forget to subscribe and I will talk
to you soon.