The village of 101 ‘landmarks’

Swarupananda M Kottur

Boppalapur village in Kudligi taluk, about 102 km away from the district headquarter of Ballari, gains attention during Maha Shivaratri.

It’s the only village in Karnataka to house as many as 101 linga mudre kallus.

Linga mudre kallus are a subset of gadi kallus or those stones positioned to mark land grants or donations.

The Karnataka Itihasa Academy identifies linga mudre kallu as part of dana shasanas (grants). The two other kinds are vamana mudre kallu (indicates land donations to the Vaishnavas) and the mukkode kallu (indicates land donations to the Jains).

A historical loss

Such installations have been a practical tradition since the 5th century, according to H Thippeswamy, from History and Archaeology Department of Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari.

Although, he adds, not many are seen now. And with that, the history of land donations in the state over many centuries is buried.

But Boppalapur stands as an exception. Here, worshipping these stones has been going on for centuries and hence the stones’ preservation. Some of them were discovered in the backyards or front yards of the houses.

Shaped and sized variously (between two and six-feet high), the linga mudre kallus do have certain things in common: carvings of Shiva, the Sun and the Moon. Some kallus have just the carvings of Nandi and Garuda.

They are positioned within the 15-km radius of the village.

While poojas are offered to the kallus on Mondays and Thursdays, on Maha Shivaratri, the villagers decorate the Eshwara temple with flowers, then compete with each other to dehusk 101 coconuts and offer two poojas.

In the latter, the karu gallu (black stone), usually at the entrance of the village, is worshipped. Then begins the worship of the 101 stones.

Two teams carry pooja materials and set out by walk. One worships the kallus laid between the east and the south directions, while the other covers those between the west and the south directions. By dusk, the two teams return to the village.

(Translated by Jagadish Angadi )