User:Balaramkarthik/sandbox

Sri Beereshwara Temple
Next to the Mallya Hospital, on the same road. is a rather quaint temple, the Beereshwarana Devastana, sacred to the kuruba (shepberd) communites of the state. The passing visitor might be forgiven for not paying attention the small nondescript arched entrance to this temple, flanked as it is by the Mallya Hospital on one side and the opulent ITC Gardenia on the other prepare to be astonished at your first glimpse of the veritable oasis hidden behind that arch: lush sprawling grounds dotted  with large rain trees and copperpods, upon which bonnet macaques practice their gymnastics and squirrels scamper for their food, it is one of the few undisturbed green space in the heart of the city, Within this compound to the right is a youth hostel run for the youth of the kuruba community. Sri Beereshwarana Devasthana dominates the rest of the property. It is a rather ordinary looking temple till one notices the rows of elaborately chiselled stones that make up its base. Undated to the present day, these stones tell tales of valour and sacrifice of men and women who lived long ago and were a part of this landscape. While the kuruba community itself possesses no written record of when these stone were placed here relying instead on traditions passed down through generation, historians have put forth a number of propositions regarding this site. One of the theories is that place was a site where special acts of bravery (such as victories in cattle raids) were recorded and immortalised in stone. Yet another view is that these stone represent site where the practice of sati hand occurred. This hypothesis is lent some credence by the presence of specific motifs (such as depiction of a woman with her right hand raised bestowing a benediction) chiselled on the stones that are common to the kuruba community holds that these stones have been placed to commemorate special acts of worship that community members from far- off places have performed no one of these viewpoints are mutually exclusive and it may very well be that this site represents a combination of all of these events.