----------Published in Deccan Herald on December 15th 2018
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| A view of Melkote town |
MELKOTE, a small,
modest town is known by several names, the most prominent being
Thirunarayanapuram. It is a hill town situated
close to Mysore - about 39 kms from Mandya, and around 135 kms from
Bangalore. It is one of the seats of
SriVaishnavism, a religion propagated and made famous by the Saint Poet Sri
Ramanujacharya.
Melkote is both a pilgrimage town and a tourist
attraction as it offers spectacular views of the green, verdant valley enriched
by the River Cauvery.
Cheluvanarayanswamy temple
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| The Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple |
Melkote is home to the famous Cheluvanarayanswamy temple. This small, sleepy town nestled in the hills, comes alive during the month of March-April when the famous Vairamudi
festival is celebrated.
The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu in the form of Cheluvanarayana, ‘cheluva’ meaning beautiful in Kannada. The famous SriVaishnavite saint, poet cum philosopher, Sri Ramanujacharya, fearing a threat to his life, escaped from Srirangam in Tamilnadu and made his way to Melkote in the 12th century. He lived here for about 14 years and spread the message of SriVaishnavism. He is responsible for recovering the missing statue of the Lord and reinstalling the bronze statue of Cheluvanarayanaswamy in the temple. The story goes that the statue was taken away by a Muslim ruler in Delhi. Ramanujacharya went across to Delhi, convinced the ruler to give up the statue and brought it back to Melkote. Meanwhile, the Princess of Delhi who used to play with the statue was inconsolable and followed Ramanujacharya to Melkote. She fell at the feet of the Lord’s statue and breathed her last. Her passion and ‘bhakthi’ have been immortalized - she along with Narayana’s consort Sri Yadugiri Nachiyar, is also worshipped as Bibi Nachiyar.
This temple has been revered and worshipped by all the kings
who ruled over the Mysore region – the Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara kings, and
the Maharaja of Mysore .
The Vairamudi
festival of Cheluvanarayana is celebrated every year with much aplomb and
fanfare, where the Utsava murthy of
the Lord is beautifully decked with flowers, jewels and the acclaimed diamond
crown, and taken around the streets of Melkote in a procession.
The Kalyani or Sacred Pond
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| The beautiful Temple pond! |
This amazing man-made pond or ‘kalyani’ is an architectural marvel. It is a sight to behold and one can spend any
amount of time sitting on the steps - watching the water below and the open
skies above. It was constructed as a
bathing area for pilgrims visiting the temple town of Melkote. It can
be accessed by foot from the main streets of Melkote before the actual climb to
the Yoganarasimhaswamy temple. The scenic beauty of the ‘kalyani’ with the mantapas, pillars and steps leading to
the pond, has been captured beautifully in several movies - Rajinikanth’s super
hit film ‘Padaiyappa’ comes to mind.
The Yoga Narasimhaswamy temple
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| The Yoga Narasimhaswamy Temple Gopuram |
Built atop a hillock, one has to climb several steps to
reach this temple which is dedicated to Lord Narasimha. Going past the ‘Kalyani’, the path leads one to the steps from where the climb
begins. It is not a very hard climb and
can be accomplished in about twenty minutes.
Trees on either side of the rocky hillock provide shade and the steps, not
being steep, do not pose a problem. A
lovely cool breeze welcomes one at the summit, instantaneously rejuvenating the
body and mind. The view accorded from
the top is breath-taking – one can immediately see and identify the ‘kalyani’, the village houses, the
off-white gopuram of
Cheluvanarayanswamy temple; and in the distance - the green landscape with
coconut trees, little hillocks and rocky terrain, and the surrounding valley
forms a lovely panorama.
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| The Lord's metal picture at the entrance. |
Inside the temple, the image of the Lord is captivating as
he sits in a yogic posture, with the head of a lion and the body of a man – Nara + Simha. It was built several
centuries ago, during the Hoysala reign.
Legend has it that Prahlad, son of Hiranyakashupu, installed the deity
of Narasimha here.
Location – Melkote
is situated about 135 kms from Bangalore.
Take a small deviation of 35 kms from Mandya, which is on the
Bangalore-Mysore highway. The roads are
excellent.
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| Staircase to heaven - The climb starts here! |
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| A brief view of the Temple Gopuram |
How to Reach - It
is easy to drive down to Melkote from Bangalore or from Mysore. Plenty of buses also ply between Bangalore
and Melkote. The nearest rail head is
Mandya.
Time needed -
Considering a travel time of 3 hours from Bangalore, Melkote can be covered in
a day.
Lunch Facility - Subanna's Mess on the lane near the market square is a good place to have breakfast or lunch.
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