Historic structures at Ulvi crave for attention

KARWAR: Many ancient monuments at the famous pilgrim centre of Ulvi in Uttara Kannada district have been begging for attention. The monuments built by  the rulers of Sonda kingdom, including a Shiva temple, a holy tank ‘Shivateertha’, Sateri temple, Ghodebail Veerabhadreshwara temple and other archaeological remains near Akala Gavi (a cave near Ulvi)  needed to be conserved, opined experts.The trustees of Ulvi Sri Chennabasaveshwara temple, who met at Ulvi in connection with temple cradle and palanquin festivals recently, have resolved to follow the advice of the experts and take steps to conserve and protect these monuments, the secretary of the trust, Sanjay Kittur, said in a statement.As a first step, the Shiva temple near Shivateertha, would be rebuilt without causing any changes to its original structure. The advice of the archaeologists would be taken in this regard, he added. He said that the Shivateertha, a holy tank, which is the only source of drinking water for Ulvi, would be rejuvenated. A proposal would be sent to the government for establishing a mini-hydro electric project near the tank, he stated. Mallikarjun Uppinmath, a trustee, said that a drinking water well built by Swadi Kings at Ulvi was in a dilapidated condition and that the trust would take necessary steps to conserve and protect the well.S M Kalmath Shankar Swami, a trustee said that the trust had decided to digitise the ‘Vachanas’ composed by Sharanas, including Chenna Basavanna, who along with other sharanas had made Ulvi their home during the twelfth century. He further said that the manuscripts of those vachanas were scattered in various Veerashiava Mutts and an attempt would be made to collect them for conservation.Manjunath Sullolli, a researcher, who is also the district information officer, said that a book written by Tipperudraswamy, a researcher, narrates the places and villages that Chenna Basavanna and his followers travelled while migrating to Ulvi from Bijjal in twelfth century. He said that he had suggested the temple trust to document information about Chenna Basvanna in detail. The Chennabasaveshwara Temple Trust of Ulvi, in its recent meeting, has resolved to celebrate the birth anniversary of Chenna Basavanna, a 12th century Shiva Sharana, as a national festival. Informing this in a statement, secretary of the temple trust, Sanjay Kitur said that the Chennabasaveshwara Temple Trust has decided to  petition the State Government for the same.Haliyal MLA Sunil Hegde, who attended the cradle and palanquin festivals at Chenna Basaveshwara temple at Ulvi recently, has announced that he would take up the matter at the government level. Kittur said that the State Government had released Rs 1-crore out of Rs 2 crore promised by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, during his visit to Ulvi as  chief minister  two years ago.  A Yatri Niwas for tourists was being built at Ulvi using this amount, he informed.