Keladi the Kingdom of Nayakas

My next stop after Sagara was Keladi,the earst while capital of Nayakas. Choudappa nayaka was the founder under the tutelage of Vijayanagara empire.They  were in control for nearly 250 years after which Mysore took over. The GandubhErunda in the Rameshwara temple here later became the insignia of Mysore and now Karnataka.The eighth ruler in the dynasty Shivappa nayaka was famous for discipline(shistina Shivappa Nayaka).Later his daughter in law chennammaji aka pepper queen is known as a capable ruler.She defended the kingdom against Aurangzeb's army after giving protection to Shivaji's son Rajaram.
  The Rameshwara temple in Keladi was built in 16th century. It is a

 fairly large temple with beautifully carved pillars in Vijayanagar style. Not much Ornate outside.It was closed when we went there. The visit to Museum and its donor Sri Gunda jois's house was rewarding.

Visit to Sagara and Keladi

       
       On the way to keladi at sagara I was looking for Dr SK Ramachandra my class mate and hostel mate and a close friend those days both in Bellary and Bengaluru. He is an ENT surgeon practicing in Sagara. I enquired for him at a few medical stores and got to the right place. He could not place me first. It was a very pleasant surprise for him and his wife whose marriage I did attend in Sagara.
He hosted us lunch at samriddhi restaurant.
The second person whom I met was in Keladi.I went to his house though I had no personal acquaintance.He is none other than 82 yrs young Sri Keladi Gunda jois the most famous authority on Keladi and its history. He has established a museum from his family collection and donated it to Kuvempu Varsity free antiques worth crores. Very humble and simple person in his Panche welcomed me and my wife and talked to us as some long lost friends. In a short time he narrated the travails of his work and the struggle he made to establish the museum with both bureaucrats and governments.He is now on the board of deciphering aless understood script.When we took leave of him he offered kumkum himself to my wife and presented me with a book.I wish him long life and health.

During my Shivamogga visit I met two persons one I had never met before another after 40 years.

My visit to Ripponpete,Shivamogga district

    It was nostalgic. My visit to Ripponpet where I studied my class 4 in 1955.My uncle Dr.Srikantaiah was the Medical officer there. The town it sems was sleepy till 1980s but has grown now and looks like a small town with all modern facilities.The hospital which was a small nondescript building is now a PHC with wards and big.The present doctor is Dr Anil whom I met. No body remembers 1955 as they they say they were not born then.When I said I am going there I was asked whether I was going there to buy pickles.The place is famous for Appemidi mango pickles. These mango trees are natural for that place and are grown along the banks of river Kumudwati esp at places between Suduru and Arasalu.The mineral content manganese makes them very stiff and does not soften on pickling. The famous pickler sri Ramakrishna of RR Pickles was eloquent about all this. we bought a kilo of that.Appemidi is also found in North Kanara but Ripponpete is the best.The trees are very old 60+yrs and requires expertise to pluck tender mangoes along with stalk and is seasonal.Ripponpete is on the way to Hosanagar 20 kms from Shivamogga. The road is in a very bad shape for 10 kms and smoothens out later.Its worth a visit esp for those who goto Ramachandrapura math.