Around Mysore - Nanjangud and Somnathpur

A couple of interesting places to visit around Mysore, for those who are making their nth trip to Mysore, n not being equal to 1. I am sure the first trip is always reserved for the palace, Srirangapatna and Chamundeswari temple - rightfully so. If you are done with the routine visits, then a couple of places worth checking out are Nanjangud and Somnathpur.

NANJANGUD: Nanjangud Sri Kanteswara temple is dedicated to lord Shiva. It is located at a distance of about 25 kms from Mysore. It is located on the banks of river Kabini, one of the tributaries of Kaveri. Nanjangud also has a rail head.

The best part of the temple is its proximity to the river bank. When the river is in full flow, like the time I had been there in August, it is a wonderful sight. Pilgrims throng the temple after taking a holy dip in the river, which in itself is a very pleasant experience. No great facility for a dress change though. We need to adjust with some make-shift arrangements.

Apart from taking a dip in the river, one could also go boating on the river in country made boats, Parisal. That again has its own charm. Taking a ride through the small, but beautiful, bamboo grooves in Parisal was one of the memorable experiences of my life.

The temple in itself is quite a massive structure with a 7-tier temple tower greeting you at the entrance. Sandstone colour of the temple tower adds its own touch of beauty to the structure. The temple compound walls are also wonderfully structured with fascinating carvings, both inside as well as outside the temple. The Primary lord, Nanjundeswarar, signifies Shiva who drank poison for the benefit of the world.

The place is considered to be a very sacred one and is revered as Dakshina Kasi. Apart from Shiva, the temple houses sanctums for lordess Parvati and Vishnu among others. There are innumerable wonderfully carved sculptures adorning the temple. There is also a section on sculptures of lord Shiva in various forms, which again speaks volume on Indian craftsmanship. Outside the temple one would also find a huge statue of Shiva in human form, in a sitting posture. The statue, although a recently established one, adds its own touch of sanctity and religious fervour to the atmosphere.

Near-by Nanjangud one could also find decent eating options.

SOMNATHPUR: Quite in contrast to Nanjangud, is Somnathpur or Somnathpura. It used to be a fully functional temple in the good old days, but it is now restricted to tourist interest. Built during the Hoysala period, it is the less known relative of Belur and Halebid temples. In fact, the structure of Somnathpura is quite similar to Halebid, which is so very unique to the Hoysala architecture. This temple too is dedicated toChennakesava. The temple is under the maintenance of Archealogical Survey of India (ASI) and is reasonably well-maintained. It is located at a distance of about 35kms from Mysore in the route to Bannur.

The temple has faced limited destruction compared to Belur and Halebid and hence offers more splendour for the eyes. Words are quite limited to express the beauty of the place. If you are one fascinated by history, architecture and sculptures, then Somnathpur should be definitely on your agenda of places to visit. Such is the treasure trove of sculptures and wall carvings here.

Inside the main temple, you would find three sanctums, dedicated to Kesava, Janardhana and Venugopala. Each of the sanctum has an elaborate entrance with intricate carvings that you could just adore for hours. Each of the pillars inside is uniquely carved and you are left wondering how did they manage to construct such wonders. The layered stone dome that resembles a chandelier beats the pillars in its own way. Unfortunately, the inner sanctums are not well-lit preventing one from taking decent pics.

While you relish the beauty of the inner sanctum and are left awe-stuck, the carvings on the outer wall transport you to a totally different world. You are sure to stretch the memory of your camera, just going on a clicking rampage. Even after that, you are likely to feel whether you have made full justice to the place by clicking enough pics. No camera or camcorder can amply capture what is on display. Probably your eyes are the best possible camera and your brain the best storage medium of all these memories.

One could spend several minutes just adoring the beauty of one sculpture and there are thousands and thousands of them lined all across the walls. Where do we start and where do we end? Well this is the question you will keep asking yourself and probably pass the blame on available time.

Sculptures are presented in three layers. To put very simply, the lower section with innumerable small ones, the middle section with reasonably big ones and the top (vimana) section with its own set of decorations. Leaving aside the main portion of the primary sculptures, one could be left wondering even at the beauty of the simple niceties that adorn these sculptures. Be it the tools on hands of the lords or the umbrella like covering above the head of each lord or the intricacies of leaves in a sculpted tree. The list is endless. One has to view it in person to rejoice it all. My words and pics are only like a small drop in a ocean of architectural treasure trove. Be there to check it out yourself.

NEAR-BY TEMPLES TO VISIT: Apart from Nanjagud and Somnathpur, if you are covering Mysore from Bangalore, then a couple of places you could cover en-route are Maddur and Mallur. Maddur is famous for its vadas and you should definitely try them when you are there. It is located at almost half way between Bangalore (Bengaluru) and Mysore. This apart, Maddur has an Ugra Narasimhar temple where Narasimha is in a state of anger and is seen here in the form of killing the demon Hiranyakashyap. There is a small Varadaraja Perumal temple near-by where the main statue is about 12 ft tall and is a divine sight.

Mallur or Dodda Mallur has a temple for lord Rama in the name of Aprameya. It is at a distance of about 50 kms from Bangalore. It is quite an old and historically recognised temple. Apart from the primary lord, the temple is more famous for Navneet Krishna. In fact, more people now know the temple only by this name. The most interesting aspect of the Navneet Krishna here is that it is in the posture of a child crawling. We have seen pictures of the same several number of times. But, to find statue of Krishna as a crawling child in a stone form is quite unique and you could catch the same here.

Temples in and around Salem - Part I

Just back from a temple tour around Salem. Did a lot of net search to arrive at the list of temples to cover. So, thought would be a good idea to put in at one-place list of possible temples to cover. Broadly there are three routes of coverage, one could plan from Salem: Salem and around, Salem - Namakkal and Salem-Tiruchengode route. I would thus like to make my blog post a three part-series. In the first part, I would cover temples in Salem and around Salem.

1. Raja Ganapathy Temple:It is located at 1st Agraharam, one of the primary market areas of the town and is always bustling. It is a good temple to start one's temple tour around the region. For the size of the outer structure of the temple, the statue of lord Ganesha inside is reasonable large in size and gives one a pleasant feel. This is a small but powerful temple located at the heart of Salem Town.

2. Sugavaneswarar Temple: This temple within Salem is dedicated to Lord Siva. It is a reasonably big temple and one of the primary landmarks of the town. The Siva is said to be a suyambu, meaning, to have come into existence on its own without anyone constructing it. In fact, this is one of the five temples around river kaveri in that region to have emerged on its own. The main linga is in a slightly slanted position. Lordess Swarnambikai is housed in a separate sanctum. There are shrines for other gods like Ganapathy, Muruga and Dakshinamoorthy too.

3. Kottai Mariamman Temple: Kottai Mariamman is believed to be the primary goddess protecting the town. Pilgrims and locals alike throng in big numbers to this temple. The goddess here is in the form of a small, beautiful looking statue and the sight is very pleasing to the eyes. Unlike in a typical Mariamman temple, at the feet of the lordess one would not find a skull or a devil, but rather just a lotus bud, making it quite unique.

4. Kottai Perumal Temple: Kottai Perumal temple is also located in the Kottai region of Salem. Kottai means Fort. When I visited the temple, there was some major renovation work at the temple and hence could not catch a complete glimpse of the gods here. Some of the statues were completely covered in cloth, while in certain other cases only part of the sanctum was open.

5. Ayodhiapattinam Ramar Temple: As the name of the town suggests, this is a temple dedicated to lord Rama. It is quite an old temple with wonderful sculptural works. It is about 10 kms from Salem on the eastern direction. The temple sanctum ceilings are filled with paintings depicting various mythological scenes, although it has got slightly eroded over time. The walls and pillars of the sanctum are beautifully decorated with intricate carvings and sculptures. Legend has it that given the delay in time for Rama to reach Ayodhya from Sri Lanka in time for his Pattabhisheka, Lord Rama had his pattabhisheka done at Ayodhiapattinam, when the good time was still available and later did it in Ayodhya with all necessary procedures. So, we find Rama and Sita in a sitting posture, which is generally not found in other temples.

Ram is seen here with his left leg folded and Sita Devi with her right leg folded. Also housed in the same sanctum are Lakshmana, Hanuman, Vaali and Vibishena. A look at the sanctum gives one a feel that one is actually witnessing a pattabhisheka. In general, we find Sita to be standing to the right side of Rama in most temples. However, here we will have Sita devi seated to the left of Rama as is done during Pattabhisheka.

6. Belur Thanthondreeswarar Temple: About 18kms from Ayodhiapattinam is Belur. Here, there is an historic, grand temple of Shiva with the name Thanthondreeswarar. It is said to have been built in the 12th century. Thanthondree means emerging on its own and as the name indicates, this is a suyambu linga. For a suyambu linga, one would be surprised by the relatively large size of the linga. The rajagopuram of the temple is quite an imposing one and is a 7-tier structure. The temple pillar carvings are also a wonderful work of art. The lordess is known by the name Dharma Samvardhini. One would also find a sanctum for Kalyana Ganapathy, which houses two Vinayaka statues within the same sanctum, one large and one slightly smaller one. People offer prayers here for early marriage of their children.

7. Tharamangalam Kailasanathar Temple: This is an historic old temple at Tharamangalam, about 30 kms from Salem. It is to the west of Salem and hence in the opposite direction to Ayodhiapattinam. This is a temple constructed by the Cholas and carries their typical architectural marks. Lord here assumes the name of Kailasanathar and Lordess is Abirami. The temple tower is an imposing structure but, we could not manage a glimpse of it, since it was completely covered for renovation work. The pillars and ceilings have wonderful stone carvings that one could admire all day long.

There are a couple of interesting features within the temple. The temple's inner walls carry sculptures of various gods, goddesses and sages equidistant from each other, in a variety of postures and displaying varied emotions. One could spend hours admiring the craftsmanship of each of these sculptures. Secondly, we have sculptures of Manmathan and Rathi, Indian god and goddess of love, staring benevolently at each other. This is said to be quite unique not found in any other temple. There is also a pathala linga here in the underground that can be reached by a series of few steps.

8. Omalur Chinna Tirupathi Temple: Omalur is about 10 kms from Taramangalam and from Omalur, the Chinna Tirupathi temple is about an other 10kms. There is one place called Chinna Tirupathi near Salem as well. So, make sure you do not land up at the wrong place. The temple is quite an old one, but has been significantly extended in recent years. So, at the outset the temple looks quite new. However, one can observe the contrast in new and old architecture when one enters the inner sanctum. As the name indicates, it is a temple dedicated to lord Vishnu. The lord here assumes the name of Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal.

REACHING SALEM: Salem is about 300 kms from Chennai. It is an important rail and road junction and is well connected. It is also easily accessible from Bangalore. It is the closest rail head for Yercaud, one of the hill stations in the region, commonly referred as Poor man's Ooty. The Salem town is famous for its steel plants, limestone mines and Mangoes. The town also has an airport where currently only a single flight plies to Chennai.