BALASUBRAMANIAM TEMPLE, UTTIRAMERUR

BALASUBRAMANIAM TEMPLE, UTTIRAMERUR

The Uttiramerur Balasubramaniam temple can be seen from the Sundaravaradha rajar temple and is very near to it.  The Balasubramaniam temple has a 5 tier Gopuram.  

here are shrines for Ekambaranathar, Mahatripurasundari, Kasi Viswanathar, Santhana Ganapathi and Vel in the form of Velayuthamurthy in the inner prakara itself.  Lord Kadambanathar is in northeast corner and enables Lord Subramanya to worship him.  The Velayuthamurthy is in the northwest corner.  The Unjal and Vasantha mandapams are in the outer prakara.  The Balipeetam and Kodimaram are here.

Lord Balasubramaniam here is stands gracious with 6ft tall and with a beautiful Vel and flag staff with the Cock.  The time when I went for Darshan was in the evening and the sayankala pooja with deepa arti was going on.  Mother Gajavalli - combination of Valli and Devayanai is on the left.  It is said that the depth to which the Vel kept by the Lord to protect the Kashyapa Muni is not known.  Sumithiri Chandikeswara is in the place of Chandikeswara.  

Velayuthamurthy

 

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This place also has the Tamil Name - Ilayanar Velur - to denote that the Lord stood on his Vel and protecting the rishis under penance from the Asuras, Ilayanar meaning youth Muruga and Velur meaning his Vel in that place.    This was a forest region and the river that was flowing through this place was then kwown as Uttaravahini, now known as Seyyaru.
Many sages were performing Penance here and Kashyapa Muni had his hermitage and was doing penance. Two demons Magran and Mulayan were giving him trouble while penance and when the Sage sought the help of Kadambanathar, he said his younger son would help the Sage to overcome the problem.  Lord also told the Sage, that he would give his sword to Murugan to eliminate the demons.   As told by his father, he summoned the demons and advised them to stop worrying the Sage Kashyap.  But they did not heed to his advice and thus Lord Muruga eliminated both of them by keeping  his Vel as guard on the eastern side of the hermitage and severing the head of Magaran with the sword given by his father.  Mulayan tried to escape by using the Maya taught by the mother of Surapadma but could not do so, as he was killed by the Sword of Lord Shiva.   The place where the head of Malayan fell is known as Malayankulam and the where Magaran was killed, is known as Magaral.

Thirupugazh slabs mounted on the walls of the temple:

Elephant is the Vahana of Murugan here, as he got Peacock only after killing Surapadman.

In fact, thre is a vigraha of Murugan on the elephant Iravatham in Margaleeswarar temple near Uttiramerur.

Temple Timings:
05.00 AM - 08.00 AM
04.00 PM - 07.00 PM

SREE KAMAKSHI AMMAN TEMPLE, KANCHIPURAM

SREE KAMAKSHI AMMAN TEMPLE, KANCHIPURAM

Sree Kamakshi amman temple is at a distance of one km from the bus stand.  The importance of the temple is centred around the story of Ekambareswarar and the penance Goddess Parvathi undertook to unite with the Lord.  When the marriage took place under the Mango tree, Mavadi - Goddess place was known as Kamakottam and thus when Adi Sankara established his Peetam - it was known as Kamakoti Peetam and the presiding deity of the Mutt also was the Kamakshi here.  Ka means Goddess Saraswathi and Ma means Goddess Lakshmi and Akshi means the gracious eyes.  Thus the Goddess Kamakshi in Kanchi signifies that she lives here with both Saraswathi and Mahalakshmi as her eyes.  The place where the Goddess is known as Gayatri Mandapam.  She is in three forms - Sree Kamakshi, Sree Bilahasam, Sree Chakram.    She is in a sitting posture of Padmasana.  She has Pasa, Angusa, Pushpabana and sugarcane in her four hands.  She wears a crown and has the Surya and Chandra as Karnabaranas and presents as Raja Rajeswari.   When Adi Sankara visited the place, he felt that the Goddess is in a ferocious mode and the sanctum was very hot and thus he sang the Soundarya Lahari in praise of her and also installed a Sree Chakram in front of her to cool her.  The Goddess presents herself in Sootchumaroopa in the Chakra.  The Sree Chakram is visible and poojas are performed to the chakram.   

                                                                  Kamakshi

In the moolasthana, to the right of the Ambal is the Tapas Kamakshi standing in one leg.  As advised by Kathyayana Muni, Parvathi came from Kailaya and worshipped Kamakshi here.  By her anugraha, she got the benefits of her Tapas by duly worhsipping Ekambaranathar under the Mango Tree. On the left of the Ambal, is the Aurupa Sannidhi of Lakshmi.  Kalvar perumal sannidhi is on the right side of Ambal and faces Southeast.  Vishnu checks whether Lakshmi regained her Soundarya by Sabavimochanam hiding himself.   Soundarya Lakshmi sannidhi is next to him and faces South.   Thus in the Gayatri Mantapam, are the deities - Varahi, Aurupalakshmi, Arthanareeswarar, Roopalakshmi, Kalvar Perumal.     On the outer prakara, are Ayyappan, Saraswati, Annapoorani and Adi Sankara.   On the West of this outer prakara are:  Durvasa Maharishi, Uthsava Kamakshi, Thundeera Maharaja, Bangaru Kamakshi and Rajashyamala.   In the third prakara are:  Kala Bhairavar, Mahishasuramardhini and Booth Nigha Perumal and Panch Ganga Theertham of the temple.

The temple was once visited by a Dumb devotee and his prayers were answered by the Goddess as he wanted to sing her in praise.  Thus came "Mookapanchashati" in which he praises the Goddess and eulogises the beauty of her.  

Once Vishnu cursed Mahalakshmi to take an Aurupam form and she came to Kanchipuram and prayed on the Lord.  There is a belief that the Sree Kamakshi Kumkuum is to be offered to the Aurupam deity of Mahalakshmi in the sancturm sanctorum for fullfilling of the wishes of the devotees.  Here there is a adhi varagha perumal too.  A Santhanasthambam in the prakara is known as Nabisthan of Goddess.  Hence, the temple being one of the 51 Shakti peetas, is also known as Nabisthana - Ottiyana Peetam.   

  
Golden Chariot of the temple is taken out in procession on Fridays around 7.00 PM. 

Sthala Viruksham: Shenbagam 

The temple is administered by Sree Kanchi Mutt.  
In the Kamakshi Amman temple, there is a separate shrine for Adi Sankara who installed the image of Devi Kamakshi with due scriptural sanction and authority. He attained samadhi in Kanchi itself.

In the Kamakshi temple a significant representation of Goddess Mother is as in deep penance, standing on one leg, the other being folded up to the hip and the right arm raised touching the crown of the head. This sculpture resembles closely the figure of Sankara absorbed in penance in the same posture. The identity of the Mother and Sankara is obviously sought to be conveyed by this sculpture. (Kamakoti.org on Kamakshi temple)

Temple Timings:
05.30 AM to 12.30 PM

04.00 PM to 08.15 PM

Fridays upto: 09.30 PM

Pournami     : 10.30 PM

EKAMBARESWARAR TEMPLE, KANCHIPURAM

EKAMBARESWARAR TEMPLE, KANCHIPURAM

Ekambareswarar temple is in Siva Kanchi and is at a distance of 2 kms from the bus stand. Ekmabareswarar, Kanchipuram is one of the Pancha Bootha Sthalam, representing Earth/Land and thus worshipped as Prithvi Lingam.   The Subramanya Swamy temple known as Kumarakottam is in between the Ekambareswarar and Kamakshi temples and all three together also said to denote the Somaskandar principle. 

The temple covers an area of over 40 acres and the Rajagopuram with 9 tiers is of height 172 ft built by the Vijayanagara Samrajya King Kirshna Devaraya.   Ekambareswarar got his name from Mango tree here where he married Parvathi.   Eka is one and ambram is Mango.

                                                         Mavadi/Mango tree

                                         Thirumana Kolam under the mango tree

Sthala Purana
When Lord Siva was deeply immersed in the task of creation/protection/destruction, his consort Pavathi closed his eyes jocularly, which resulted in the obstruction of his task and thus the normal functioning of the Universe.   Annoyed Lord Siva cursed Parvathi to correct her mistake by being on the earth and she came to the Kampa River side and under a Mango tree in Kanchipuram and did her penance as ordained, by worshipping a  Siva linga made out of Sand.  Lord Siva placed obstacles in her way to test her sincerity and Parvathi overcame all difficulties with the help of Lord Vishnu.   Finally he made Ganges to flood the place.   As the nearby River Vegavati overflowed and would have engulfed the Shiva Lingam.  Parvathi embraced tightly and covered the Lingam from destruction and pleased with the gesture of Parvathi, the Lord appeared before her and also married her here under the Mango tree, now known as Mavadi (மாவடி).    Thus he is also known as 'Thazhuvakuzhainthar' (தழுவகுழைனாதர்).   Thazhuva in Tamil is the English word of Embrace.  Kuzhainthaar - Pleased and happy.

The Sthala Viruksha is Mango tree and under this tree the Lord and his consort give blessing to the devotees in Kalyana Kolam.    The Mango tree is said to be the embodiment of the four vedas, and it is said that it bears fruit of different tastes in different seasons.   

Also when Lord Siva appeared before her here, he gave 2 measures of paddy to do Dharma karyas in the name of Kamakshi in Kamakottam.  The kamakshi amman temple is the Kamakottam.

As the Lingam is of sand, there is no abhishekam done in this temple for the Lord for the top portion and abisheka is done to the bottom portion known as Avudaiyar.  There is no separate ambal sannidhi.  The Urchavar pic:

Sundaramurthy Nayanar while marrying Sangili Nachiar, took a vow in the presence of the Lord Siva that he would not leave her at any time but failed in the promise and lost his eyesight. Sundaramurthy nayanar worshipped the lord here and got his eyesight back for his left eye.

The area around the Flagstaff/Kodikambam is called Kachchi Mayanam.  There are sannidhis for Vikadachakra Vinayagar, Mavadi Kandhar, Nilathunda Perumal also.  Nilathunda Perumal got his name because Chandran's rays cooled the perumal when his body got hot due to the churning of Ksheerasamudra/Parkadal.   Once Mahavishnu threw the Chakrayutha on Thatheesi Munivar and it became blunt.  Vishnu worshipped Lord Siva to get Chakrayutha and he was blessed to have one.   But during the Dhaksha Yaga, the same was thrown on Veerabhadrar and one of the Kabalas worn by Veerabadra consumed it.  Vishu was worried and Vishvaksenar who could not see his Lord in sorrow and wanted to help his Lord.  Vishnu only had protected him from Veerabhadra during the Daksha Yaga.  Vishvaksenar went to Veerabhadra but he was allowed to see by others.  Meanwhile on the advice of one of the rishis, Veerabhadra came to Kanchi to install and worship a Lingam.  Here Veerabhadra told Vishvaksenar that he can get the Chakrayutha from the Kabala of his Kabala Mala by himself.  Surprised by the reply of Veerabhadra, Vishvaksenar not knowing what to do, walked akwardly with his hands and legs skewed, upon which all laughed at his predicament, including the Kabalas in the Mala.  Noticing this, Vishvaksenar continued to walk that way and the Kabala which had the Chakrayutha in its mouth too laughed and the same came out of its mouth.  Before Viswaksenar could pick up the Chakrayutha, Lord Vinayaka took that and asked that he do the vikada koothu for the sake of him once and Vishvaksenar obliged and laughing and pleased, Vinayaka gave the Chakrayutha.  Vishvaksenar handed over the Chakrayutha to his Lord.  The Vinayaka here came to be known as Vikadakoothu Vinayagar.  Pralayam Katha Amman is in the second prakaram.  Next to Mavadi is the Mavadi Kanthan and the sannidhi of Ezhivarkuzhali amman.   A Shasralingam sannidhi is also on the way.

                                                        Pralayakala Amman

Thirugnanasambar's thevaram on Sree Ekanbareswarar, Kanchipuram in Tamil.
தூயானை தூயவா யம்மறை யோதிய

வாயானை வாளரக் கண்வலி வாட்டிய

தீயானைத் தீதில் கச்சித் திருவேதம்பம்

மேயானை மேவவா ரென்றிலை மேலாரே - திருஞானசம்பந்தர்
பொருள்:
தூயவன். தூயனவாகிய மறைகளை ஒதிய வாயினன். ஒளி பொருந்திய வாளினை உடைய இராவணனின் வலிமையை அடர்த்த, தீயேந்தியவன். குற்றமற்ற திருக்கச்சி ஏகம்பத்தில் எழுந்தருளியிருப்பவன். அவனை அடைந்து துதிப்பவர் என் தலைமேல் கொள்ளத்தக்கவர்.

Meaning:  This verse on Ekambareswarar by the great poet and devotee, Thirugnanasambar says of all the people the one without blemish is the Lord who helped defeat Ravana and he is in Kanchipuram.  Hence those who worship him are reverred ones.

Panguni Uththiram festival is celebrated with all fanfare and the Thirukalyanam uthsavam is done during this period.

Temple Timings:

6.00 AM - 12.30 PM

4.00 PM - 08.30 PM

Kanchipuram and nearby Temples

KANCHIPURAM AND NEARBY TEMPLES

Kanchipuram is at a distance of 72 kms from Chennai and South-West of Chennai, on the Chennai-Bangalore route.  It can be reached from Chengalpattu too and is at a distance of 35 kms from Chengalpattu.  Suburban train services are available from Chennai and train services are also available from Chengalpattu.  It is on the banks of the River Vegavati, a tributory of Palar river.  In early Tamil literature it was named as Kachi or Kachipedu and formed part of the Thondai Mandalam.    Pallavas, Chozhas, Vijayanagar Samrajaya, Mughals and later British had control of this place.  Buses connect Maduranthakam via Uttiramerur.  Uttiramerur is 26 kms from Kanchipuram.
The Matam of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam established by Adi Sankara is at 1.5 kms from the Bus stand.  The Manimandapam of the Mahaperiyava, his holiness Sree Chandrasekara Saraswathi is in Orikkai which is at a distance of 4 Kms in the Kanchipuram-Uttiramerur route.     The temple city of Kanchipuram is also famous for the Silk Sarees made from handlooms.  The sarees are famous , made out of pure mulberry silk and Zari for the sarees come from Gujarat.  Being a city of temples, lot of shops are available selling pooja items.  

The famous Kamakshi Amman temple is at about 1 km from Bus Stand and on the way is Ulakalantha perumal temple in Vamana Agraharam.  Just beside the Kamakshi amman temple, is the Kumarakottam of Lord Baladhandayuthapani on the west Raja street and this area is also called as Periya Kanchipuram.   The Ekambaranathar temple is in Siva Kanchi area and is at 4 kms from the Bus Stand.   Kachchabeswarar temple is very near to the Bus Stand within half a km.   Kamakshi is the main deity of kanchipuram and all other Siva temples do not have the Ambal Sannidhis.  

Importance of Kanchipuram can be seen from the saying:
Pushpeshu Jhati : Purusheshu Vishnu: Naarishu Ramba: Nagareshu Kanchi: oksh

Also it is one of the seven Mokshapuris.“Ayodhya Madhura Maya Kasi Kanchi Avantika!
Puri Dwarakavathi Saiva Sapthaithate Mokshadaiyeka!”

Devaraja Perumal temple is at a distance of 3.5 kms from the Bus Stand.  Presently, it has the importance of the Aththi Varadhar giving darshan here, the deity being taken out of the temple tank, once in 40 Years.

                                                    Ekambareswarar temple

Kamakshi Amman temple

                                                    Kachabareswarar temple

                                                      Kumarakottam

                                                 Ulagalantha Perumal temple

                                            Devaraja Perumal temple

Aththivaradhar of Devaraja Perumal temple gives darshan once in 40 years. Presently from 1st of July 2019, for 48 days - darshan can be had of him.

Kanchipuram is flooded with various handloom weaver societies selling the Silk Sarees in smaller outlets apart from big multi-storied shops.  The speciality of the Kanchipuram Silk Sarees is - the body and the pallu join together with a zigzag pattern known as pitni and sometimes the border also is made separately and the three joined together.  The joining of the three is known as "Korvai" and is done with such a precision, that even if the saree wears out and tears, the border wont detach.   Zari is made up of three silk threads twisted with a silver wire and thus it also contributes for the weight of the saree, some going upto 2 Kilos.

Manimandapam, Orikkai
Apart from the Kanchi Mutt at Kanchipuram, the Manimandapam of Mahaperiyva of kanchi Mutt H H Sree Chandrasekara Saraswathi is in Orikkai, which is 4 kms from Kanchipuram Bus Stand.   Kumbhabhishekam of the Paduka Mantapam was celebrated grandly on January 28 2011, performed in the presence of His Holiness Sri Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal and His Holiness Sri Sri Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal.  The Vimanam housing the Sanctum Sactorum is 100 feet tall.  A beautiful granite Vigraha of the Sage is blessing the devotees from this Moolastanam.  A hundred pillared Mahamantapam has come up in front of the above mentioned Vimanam.  A Rudrakshamantapam adorns the Sanctum Sactorum.  On both sides of this Mantapam have been carved the imposing Kalachakras, with the figures of all the twelve Rasis.  The ball in the mouth of the Yali sculptured on the pillar can not be taken out,  though it is not fixed there-it can be rolled within. The Chain, Siva's Pradosha Tandavam, Dakshinamurti, AdiSankaracharya, Guru Parampara, images of Kanchi Mahaswami, the elephant on the side and the Nandi are so beautiful.  The main Nandhi is of a single stone weighing around 50 Tonnes.  The stem of DEEPASTAMBAM is a single stone of 42 feet in length. On top of it a small 3’x3’x5’ mandapam is arranged in pieces with 4 legs.  The stem was erected on 22.4.2016.
                                           Mahaperiyava Manimandapam Orikkai

 Mahaperiyava vigraha in Manimandapam

Separate blogs have been posted on each of the temples.


Uttiramerur

Uttiramerur is at 26 kms in the Kanchipuram-Madhuranthakam route and in this route only at a dsitance of 4kms from Kanchipuram Bus stand, is Orikkai, where Mahaperiyava's Manimandapam has been constructed.  Uttiramerur is a small place and within a radius of 3 kms all the temples here can be seen.
The temples at this place are: 1. Sundaravaradharaja Perumal 2. Balasubramaniam 3. Kailasanathar 4. Vaikunda Perumal and 5. Irattai Easwarar temple.  Separate blogs for the temple have been posted except for Irattai Easwarar temple.

Links for the individual temple posting will be added here shortly.
1. Sree Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/sree-kamakshi-amman-temple-kanchipuram.html 

2. Sree Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/ekambareswarar-temple-kanchipuram.html

3. Sree Devaraja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/devaraja-perumal-temple-kanchipuram.html

4. Ulagalantha Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/ulagalandha-perumal-kanchipuram.html

5. Kumarakottam Subramanyar Temple, Kanchipuram
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/kumarakottam-kanchipuram.html

6. Kachabeswarar temple, Kanchipuram
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/kachabeswarar-temple-kanchipuram.html

7. Sundaravaradharaja Perumal Temple, Uttiramerur
https://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/sundara-varadha-raja-perumal.html 

8. Balasubramaniyar Temple, Uttiramerur
htmlhttps://sarayutoayodhya.blogspot.com/2019/07/balasubramaniam-temple-uttiramerur.html 

9. 

KAILASA VAIKUNDA MAHAKSHETRA, RAJAJINAGAR, BANGALORE

KAILASA VAIKUNDA MAHAKSHETRA, RAJAJINAGAR, BANGALORE

Kailasa Vaikunda Mahakshetra is the temple in Rajajinagar 5th Block, Bangalore and this temple is behind the Baladhandayuthapani temple.   This temple has come up recently and 40 years old and has the sannidhis of Lord Vinayaga, Subramanya Swamy and Panchamuga Anjaneya on the entryside and Lord Siva, Sree Ranganthar is of 28 ft grand vigraha with Sridevi and Boodevi by the side of his feet, Urchavar, Srinivasa Perumal, Lakshmi and urchavar of Chakarathazhvar and Navagraha are all on the far side.  Hence Vinayagar, Subramanya and Anjaneya face the east and all other deities face the West

The entrance looks like this:

                                       
                                           Inside Mandapam of the temple

Had darshan in this temple on Sunday, the 26th May 2019.

As we are entering the temple, on the right is the ticket counter for archana etc., and the on the extreme right is the sannidhi of Lord Ganapathy and next is the Valli Deivanai sametha Subramanyar Sannidhi.    On the extreme left is the Panchamuki Anjaneyar Sannidhi.   Directly opposite to the Anjaneya is the 28ft ananthsayana Ranganathar enclosure.   Next to the right of us, is the Urchavar and then the Venkatachalapathy and Mahalakshmi Sannidhi.   Further right is Lord Siva and than Tripursundari sannadhis.  Centre of the mandapa and on the right is the Navagrah sannidhi.  This is a temple hence which has all sannidhis and can be seen as a Siva Vishnu Temple.

                  Vinayagar (Valampuri)

      Valli Devayanai sametha Subramanyar

                                    Tirupurasundari

                                                   Panchamuki Anjaneya

                                                    Navaragraha

Address of the temple: 
#2, 10th A Main, 5th Block, Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore - 560010
PH: 080-23117692
Temple timings
7.00 AM - 1.00 PM
5.00 PM - 9.00 PM

Just outside this temple and adjacent to this, are temples for Saneeswaran with an approximate height of 7ft and a Nrusimha swamy temple which has a sannidhi for Chakrathazhwar.  The Baladhandayuthapani is in the road before this temple.

SREE PRASANNA VEERANJANEYA TEMPLE, MAHALAKSHMI LAYOUT, BANGALORE

SREE PRASANNA VEERANJANEYA TEMPLE, MAHALAKSHMI LAYOUT, BANGALORE

Fortunate to have darshan at this temple on 26th May 2019.

The entrance to the Sree Prasanna Veeranjaneya temple is from a city park in Mahalakshmi Layout and nearby is the Sree Srinivasa Perumal temple.   The anjaneya vigraha is sculpted and of 22 ft height and 16 ft width.  The sthapathis were:  Sri Shanumgananda and his two sons Mohanraj and Ganapathi.  Sri P V Narasimha Rao, former PM was the chief guest when initiation of the temple was done in the Year 1976.

During the rule of Maharaja of Mysore, Mahalakshipura was a place for shooting practice and here on a smalll hillock there was a majestic stone and local people had drawn the anjaneya figure on it.    Later Bangalore Development Authority while forming new layouts, named this place as Mahalakshmi Layout and also the majestic stone was carved into a nice vigraha.

Mahalakshmi Layout is just half an hours drive the Bangalore City Centre and has a Metro Railway Station named Mahalakshmi, but the temple is at a distance of a km from the Metro station.   From Navrang circle it is 1.7 kms.   The gigantic anjaneya is in standing posture and having a mace on the left hand and sanjeeva parvath in right hand.

The vimana of the anjaneya is resembling a pagoda of the buddhists.  It is open on all sides and having a square enclosure and circumbulation is done here.  Thulasi is available at the entrance to the temple.

While entering first there is a huge vigraha of Mahalakshmi and before entering the main anjaneya area, on the left in separte sannidhis are marble vighrahas of Lord Ganapathy, Rama,sita lakshmana anjaneya and Lakshmi.  Mahalakshmi Vighraha is 12 ft in height and seated on a lotus of 5ft height 

                                                         Vinayagar (Marble)

                                                          Mahalakshmi

                                                      Mahalakshmi (Marble)

Every Saturday the temple does the Benne Alankara which requires around 600 kgs of Butter and offered by the devotees.
                                                             Benne Alankara

The entry to the temple can be made from the main road through the park or from the side road too, where people park their vehicles.

Temple Timings:  

06.00 AM to 08.30 PM

Address

Sri Prasanna Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple
(Sri Prasanna Veeranjaneya Swamy Trust)
12th Cross Road, Mahalakshmi Layout
Mahalakshmi Puram
Bangalore 560086
080 2349 1727 

SREE BOOVARAHASWAMY KALLAHALLI NEAR MYSORE

SREE BOOVARAHASWAMY KALLAHALLI, KRISHNARAJAPETE TALUK NEAR MYSORE

Kallahalli is about 45 kms from Mysore towards the KRS Dam and reaching there becomes easy, when you have your own vehicle.  Otherwise, the KSRTC buses start from both Mysore City and Rural Bus Stand, but the timings are not frequent and the Bus also takes about an hour and 10 minutes to reach Ballenahalli and from there share autos are available.  These autos take for one way Rs.20/- per invidividual.  This place can be reached from Pandavapura and the distance from there is 32 kms. However on all ways, the bus stop is 2 kms from the temple and share autos only means of transport from the bus stop.

It is a small temple on the West Bank of the River Hemavathi and construction work is going on with expansion of the temple.  I had darshan on 11 05 2019.  Shops in front of the temple sell Thulasi and other flowers and also necessary items for archanai.  Adequate parking space is available in front of the temple.

The Vigraha is made of a grey stone and is of 14 ft height and Boodevi is 3 1/2 ft in height.  The upper hand of deity is holding the discuss and conch, while the Sudarshana Chakra is carved at the back of the idol.  He holds the Goddess Boodevi by his lower left hand and shows Abhaya Mudra with his lower right hand.  He is seated in Sukasana with the right leg touching the ground and left leg folded.  This is a temple which is 2500 years old and it is believed that Sage Gauthama was in penance here.  There is a story behind the temple connecting the King Veera Bhallala.   The King came to the forest nearby for hunting and lost the way.  When he was resting under a tree, he saw a dog chasing a rabbit upto a point and then the rabbit started chasing the dog.  He felt it odd. He got the place dug up and found a statue of Boovarahaswamy and he installed the same here.

Some interesting tings on the way to Ballenahalli from Mysore.  The route is through KRS Dam and on the rear side of it.  One can see the back waters from the bus thought it is at a distance.  People normally go nearer to this place to get the panoramic view of the dam and areas around.  

                                      View of Rear of KRS Dam from the bus

All the buses in this route also stop on every trip to stop at the Sree Subramnya temple and priest of this temple does pooja for the bus and also blesses the crew of the bus.  This temple is just 3 kms ahead of Ballenahalli.

Subramanya temple on the way

Priest performs pooja to bus and bless crew

This was a very satisfying trip as reaching there was difficult and had darshan was easier and the temple provided each one of us having darshan there with the picture of the deity.

Temple Timings:
09.30 AM - 01.30 PM

03.30 PM - 07.30 PM

Mail: bhovaraaha@gmail.com 

Phone: 9448011535 / 9449009711

 The temple address also is given:

• Sree Bhoovarahanatha Swamy Temple 
• Varahanatha kallahall 
• Ganjigere post 
• Bookanakere Hobal 
• K R Pet Taluk 
• Mandya District, Karnataka 571426

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