Ganga style Mantapa for Hebbala Kittayya Inscription
An EA Samrakshaney Pro-bono Heritage Conservation Project
GANGA MANTAPA AT HEBBALA
FOR KITTAYYA INSCRIPTION FROM 750 CE
Begun in December 2018, the project was completed in December 2019.
When Architect Yashaswini Sharma was approached to design a Mantapa/ shelter to secure the 750 CE Kittayya inscription, discovered in 2018, which immortalises his valour, the immediate thought was to secure this in a deserving way, in a mantapa designed in the Ganga style of Architecture in deference to the period it belonged to. This meant learning and assimilating the sensibilities of Ganga architectural vocabulary through a study of existing structures from that period and creating a design from that understanding. It was also an opportunity to do an intervention in an urban setting that reconnected the locals to their locality and help preserve historical connections that give the people their identity. Kittayya happens to be the first documented citizen of Bengaluru that we know of, and this is the oldest surviving Kannada inscription in the city.
About the Mantapa, it has been built in granite, has a simple adishtana or plinth made up of upana, jagati, gala and kapota mouldings and the pillars have ghata capitals. Two of the pillars are round with a malasthana and mala, while the other two are staggered to give a straight surface to support the granite stone backrest to support the inscriptions. This is topped off by potikas or brackets which support the Uttara or beam, on top of which rest the Kapota and Vedi forming a simple roof. We hope that this Mantapa secures Kittayya's memorial stone, lives as much and more.
Location - https://maps.app.goo.gl/s4ncgigsGFxhWqo1A
Elevation with description of parts
From left, Dilip Kshatriya, Heritage Enthusiast, Udaya Kumar P. L., Founder of Inscription Stones of Bengaluru, Prof. P. V. Krishnamurthy, Epigraphist, Prof. K. R. Narasimhan, Epigraphist, Architect Yashaswini Sharma, Mr. Srinivas, Patela of Hebbala, a localite, seated in second row, Mr. Dhanapal Machenahalli
06.01.2019 From left - Prof. P. V. Krishnamurthy, Prof. K. R. Narasimhan, Architect Yashaswini Sharma, seated in secind row - Mr. Dhanapal Machenahalli
