An unusual day at work

For the most part of the last 65 years, the Shiva-cum-LaxmiVenkatesha temple that I'm going to tell you about has remained submerged under the waters of the Bhadra dam.The delayed monsoon had brought it back to light and the people of the surrounding villages had decided to shift it to an accessible place & so, my services were required (I'm a Civil Engineering consultant).

The very cloudy morning of Sunday, June 28, thus found husband and me driving along areca, coffee & rubber plantations, paddy fields and lakes like the one in the pic above for about 12 km.Then, quite unexpectedly, we reached a dead end and two young men on motorcycles were waiting to take us further through 'no roads'! We then had the roughest cross country bike rides of our lives for what seemed like ages, but was actually a distance of about 3 km. At very slushy places, we had to get off and walk, looking out for leeches & co.!

Finally, we reached the temple (pic to the left). Preparations were in full swing for the shifting, scheduled to take place the next morning. The religious formalities had been completed and people were making other last minute observations. Come to think of it, I was called in at the last minute too!

The temple looks about 300-400 years old. The left half belongs(!) to Shiva and the right to Laxmi on Vishnu's lap. The dieties were lying just below their original pedestals smeared in haldi-kumkum (couldn't bring myself to photograph them. I now wonder, why?) The temple was probably built by some small-time chieftain. Since the ornamentation works are very minimal, I wonder if he was in a hurry to finish the temple. Or, couldn't he afford lots of sculptors? Nobody knows. No , these mountains know. But, they have been shocked into silence. Just look at the dead and bare tree tops and stumps. Once upon a time, this must have been a very cheerful place - trees, birds & small animals chattering, a quiet stream, people coming in to worship and then lingering on to exchange pleasantries- all dislocated by one big, ugly wall. Very quiet in our own sombre thoughts, we made the same journey back.

Meanwhile, the monsoon arrived on June 29 - the next day, making it impossible for the earth moving machines to operate. It has been pouring here since then. The papers tell me that the dam is nearing its capacity which means the temple is once again under water - till the next delay in monsoon, I guess.