Jakanachari
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Jakanachari was a legendary Indian sculptor credited with building many fine temples for the
Kalyani Chalukya The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan i ...
s and
Hoysala The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries Common Era, CE. The c ...
s. He is popularly known by the epithet ''Amarashilpi'' ().


His life

Jakanachari was born in a small village called Kaidala, 9 km from
Tumkur Tumkur, officially Tumakuru, is a city and headquarters of Tumakuru district in the Karnataka state of India. Tumkur is known for Siddaganga Matha. Tumkur hosts India's first mega food park, a project of the ministry of food processing. The Ind ...
in
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. The original name of the town as per records was Kridapura. His life was one of love and dedication to art. His career began when Nripa Haya ruled as a local chieftain of the area. He left home shortly after his marriage choosing utter devotion to god over family. He travelled far and wide building many temples.


Jakanachari and his son

Jakanachari's wife gave birth to his child, named Dankanacharya. Dankanacharya himself grew up to become a famous sculptor and set out to find his father. At Belur, he found a job as a sculptor and noticed a flaw in a figure sculpted by the great Jakanacharya himself. Dankanacharya told Jakanacharya that the stone which he was carving had a toad living inside which was a considered to be a flaw by the sculptors. Furious at this, Jakanacharya challenged to cut off his right hand if the young sculptor was correct in his assessment of the sculpture. Dankanacharya chiselled the place where the flaw was present and a toad jumped out with a little water flowing from that spot. Upon testing the figure, the flaw was indeed revealed and Jakanacharya kept his promise and cut off his right hand but Dankanacharya insisted not to do so. Eventually, the two sculptors become aware of their relationship as father and son.


Chennakeshava temple

Subsequently, Jakanacharya received a vision to build the Chennakeshava temple in his native place Kridapura. After this was completed, legend has it that God restored his right hand. In celebration of this incident, Kridapura was henceforth called ''Kaidala''. The term ''Kai'' in
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
means "hand". Local non-government organizations in the state of Karnataka have been trying to raise funds to protect the Chennakeshava temple at Kaidala.


The Jakanchari Awards

The government of Karnataka confers the '' Jakanachari Awards'' to talented sculptors and craftsmen from the state every year to celebrate the contributions of this legendary architect.


Film

In 1964, a Kannada biographical film about him, ''Amarashilpi Jakanachari'' starring
Kalyan Kumar Kalyan Kumar (7 June 1928 – 1 August 1999) was an Indian actor, as well as an occasional film director and producer, who worked primarily in Kannada cinema, Kannada and Tamil cinema. Making his acting debut in the mythological drama ''Natashek ...
was produced. The veteran cinematographer BS Ranga was instrumental in the making of this movie, the first Kannada colour movie. Also in 1964, a
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
remake of the movie titled '' Amarasilpi Jakkanna'' starring
Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1924 – 22 January 2014), known as ANR, was an Indian actor and film producer in Telugu cinema. Over his seven decade career, he became a prominent figures in the industry, and is among most influential ac ...
and
Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films over seven decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of a ...
was released to popular success.


References


External links


Article on the life of JakanachariArticle on Jakanachari state award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amarashilpi Jakanachari History of Karnataka Year of birth missing People from Tumkur Kannada people Indian male sculptors Artists from Karnataka 12th-century Indian artists 12th-century sculptors