Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, Basavangudi

Sri Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple was cut out of a rock somewhere around the ninth century. It was later renovated by Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple is situated in the Gavipuram-Guttahalli, about 3 km from the City Market. Shri Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple of Bangalore houses a unique image of Agni, the God of Fire, probably the only one of its type in the entire South India. To the left of the main entrance, is a splendid image of Shakti Ganapathi, with 12 hands. There are four monolith pillars in the courtyard, which represent Damaru, Thrishula and two fans.

A natural monolith rock formation, the Sri Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple of Bangalore is visited by thousands of devotees every year, in the month of January. They come to Bangalore on the sacred day of Makar Sankranti to witness a unique phenomenon. On this day, for one hour, the sunrays fall on the Siva Linga, after passing through the two horns of the image of Nandi Bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva.

The architects of Sri Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple deliberately planned it in such a way that on Makar Sankranti, the sun's rays always pass through Nandi's horns, while lighting up the Shiva Lingam. This unique phenomenon can be witnessed only for one hour i.e., between 17.00 hrs and 18.00 hrs on this particular day.

Location of the Temple

View Larger Map

Reaching the temple
You can cover Kumaraswamy temple (Hanumantha Nagar) and this temple at one shot. From Hanumantha Nagar 50 ft Road, take the 5th cross, and proceed straight to Hanumantha Nagar Park. Go further straight, and you can find this temple.

Cave
The temple is situated within a cave. The prakaram around sivalinga is about 4.5 ft high, and it will be a good experience to go around.



Useful Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavi_Gangadhareshwara_Temple
http://www.bangaloreindia.org.uk/religious-places/gangadhareshwara-temple.html
http://www.bangalorepedia.org/Gavi_Gangadhareshwara_Temple

Kumara Swamy Devasthana, Hanumantha Nagar

Kumara Swamy Devasthana in Hanumantha Nagar (near Basavangudi), Bangalore is a famous temple of Lord Muruga. The temple is situated on a hillock.

There is also a wikipedia article for this temple, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumara_Swamy_Devasthana,_Bangalore

Location of the temple

View Larger Map

Reaching the temple
You can reach the temple from Outer ring road via Kathriguppe main road, or from Basavangudi (from Jayanar or City Market). The roads are quite narrow, but are very clean and neat and free of potholes.

About the temple
The main entrance of the temple (base of the hillock) has a Ganesha temple. You need to climb about 75 steps to reach the Murugan temple. Within the main temple, you can find idols of Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga (with Sivalinga in the foreground) and Goddess Shakthi.

Some Photos





Other Points to Note
There approach road to the temple is very calm, and you can find ample parking space in the neighbouring streets. The timings are 6:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Srinivasa & Anjaneya Temple, Indira Nagar

This temple is situated on the 100 ft road, near the intersection of CMH Road and 100Ft. road. The temple has a sizeable (bigger than human) size Lord Balaji or Srinivasa or Venkatachalapathy (whatever you may call). There are also idols of Lord Hanuman (in the posture of carrying the Sanjeevini hill), Lord Vinayaka and Goddess Andal.

Location of the temple

View Larger Map

Om Sakthi Temple, Kaggadaspura

There are many Amman temples in Bangalore. However, this Om Sakthi temple in Kaggadaspura is a miniature of Melmaruvathur Adhiparasakthi temple, I must say. The presiding deity is Adhiparasakthi, and believe me you will experience a vibration as soon as you enter the temple premises.

Location of the Temple

View Larger Map

Way to the temple
If you are coming from Old Madras Road (from Indira Nagar, towards K.R. Puram), watch out for Big Bazaar on the right. Take the right turn before big bazaar and proceed for about 3 kms. As you drive, you will navigate through the crowded Nagavarpalya Marker, DRDO, Dominos Pizza, Mega Mart, Reliance Fresh and Nilgiris (on Kaggadasapura Main Road). Proceed further till you find a Sweet Chariot shop of the left. Exactly opposite (on the right) is 13th Cross. Display boards are present, so you won't miss it. Take the right turn and going down for about 100 metres, you will find an apartment by name "Rocking heights" on "C Cross". Take the left just before this apartment. The road is bit narrow and you will find "ID Idly/Dosa Batter factory" at your right. Proceed bit further about 25 metres, and you will find this temple. If you are driving a car, better to park it somewhere on the 13th Cross, as "13th C Cross" is very narrow.

Pooja Items
You will get lemon, flower garlands, Archana items, Kumkum etc. in a shop situated very close to the temple.

The month of "Aadi" is very famous for Om Sakthi, and every day abhishekams are performed. Fridays are very auspicious. You can book for abishekam or archana at the temple counter. On Fridays, its better to wear Red clothing. Ladies with Red attire are allowed to enter the "Garba graha" and perform "aarthi" / "Kumkuma archana".

Overall your experience will be blissful. Please make sure you visit this temple.

Murugan Temple, Vijinapura

Not many would have known this, but this little area by name Vijinapura, near K.R.Puram Railway station is rich in various temples. The area has Ganesh temple, Anjaneya Temple, Shani Bhagwan temple, Ayyappan Temple, Yellamma (Amman) temple and Murugan Temple to name a few.

Location of the Temple
The Muragan temple is a bit hard to locate, Google maps did not have the location at first, Now I've added it.

View Larger Map

Temple at Night


Temple at Day




About the temple
The temple has idols of Lord Ganesha in the left, Subramanya or Murugan in the middle and Siva Lingam in the right. The temple also has a navagraha to the right of the entrance. The temple is pretty small, but must visit as this is only Murugan temple on Old Madras Road. The Gurukkul is very friendly too. Abishekams are performed in the morning around 6:00 AM.

Abhishekams can be performed for Vinayaga, Muruga & Sivan & Navagrahas at a cost of Rs. 150 each or Rs. 501 for all.

Other helpful Tips
The approach roads are pretty small, so please travel in your two wheeler.

Bangalore to Shravanabelagola

Long drives has always been my passion, and for sometime we have been planning to visit Shravanabelagola. Unlike my earlier trip to Mysore, I did not plan much for the trip. I just had a casual look at the route map to Shravanabelagola, and it looked like this -


View Larger Map

We started off around 7:30 from home, had breakfast at our Krishna Paradise in Pai Layout. Then filled fuel at Shell, and started from there by about 8:00 AM.

The route map goes like this Old Madras Road -> Ulsoor Lake -> St. John's Church Road -> Nandi Durga Road -> Jayamahal Road -> Mekhri Circle -> C.V.Raman Road -> Yeshvantapur -> Neelamangala -> Mangalore Road -> Kunigal -> Yadiyur -> Hirisave -> Shravanabelagola. At the time I went, the Neelamangala toll gate was under trial, so toll was not collected at that time. Once the Yeshwantapur - Neelamangala Flyover is inaugurated, I am sure you need to pay a decent price for a swift fly :-)



There roads are in the process of being converted from 2 lane to 4 lane, and hence you may have to take quite many diversions, many without even a warning sign.



After dreading the potholes and take diversions, reached Hirisave at around 11:00 AM. I took a left turn at Hirisavu to Shravanabelagola (about 18 kms).



This road would be very quiet and very enjoyable to drive, with lots of turns and scenaries around. Reached Shravanabelagola by 11:30 AM. You can easily locate the hills from anywhere near Shravanabelagola.

There is ample parking space around the temple, parking fee is Rs.20.


Just within Vindhyagiri, you could find a paid toilet and chappal stand. YOu can also find lot of tender coconut shops, and believe me you will enjoy the taste of the tender coconut.

Shravanabelagola - esplanation of Chandragiri & Vindhyagiri

After refreshing ourselves, we began the Climb. Its about 650 steps, and would take around 30 - 40 mins to reach the top. On the way up, you can find breathtaking views of the chandragiri temple & the lake between.



Never miss a moment, keep clicking...

On reaching the top you can find the idol, and never stop admiring at the marvel.


You could offer Abhishekam at the foot of the statue for a prescribed fee.


There are other small Jain idols at the top. The view from the top again is amazing, so worth spending some moments there.


The Downhill was more enjoyable, as you had to court gravity and slope. Took about 30 mins to reach the base of Vindhyagiri.

There are quite some shops at the bottom of Vindhyagiri. I got a bokoma for Rs. 20 and few massage items.

I took a moment to visit the entrance of Chandragiri, and click a snap.


There was one "Hotel Raghu", but we did not take a chance, we had few snacks from a bakery and started back around 2:00 PM. I took another route from Shravanabelagola to Join Hassan - Bangalore road, and my boy this road was just the sanctuary my i10 was yearning for... It was an amazing 15 mins drive through scenic spots and villages...


Reached Neelamangala around 4:15 and from there on it was a clutch and break affair, and reached home around 7:00 PM after having dinner at A2B Indira Nagar.

Overall it was a refreshing drive ~ 310 kms !!!

An Evening drive down ECR, Chennai

On 10-Sep-2010, while we were in Chennai, we decided to go for a evening drive to ECR. From East Tambaram, we took the medavakkam to sholinganallur road, then took ECR.

There are a couple of toll gates that would cost you Rs. 20 & Rs. 45 respectively. We went to Muthukkadu first, and enjoyed the boating.


Speed boats are also available, check out this snap -


Then drove to Kovalam, and spend few moments at the shore -


Then, we visited Prathyangara Devi Temple at Sholinganallur. More info about the temple, can be found from -
http://sholinganallur.blogspot.com/2007/12/s-ri-maha-prathyangira-devi-is-goddess.html
http://sarathanugrah.blogspot.com/2006/06/maa-pratyangira-devi.html

Then drove quickly to console my waiting Sister at Vasanta Bhavan, Chromepet. Had dinner there and then drove back home. It was a refreshing experience for us !!!