Brea ;...211

BY ,t - ~ PRAKASH ' SUBBARAO

Itwas 5.45am and a bi t cold when 1 arrived at Haleb idu with my daughter Apoorva. The sun was just breaking through the horizon, and I was excited to explo.re and phocograph the famous sculptures of Halebidu and Belur.

Halehid is 16 kms from Hasan and approximately 200 kms from Bangalore by road.

As tbe sun sta.rted to cast its golden rays on the temple, the effect was surreal. The 12'h century sculptures sta.rted to come to life with a warm glow, as I srnrted to click away. I began at the ease- facing fa<;ade, shooting with the camera in my hand as l was informed that tripods/rnonopods should not be used as they may damage the floor. 1 also had no flash, so 1 bumped up the ISO, trusting d1e sensor of m y camera.

When I visited the same location to phocograph it for the first rime about 20 years ago, it was with my mento r who knew the history of d,e temples as well as the best shooting angles and composirion. I still remembered the beauty of the sculptures and imagined the bard work that must have gone into producing such life from stone with ancient imp lements.

Halebidu temple was consu·ucted during die Hopala rimes, and was dedicated to Harshava rdhan and h is wife Sbantala by the famous architect Jakanachru:ya. The temple and sculprures are can7 ed in soapsco ne and date back to 112 1.

AU the panels dep ict Hindu gods in various forms. There are various sculprures of shi!abct!ikas or dancing figures, which have been re- produced on canvas many times. The postures of the .rhilabalikas on swne are great sub jects to be captmed on canvas or camera. The temple was never compl eted because of an attack from di e north by Malik Kafur, a Mughal king. His army destroyed the beautiful sculpmres by disfiguring the idol s.

While I focus on the panels to captllCe t he iorricate details on the stone, my mind is shocked to see the drunage caused b y religious into lerance! The andi bull carved out of monolithic stone was never comp leted due to repeated plunder. The beauty of Shiva> Arjuna, the dep iccion of the Mahabharata battlefield,