The venue for event Festino has now been changed to Millennium Gardens timing same 6 pm onwards and same date 10th October.

The three lucky winners of the Festino contest:

Hitesh - hitesh.d@hotmail.com
Vijay Dalvi - dalvi_vijay@rediffmail.com
Shantanu Kutre - shantanu.kutre@gmail.com

Winners kindly contact Vinod Chavan (3i Global) on 9739177177.

Winners will need to contact Vinod by 9th evening for the free passes and don’t forget your secret code you entered, it would be required to get your winning pass.

So enjoy!!!

Hooli has so many temples; every temple has its own well. Even at remotest location on the hills has couple of temples.

Hooli is about 9 kms from Saundatti.

One of the oldest village in the Belgaum District, it is famous for Panchaligeswara temple. Some of the other ruined temples waiting for conservation and restoration. On the outskirts of Hooli is the Trikuteshwara Temple.

Various temples at Hooli:

Hooli Panchalingeshwara temple:

Architecture of the Hooli Panchalingeshwar Temple is to be adored. It is a protected monument comes under Archeological Survey of India. Earlier people during summer afternoon they used to resting in the shade of this temple. Because the temple is made of stone, it is unbelievably cool even in the scorching summer.

Other than Panchalingeshwara Temple, Hooli has many other old temples; most of them are now in ruins due to negligence. One is amazed by the sculptures and carvings on stone. Most of the temples have their floor dug up for the hunt for treasure.

Other temples at Hooli are Andhakeshwara Temple, Bhavnisankara Temple, Kalmeshwara Temple, Kashi Vishwanatha Temple, Madaneshwara Temple, Suryanarayan Temple, Tarkeshwara Temple, Hooli sangameshwar ajjanavaru, Beerdevar temple Hooli.

Shivakashi Valley seems to be a place which was once densely covered by trees. At this location you can find the marks left by monsoon springs and waterfalls. Based on stories heard from village elders there used to be tigers once upon a time. Stories were told where some village folks hunted them off decades ago. The location otherwise is dotted with few temples and well. Tigers may have disappeared, but you will still be lucky to find monkeys eating the figs from few remaining trees.

How to Reach: Catch a NWKRTC bus from Belgaum to Nargund via Yargatti & Manoli.

Source: Wikipedia

Thanks Vijay Lingayat for the link.

Belgaum is used to unwarranted discussions and debates on issues which are important for the development of the city but the citizens are never taken into confidence nor do they know what exactly is happening for development of their city.

In the past week or so the 10 crore special CM grant for the city has been the talk of the town, if not with common man at least within the journalists for sure.

The opposition in the corporation has been raising its voice against the manner in which the grant is been utilized. The corporators allege that they don’t know what works will happen in their ward, in fact the Mayor himself had quoted that he did not know that the works under said scheme were begun. They also alleged that not even a single meeting of the committee formed for the overlooking of the works of the said grant has taken place. Also all the tenders have been granted to a Andhra company.

Today Basavraj Bommai, minister in charge of Belgaum district said that the special grant was for the city and it had nothing to do with the approval or disapproval of the corporators. He further said the said grant has been given for the development of the city and the DC will over look the implementation of the same. The tenders for the same were called in by the urban development ministry and approved. A committee was formed with the DC being the chairman and MP and MLAs have given their points in the meeting.

In a contrast to Bommai’s words MP Suresh Angadi said that he never knew that there was committee formed for this purpose and he was never invited for the same. He also raised the question that if the grant was not given to the Belgaum Corporation then why that is on the tender document City Corporation was mentioned and also signed by the commissioner of the Corporation.

This will not end here it seems, but Belgaum and controversy always go hand in hand. It could be just anything but controversy will come along.

For your ready reference I have attached the Tender documents floated by the Belgaum Corporation and the same are linked to their website.

The complete Tender with all the details of the works

Corrigendum to the Tender

The mayor had written a letter asking the work to be stopped but then he again wrote a letter asking the work should not be stopped as he came to know that the fund is not related to the Corporation.

My question here is see the above images of the tender documents where the City corporation is mentioned and the corporation commissioner has signed it, so how has this been done, when the fund is not for the corporation.

The worst part I have observed is the works taken in various wards are small in nature and nothing big has been planned, then why is that these 100 crores are being wasted to make gutters, roads. Instead the same could have been used to make over bridges, new parks or for that matter new infrastructure. 100 crore is not a small amount but instead of spending in small amounts something good for the city could have been planned which could help the city in its development.

Belgaum is supposed to be a cool and calm city with its citizens almost blindly believing what they hear. But now is the time to change. That fund was given for Belgaum and as citizens it should be the duty of the authorities implementing it ( it may be anyone here the corporation or the MLA’s or the DC) they should made public all the works that will be taken up by giving ads in various newspapers. People might say it’s there in the tender document but, my question is the Tender document accessible to all citizens.

People would now suggest making use of the RTI act to get info in this regard, but who will come forward is the big question, and even if someone does come up what after he gets the information. What about the dissemination of the information.

What Belgaum needs is a strong CITIZENS FORUM, which can have its say in such matters and also have the power to influence such works.

Is Belgaum ka kya hoga, pata nahi;
Agar aaj hum so gaye to phir kabhi nahi Uth payenge.

JAGORE!!

A tug of war and fight for a chair is common in politics, but Belgaum is different from the lot. Here we have 100 crore as a special grant from the CM and we have tug of war between the elected members of the Corporation & a couple of MLA’s together on side and all other members of the corporation, MPs’ on the other side and we the general public have to just see the war.

In the past week or so this 100 crore topic is heavily debated all around the city. In fact some work under the said 100 crore project was begun by MLA Abhay Patil and Feroz Sait in their constituencies and the Mayor of the city did not know about it. The Mayor and other officials of the Govt. comprise of the panel which overlooks the whole work under the 100 crore project, but here our Mayor Yallappa Kurbar did not know about the work commencement. He under pressure of the Marathi corporators gave letter in writing to the authorities to stop all work under the said scheme and called for a meeting on the 9^th October to discuss the issue.

It is learnt from sources that today the mayor has sent a letter to the CM along with signatures of 40 other elected representatives asking the CM to look into the matter and stop the ongoing work. But later it is heard that he has canceled the meeting the called on the 9^th under pressure.

My simple question to the MLA’s and others here is if this work is for betterment of Belgaum why it that the work is made public as to what and where these funds are being utilized. The tender document contains details but is that it’s the actual work or has it been altered is not mentioned anywhere as there was a talk about it.

MLA Abhay Patil openly said that no one can dare stop the ongoing works, why this scuffle? If you are doing a good job by doing some work get it in front of the people. Let the people decide, after all it’s the public who have got you that MLA seat.

What happens from here on in this issue God knows? Will Belgaum get better in any ways? Or is it that this 100 crore will go back to the CM? Can’t say …..

Belgaum is not only surrounded by nature but also by ancient monuments. One such place is Halshi.

Halasi also called as Halsi or Halshi, is a town in Khanapur Taluk, Belgaum District. It is 14 km from Khanapur and about 25 km from Kittur. It is famous for having been the capital of a branch of Kadamba Dynasty. The town is rich in historical monuments and temples and is near Khanapur.

Halshi, 14 km from Khanapur town, which was the second capital of the early Kadambas and a minor capital under the Kadambas of Goa (980 AD - 1250 AD), is one of the ancient towns in Belgaum district with rich antiquity and many monuments.

Halshi derived its name from “palasha” in Sanskrit. During the period of the early Kadambas, it was a centre of confluence of Jainism, Vaishnavism and Shaivism, and served as headquarters of Halasige-12,000 province constituting parts of Belgaum and the undivided Dharwad districts. Ancient temples dedicated to Bhoo Varaha Narasimha, Kapileshwar, Suvarneshwara, Kalmeshwara, Hatakeshwara (Gramadevata), Gokarneshwara and a Jaina basti built by the Kadamba rulers are found here.

The Kadambas were known for their own style of temple building. The dynasty was founded by Mayurasharma in about 4th century AD. It was believed that Mayura was the first king of the dynasty and was the ruler during the time of Pallava King Vishnugopa of Kachipuram. After losing to North Indian Emperor Samudragupta, Vishnugopa’s army had weakened. Mayura seized the opportunity, formed his own army and drove away the Pallavas from Kannada territory.

The Jaina temple now standing at Halasi cannot go back to a period earlier than 11th century A.D.

The temple of Bhoo Varaha Narasimha with two garbhagrihas (inner shrines) facing each other is a large complex built in the later Chalukyan style stands on a star-shaped platform. Originally, the temple had one shrine, housing a two-handed crude image of Narasimha, which was replaced by four-foot long idol of Narayana (sitting). The temple archak, Vishnu Venkatesh Parpattedar, says the idol of Narasimha is “swayambhu” or “udbhava” (natural creation), now seated on the left side of Narayana. There is also an idol of Goddess Lakshmi on His right side. The temple has two entrances from the north and south, whiles the garbhagriha facing the east, has an ardhamantapa doorway with fine pierced windows on either side. The navaranga has octagonal granite pillars and a circular dancing dais in the centre and the ceiling has an inverted lotus motif. Only the main shrine of Narayana has shikhara built in the Kadambanagar style, which was later renovated. Facing Narayana is the other garbhagriha with five-feet standing idol of Varaha installed in 1186-87 by Vijayaditya III. It also has a beautiful idol of Suryanarayana (Sun God) sculpted by the legendary Jakanachari. A stone inscription in Nagari script is also found. As per government records, the temple were built by Shivachitta, and Matayogi installed the idol of Ananta-Viravikrama Narasimha at the instance of the king’s mother in 1169 AD. However, the devotees believe in the legend that it was built by the Pandavas [of the Mahabharata] overnight who worshiped Lord Vishnu here while in exile. However, the archak says it was built some time during the 3rd or the 4th centuries but the exact date is not known. A few more temples are found within the premises of the main temple, but they area in a state of neglect. There are also cracks in the front wall of the main temple which needs immediate repair. Vishnu Venkatesh Parpattedar, who belongs to the ninth generation of the family which has been maintaining temple mainly by its own resources.

Source: Wikipedia, The Hindu
Link source: Vijay