A week after a Mahakali murti at the Doddagaddavalli Temple near Hassan district, Karnataka was found damaged, the sculptors have restored the Hoysala-era murti to its original form. Last week, the murti of Mahakali at the iconic 12th century Doddagaddavalli temple constructed by the Hoysala dynasty was found damaged.
The incident had come to light on Friday morning when local people visited the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monument and found that one of the murtis of the deity was damaged. It was suspected that miscreants in search of hidden treasure took advantage of the lack of security and vandalised the murti in the process.
Sad day today. Beautiful and the only Kali vigraha of hoysala times destroyed at Doddagaddavalli temple. Irreplaceable loss. The temple is ASI protected!
— Seethalakshmi Rao (@seetha_rao) November 20, 2020
Info by: Shashidhara HG pic.twitter.com/oq0PCeaOJD
The incident had caused massive outrage across the country with people slamming the authorities for their sheer negligence. Several Hindus demanded accountability from the ASI for failing to protect the historical Hindu architecture and had asked them to get out of temple management if they can protect Hindu temples.
Following the outrage, the ASI authorities have now restored the broken murti of deity with the help of sculptors. The murti has now been temporarily restored and has been placed inside the temple, however, it will not be worshipped.
The damaged Doddagadduvalli Mahakali statue has been restored to Her original shape.
— Lost temples 🚩 अजय कुमार शर्मा (@ajay991745) November 26, 2020
(Photos via Shankar Ajjampura ) pic.twitter.com/z6pKKd82V4
The ASI authorities said that they have decided to commission expert sculptors from Tamil Nadu to create another murti of Goddess Mahakali to be placed inside the 12th century Hoysala-era Doddagaddavalli Temple. The newly crafted murti will replace the desecrated murti of Mahakali, which will then be worshipped.
According to Hindu traditions, offering prayers before the desecrated murti is considered inauspicious and it is generally believed that worshipping such desecrated murtis will bring bad luck.
The Lakshmi Devi temple, an architectural wonder, is located in Doddagaddavalli, a village in Hassan District of Karnataka. The Lakshmi Devi Temple, built in a Chatuskuta style (four shrines), is one of the earliest known temples built in the Hoysala style. The temple was built by Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana in 1113 CE.
