INTRODUCTORY
.group of other shrines of Iśvara, Hanumān, Gaṇēśa, etc.), situated on a hillock
about 3 miles from the village. The goddess Yellamma, otherwise known as
Rēṇukā, is represented by a stone figure about 2 ½ feet high seated on a rectan
gular pedestal holding a pan-like object in her left hand and a dagger in her
right. To the right of this temple is a small shrine of Paraśurāma whose fine
image about 2 feet high is sculptured as holding a chaudiki (musical instrument) by both the hands, with the parasu and trisula? cut to the right and
left sides of the deity respectively.
About a furlong from these shrines is the temple of Jamadagni who is represented by a beautiful figure with a long beard, holding a rosary and a dam ru by the right and left hands respectively and seated in the padm sana pose.
On the pedestal of this image is cut in relief the figure of Kāmadhēnu flanked
on either side by flower-designs. The Jamadagni-Renuka-Parasurama cult is
popular among a section of the people (mostly non-Brahmans) in the Koṅkan
and the Karnatak regions, and some are known to dedicate themselves to a
life of celibacy and of worship of the deities. Yellamma and Paraśurāma in
imitation of whom they play upon the chaudiki. There is a famous temple of
Paraśurāma in the Konkan to which pilgrims from all parts resort every year.
Saundatti is also a place of such pilgrimage popular among the people of the
Mahārāshṭra and the Karṇāṭaka countries including the Hyderabad and Mysore
States. Banavasi in the North Kanara district which was also visited by the
Telugu Assistant occupies only a small area of the extensive site of the ancient
city of Vaijayantï, the capital of the
Kadamba kings. The site of the city
appears to have extended over several miles, the major portion of which is now
covered with forest where ruins of ancient temples are found in good number.
Excavations on the site may yield important finds, as the place was a centre of
Buddhist and Jaina cultures in the pre-Christian and early Christian eras. The
village is now noted for its temple of Madhukēśvara with a number of early
inscriptions. The earliest of these is a Prākṛit record in Brāhmī characters of
the 2nd century A.D. belonging to king Viṇhukaḍa-Chuṭukulānanda Sātakamṇi
[Lūder’s List of Brāhmi Inscriptions¸ No. 1186).
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