A Jewelery, a saree, Russian Kingdom, a temple Vehicle, Mysuru kingdom, a story narrated by a common man, Karnataka government, Albania nation, a sculpture I have seen in person are all connected by a very strange common theme.
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| Figure 1: Sculpture in a temple pillar, Bengaluru |
The above sculpture is carved on a pillar in Ulsoor
Sri Someshwara temple of Bengaluru. It is called Gandaberunda. Though similar,
its spelling and pronunciation varies in different regions of India like
Gandaberundam, Gandaberunda Pakshi and so on. It is also referred to as double
headed eagle or double headed bird in general.
Depictions of many imaginary creatures is a common sight in Indian temples. One can easily assume this sculpture as a depiction of yet another imaginary bird. Yet, it is special. To understand its speciality let us check the direct and indirect details we can gather from this depiction.