TRAVELOGUE ON OUR VISIT TO MELKOTE AND OTHER TEMPLES IN AND AROUND MYSORE CITY 

Despite the fact that I lived in Bangalore for more than 2 decades, I never escorted my wife Mythili to any of the ancient temples for which the State of Karnataka is famous. There are numerous temples of great importance in the State speaking volumes of historic and ancient values & the religion, particularly the Hinduism. Especially most of the temples in and around Mandya District is mostly connected to the life of great Saint Ramanuja, the incarnation of Aadhiseshan. Particular reference is to be made on the temples situated at Thondanur and Melkottai, which is also called as Thirunarayanapuram.

My brother in law Parthasarathy was also insisting for a very long time that we should make this pilgrimage. We have made many attempts to make this visit but for one reason or the other it was always postpones. As destined by the almighty, we could make this visit in the month of Tamil month Margazhi.

We left Chennai on 3rd of January 2013 and returned on the morning of 5th after visiting most of the temples in and around Mysore City. I have pleasure to make this travelogue for the benefit of its readers and will be happier that the contents influence them to make a visit to all these places.

We began our pilgrimage with a visit to Chamundeswari temple at the top of the hills near the Mysore City.

The legend of Chamundeswari - how the Goddess got that name is recounted in Markandeya Purana. Long ago, there were two Asura brothers called Sumban and Nisumban. By performing rigorous penance they had acquired rare boons bestowing strength and power on their evil selves. They became a source of great harassment to the Devas. Hindu lore is replete with such instances where the evil are blessed with boons of power in recognition of their penance and devotion. But when they put the power of their boons to wicked use, the wrath of God descends on them and ends their atrocity.  Coming back to the Markandeya Purana, the devas prayed to Parvathi for a solution. Hearing the pleas of the devas, a beautiful form emerged from Parvathi and went forth towards the Asuraas. When the Asuraas beheld the surpassingly beautiful form, they were smitten and wanted to marry the beautiful maiden. When certain Asura emissaries approached the maiden with the suit of their kings, the maiden replied that she would only wed the man who defeated her in battle. Amused by this, the asura kings sent Dumralochanan to entice the maiden with promises of a luxurious life, but all the attempts of Dumralochanan bit the dust and he was reduced to ashes. The Asura kings then dispatched Sandan and Mundan. This enraged the maiden who was none other than Parvathi herself and from her forehead emerged Kali. A fierce battle raged between Kali and Sandan and Mundan. Finally, Kali exterminated the two Asuraas and was named by the devas as Chamundeswari, the one who slew Sandan and Mundan. The first thing that we have seen as the train pulls into Mysore is the hill with the temple that looms in the eastern direction.  What strikes the eye as you reach the top is the massive statue of Mahishasura with a snake in one hand and a dagger in the other. Mahishan was a demon who was destroyed by Parvathi who is known as Mahishasuramardhini.

he Chamundi temple was renovated in the year 1827 by Krishna Raja Wodeyar III. She was the presiding deity of the Wodeyar kings. The Wodeyar kings did a lot to decorate the deity with gold ornaments, a golden lion throne, and gold armour. The goddess also dons a necklace of star shapes inscribed with some divine slokas in Sanskrit. Earlier to Wodeyar Kings, King Vishnuvardhan and Vijayanagar rajas have renovated this temple from time to time. The ambience in the temple is very unique. It is said that the Muslim kings of Mysore Haider Ali and Tippu Sultan were devotees of Chamundeswari whose sincere worship works miracles in peoples' lives. On the way down, one can see a small Shiva temple in front of which is the famous 16-foot granite Nandi or Holy bull with exquisite bells around its neck.

The vibration and the power of the goddess Chamundeswari is proved in the life of Maharaja Krishnarajendra Wodeyar. The famous composer and the vocalist Harikeshavanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar was the Aasthana Sangeetha Vidwan of the Mysore Presidency. Once the Maharaja has suffered from severe stomach ache and despite the various attempts of the Palace doctors, the pain continued and at one stage he was unable to bear the severe pain. Seeing his plight, Muthiah Bhagavathar visited the shrine at Chamundi Hills and composed the song in praise of the presiding deity with an earnest request that only she can cure the illness of the Maharaja, mentioning his name in particular. This song has been composed in the raga Kamaz and begin with “ mathe Malayadwaja Pandya Sanjathe “. Maharaja has been totally cured from the stomach pain.

Chamdeswari is the presiding deity and worshipped by the Wodeyar Kings. The temple at Chamundi Hills as well as the one at Najankud is still maintained by descendents of Wodeyar dynasty till date. From Chamundi Hills we proceeded to Najankud to worship Najundeswarar.

Najankud is a taluk headquarters in Mysore district and is an important center of pilgrimage. Najankud is on the banks of the River Kabini tributaries of the Cauvery River. The name of the town is derived from the huge Najundeswarar or Srikanteswara temple dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva who is locally known as Najundeswarar.  It is considered as one of the sacred Hindu pilgrimage center and also known as the ‘Dakshina Kashi'. As per Hindu mythology, while searching for nectar of immortality the Gods and demons churned the ocean. During this churning, poison emanated first out of the ocean, to prevent the poison from spreading across the universe and to destroy it, Lord Shiva came to the rescue and drank the poison. Lord Shiva's wife Parvathi then held his throat tightly to prevent the poison from spreading to the rest of his body and killing him. Narada held his mouth so that he did not vomit it out. The poison remained in his throat, making it blue in colour. So Lord Shiva is also called Neelakantha, or "the blue-throated one". Najankud literally means the place where Najundeswarar (God who drank poison) resides. Najundeswarar is also described as one who cures diseases of his devotees. Najankud has been a major Shiva center since times immemorial. The temple is a large complex structure in the Dravidian style, and appears to have been originally built by the Cholas and additions were made to it through centuries till 1900, by the Hoysalas and Vijayanagara rulers,. Wodeyars of Mysore have provided various grants to renovate the temple. It was renovated by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and the tall gopura was built in 1845. It is one of the biggest temples of Karnataka, 385 ft. in length and 160 ft. in breadth. The Muslim ruler Tippu Sultan had strong faith in God Najundeswarar called him as 'Hakim Najundeswarar', as his favorite and his beloved elephant’s eye aliment was cured by administering the holy water from the temple. He has donated a Lingam made of jade along with an emerald necklace.  

 On our return to Mysore, we visited the Parakala Mutt in the city.. Bhagavan Sri Ramanuja (A.D. 1017 - 1137) came down on this earth in one such crucial moment,  After Ramanujar one another  greatest Acharya  descended in Kanchipuram, at Thoppul in 1268 and re-established, rejuvenated, and enlarged the scope of our Darshana, as Vedanta Desika, as he was popularly known. He is incarnation of the Thirupathy Temple Bell and as such even today, there is no temple bell there. His times were very turbulent, politically, socially and spiritually. Muslim conquerors looted and destroyed most temples even in the South including Srirangam and Kanchipuram and killed millions of Hindus, thousands of SriVaishnavas among them and caused havoc, as the Acharya describes in his "Abheetistava". Socially there was a consequent chaos. In addition, Hindu streams of thought like Advaita, Sankhya, Pasupata, Mimamsa etc. were at mutual loggerheads, while Buddhists, Jains and Charvakas were attacking it from outside. The orders established by Bhagavan Sri Ramanuja were decaying into dry ritualism and needless sectarian wrangles and disputations internally. 

Swamy Desika, as a foresighted sage towards the close of his divine life realized that unless a new order of Holy Men was not established, there was no way out of this all enveloping darkness. He caused one of his disciples dearest to him to take to asceticism, and established him as the first of a new series of Swamy's and named him as Brahma Tantra Swatantra Jeer in the year corresponding to 1338  Swamy Desika himself continued to give directions till 1370, when Swamy Desika attained the Holy Feet of the Lord. Thus was started what is now known as Sri Brahma Tantra Swatantra Parakala Matham, and 36 eminent scholars and sages have adorned its Holy Seat ,Sri Lakshmi Hayagriva is the presiding Deity of the Matham, first being worshipped by Goddess Saraswati Herself, then coming to the Divine Hands of Bhagavan Sri Ramanuja, on His Sri Bhashyam being appreciated by Her as very faithful to Brahma Sutras by Vyasa, and after him, to Swamy Desikan  The Matham was originally located in Tuppool in Kanchipuram, . But when it was found unsafe during the Muslim onslaught, the establishment shifted to Holy Hills of Tirumalai, and remained there for several centuries, supervising the daily routines of the temple. During period 1676 - 1737 the Matham came down to Srirangapatna, near Mysore and its Pontiffs became - Rajagurus. After the fall of Tuppu Sultan, the Matham came to Mysore where its has its headquarters even today. The Matham enjoyed great glory due to royal patronage, and its economic resources continually grew in terms of lands, money, and branch establishments all over India, including the North. The greatness of this Mutt can be described as: • Sri Parakala Matham was founded and maintained by Swami Sri Vedanta Desikan Himself in the latter years of his life. (1268 - 1370 A.D) • 

 After overnight stay in Mysore, we left for Melkottai on the morning of Friday 

MELKOTE 

Melkottai is a municipal town and holy center of the same name, situated at a distance of 36 km (22 miles) north-west of Mandya, and 51 km (32 miles) north of Mysore. According to mythological account, this place is also known as Thirunarayanapuram. The name of the place is derived from the temple of Narayanaswami which is built on the hillock, surrounded by a fort. It is built on a granite rocky hill-range named Yadugiri, which is 3,589 feet (1,094 m) high above sea level. Early in 12th century, Sri Ramanuja took up his residence and lived here for  14 years. It thus became a prominent center of the Srivaishnava sect of Brahmins, 

Vishnuvardhana, who had become a follower of the Acharya,( more details under Thondanur)  In the 14th century, the place suffered at the hands of Muslim invaders, who wrecked Dwarasamudra, and it was at Tondanur (Tonnur) at the southern foot of the hills, that the Hoysala king at first retired. It was subsequently restored, in about 1460, by Thimmanna Dannayaka, a chief of Nagamangala, who was an army commander of the Vijayanagar king Mallikarjuna or Immadi Prudhadeva Raya. The buildings must have been on a grand scale, as can be seen from the remains of the Gopal Raya gate on the South, which are of immense proportions. Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple The principal temple is a square building of large dimensions but very plain, dedicated to Lord Cheluva-Narayana Swamy or Thiru NnArAyaNA. The utsavamurthi, which is a metallic image, represents the deity who is called Shelvapillai, whose original name appears to have been Ramapriya . It is believed that this utsavamurthi belonged to and was worshipped by Lord Rama and the kings of the surya vamsa Dynasty for generations. Later the same idol was given to a king of Chandra vamsam (the dynasty of Lord Krishna) and was worshipped by Lord Krishna and for many generations. So CheluvaNarayana is so unique that he was worshipped by both Rama and Krishna. According to a legend, this metallic image was lost and was recovered by Sri Ramanujacharya. The annual report of the Mysore Archaeological Department (p. 57) states on the strength of epigraphic evidence, that the presiding deity of this temple was already a well-known object of worship before Sri Ramanujacharya worshipped at the shrine, in December 1098, and even before he came to the Mysore region, and that very probably, he used his influence to rebuild or renovate the temple. The temple is richly endowed, having been under the special patronage of the Mysore Rajas too, and it has a most valuable collection of jewels in its custody. As early as 1614, the Mysore king Raja Wodeyar (1578–1617) who first acquired Srirangapatna and adopted the Srivaishnava faith, handed over to the temple and the Brahmins at Melkottai, the estate granted to him by Vijayanagar king Venkatapati Raya.

 From the inscriptions on some of the gold jewels and on gold and silver vessels in the temple, it is learnt that they were presents from Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and his queens. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III also presented to the temple a crown set with precious jewels. It is known after him, as Krishnaraja-mudi. Vairamudi or Vajramukuta, another crown of great value, seems to be older than Raja-mudi and Krishnaraja-mudi. All the three crowns are kept in the safe custody of the Government at Mandya Treasury and brought to the temple on a specific annual occasion known as Vairamudi which literally means The Diamond Crown for adoring the image of Cheluvanarayana Swamy. The Vairamudi festival, which is the chief annual celebration, is attended by more than 400,000 people and growing every year. Jatras are held annually during March–April and more than one lakh people congregated here. In 1785, Tipu Sultan gave some elephants to the temple. Sights There are other shrines of Ramanuja, images of Alvars and Yadugiriammanavaru etc., in the temple. On the top of the hill is the impressive temple of Yoganarasimha. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III presented a gold crown to this upper shrine. There is a big pond there. Many more shrines and ponds are located in the town. Vairamudi, the diamond crown, was stolen from Sriman Narayana, when he was asleep at his abode in the Ksheera Sagara (Milky Ocean), by Virochana. Virochana was the king of demons and the son of Bhakta Prahalatha. Garuda was asked by the lord’s devotees to bring back the crown. Garuda went after Virochana to the nether world, fought with the demon king and flew back with the crown. According to the legend it is believed that Vairamudi lost its blue gem on the crest while Garuda was bringing it. The blue gem is believed to have fallen near Noachian Koil, a temple town in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. The gem turned into a stream, called the Manimuttaru, which to this day flows in Thanjavur. On his way, he saw Bala Krishna playing with his friends in the mid day sun at Brindavana. Garuda protected the Bala Krishna from the sun by placing his wings as the shade & placed the crown on his head. The local legends of Melkottai claim that Krishna presented Chelva Narayana with this crown. It is believed that Chelva Narayana, was also worshipped by Lord Rama, the King of Ayodhya. The crown is placed in front of sanctum of Sri Acharya Ramanuja and the head priest places the Vaira Mudi and fits it to the statue of the Lord Cheluva Narayana. It is tradition that even the head priest should not look at the Vaira Mudi in naked eyes till it is fitted to the Lord. Hence the priest covers his eyes with a silk cloth while fitting the crown. This takes place in the night and then the Lord and his consorts are traditionally decorated and procession continues to the dawn of the next day.

The quiet town of Melkote comes to life with the grandeur and majesty of the procession. Rajamudi, another crown studded with precious stones is adorned on the Lord on the next day of the Brahmotsava. Yoga-Narasimha Swamy Temple On the top of the hill is an attractive Melkottai Narasimha temple dedicated to Lord Yoga Narasimha. It is believed that the image of Yoga Narasimha temple at Melkote was installed by Prahalaadan himself. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III presented a gold crown to Lord Yoga Narasimha. Pushkaranani pond The temple infrastructure boasts of a large pond called as Kalyani.[citation needed] The beauty of the steps leading to water and the mantapas built all around are such that it has been captured in many Indian films. The Kalyani pushkarani, as it is called has been created by Ramanuja himself through his divine powers.. NAGAMANGALA. The shrine of Sowmya Keshava perumal is situated on the State Highways leading from Srirangapatna to Bellary, around 35 kilometers from Melkottai. This Kshetram is known as Anantha Kshetram and constructed more than 1000 Years ago. The main deity is Sowmya Keshava perumal. Before we enter the garpagruham, we can see the large Deepa Post of 50 feet in height. On one side, you can see the peria thiruvadi GarudAzhwar and on the other side, the Chiina thiruvadi- the Hanuman. The main deity Keshava perumal derived this name as he did sAmaram of the raakshasa named Keshi. The unique posture of the deity is that the Sanku is in his right upper hand and the chakram on the left hand contrary to the usual posture see in all other Vishnu shrines.

The idol is of six feet in height from the peedam. The entire architecture of this temple is based on the style of Hoysala temples. While the main temple and garpagruham etc were constructed by Hoysala kings, the Raja Gopura was constructed by Vijayanagar Kings in their period. On the right and left side of the main garpagruham, there are sannadhis for Krishna with Rukmini and Sathyabama and Lakshminarasimhar respectively. The Narasimhar is in sitting posture with five headed Aadhiseshan on his back. Nagamangala means Aadhiseshan. He can also been sitting in Mandalakara on the top of the roof in front of the garpagruham mandapam called as Buvaneshwari Mandapam. We can perform pariharam in this temple for rahu and Kethu doshams in our horoscopes. It is strongly believed that our genuine prayers to this Aadhiseshan will be answered favorably. Especially the prayer of childless couples is always blessed He is perched on the top of a huge Sangu and when you see it from the centre of the mandapam, he is in the top of reversed lotus bud. This is very unique in this temple alone and you cannot see anywhere else.

 The main deity Keshava Perumal is very powerful and answers favorably all the sincere and genuine prayers of the devotees. There are other sannadhis devoted for Booma and Nala Devi sametha Para Vasudevan, Ramanujar, Desikan, Manavalamamuni, Chakrathazhwar and Kothai Naachiyar.

THONDANUR 

When there was a threat to the life of Ramanujar in the hands of the Kulothunga Chozhan who is a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva and the refusal of Ramanujar and his devotees to follow his footsteps leaving the Vaishnavism and adopt Lord Shiva, Ramanujar decided to leave the place as per the request of his disciple Koorathazhwan. He exchanged the colour of his dress from Kaavi to White in order to escape from the vigil of the King. Ramanujar travelled along with the river Cauvery from Srirangam towards West and reached Thondanur where his pradhana sishyan Thondanur Nambi is living. He received Ramanujar and his followers numbering more than 1000. But Nambi was not so affluent to host all of them. Knowing this, Ramanujar sent word to Katalavari and Kongupratti, his disciples who contributed 1000 gold varahans. Nambi with this contribution arranged for the daily Aaradhanai and Thadiyaradhanai. During this time, the Hoysala Kingdom was ruled by the king named Bitti Deva who followed Jainism as his religion and practiced throughout the area under his rule.

 One day Nambi visited the palace and took an audience with the King. He found the king worried and reflected in his face openly. When he enquired the King, Nambi was told that the only daughter of the King is possessed by Brahma raakshasa and none of his Jain Acharyas could ward off the raakshasa. Then Nambi conveyed the greatness of his Guru Ramanuja and the Devine powers he has in him. He informed that his guru can definitely ward off the demon but the King was not impressed and told that only a miracle can happen to cure his daughter. Nambi on return to his place explained the plight of the King and appealed to him to shower his blessings on the King’s daughter. Ramanujar consented and visited the Palace in the company of Nambi. Both the King and Queen welcomed him respectfully. King brought his daughter to the Court and made an earnest request for a relief to their sorrows. Ramanujar could see the tears in the eyes of the Queen, the mother of the Princess. Ramanujar took his Thandam and placed it on the head of the Princess and sprinkled the holy water from his Kamandalam. The prince fainted and fell down on the floor. After some time when she regained her consciousness, she was a normal person and her eyes were clear from the fear of possession of the raakshasa. She prostrated before the Guru. The King and the Queen were immensively happy and offered anything that Ramanuja would desire to have in the Kingdom. The entire mission and the vision of Ramanujar was to preach Hinduism and all the people to follow this religion, requested the King and the Queen to convert themselves as Hindu and follow his religion. Both of them immediately agreed and vowed to follow the footsteps of Ramanuja as their Rajaguru. Ramanujar renamed the king as VISHNUVARDHAN. In memory of this great event in his life and that of his daughter and also to show his gratitude to his raja Guru Ramanujar, , the King constructed five Vishnu temples in Belur ( Channagi Narayana), Thondanur ( Nambi Narayanan), Gadag ( Veera Narayanan), Talakad ( Keerthi Narayanan) and at Melkottai ( Chelva Narayanan). King Vishnuvardhan explained the Devine powers of Ramanuja and made an appeal to all the Jain Acharyas to lave Jainism and adopt Hinduism as their religion. But the Jain Acharyas, 1000 of them, did not get convinced and threw a challenge to Ramanuja in which they will pose thousands questions to him and he should answer simultaneously to all of them and at the same time. This challenge was conveyed to Ramanuja by Nambi who said that Yoga Narasimhar would come to his rescue and accepted to meet the Jain Acharyas. On that specific day, Ramanujar directed Nambi to put a screen between him and the other Acharyas. All the 1000 Jain Acharyas posed their question one by one. After they finished, Ramanujar gave his answers simultaneously and at the same time to the satisfaction of the Jain Acharyas. But they couldn’t believe it and suspected whether Ramanujar is present on the other side of the screen. The screen was removed to clear their doubts and alas, they have seen Ramanujar sitting and 1000 headed Aadhiseshan behind him. Some of the Jain Acharyas fainted; some of them met their end as they could not withstand the presence of the Aadhiseshan with 1000 heads and remaining ones sat motionless. Then they have whole heartedly agreed to convert themselves into Hinduism and follow the religion preached by Ramanujar.

 Ramanujar then constructed three temples in Thondanur for Yoga Narasimhar, Nambi Narayanan and Gopalakrishnan. He has also created a huge pushkarani through his divine powers and with his own hands.

 One day Ramanujar found that the stock of the Thiruman got exhausted and the same is not available anywhere in Thondanur. He was worried and then a vision appeared to him and in which Chelva Narayanan appeared and directed him to proceed to Melkottai and find him below a white mud. He desired that Ramanujar should retrieve him from this mud and install him in a temple. Ramanujar reached Melkottai from Thondanur accompanied by his disciple Nambi and others. They located a big white mud and retrieved the idol of Chelva Narayanan and then installed him in the temple constructed there. But Ramanujar was not happy since he is aware that along with the huge idol of Chelva Narayanan, there should be an utsavar who couldn’t be located anywhere there despite constant search for many days. Then again the deity appeared in his vision and conveyed that he is very safe in the custody of the daughter of the Sultan at Delhi and Ramanujar can escort him back to his abode at Melkottai. Ramanujar made his journey all the way from there to Delhi and took an audience with the King. The king respected him greatly and offered his help in any manner that Ramanujar wish to receive from him. Ramanujar explained to him about the Utsavar and made a plea to handover the idol. King replied that he is not aware of any such idols but his daughter is having some idols brought by his commanders on their return from Southern Parts of the Country. He also said that Ramanujar can identify his idol and take it. Ramanujar was taken to the princess who was holding the utsavar and declined to part it as she greatly loved the idol and devoted herself to the extent that she will marry him one day. She was a child only and never realised that it could happen as she wished. The King was confused whether to accede to the request of Ramanujar or go with the wishes of his daughter. He suggested his inability to decide over the issue and conveyed that if the deity wishes to go with Ramanujar, he has no objection. Then Ramanujar called “en chella pillaai-ennidam varaayo”. To everyone’s surprise, the idol started crawling towards Ramanujar and landed on his laps. The King unable to believe what happened permitted Ramanujar to take the idol with him. But the Prince couldn’t digest this decision and decided to go along with Ramanujar and the Utsavar. The princess reached Melkottai and surrendered herself to the main deity and merged with the lord. She is called since then as THULUKKA NACHIAR.

Even today the quality of Thiruman available in Melkottai is totally different from the one available elsewhere. It has high medicinal values and believed to remove the body heat. Ladies off late use this Thiruman for their facials also.

In total, Ramanujar stayed at Thondanur and Mekote for over 18 Years. He received information that it is now safe to return to Srirangam as the threat to his life is no more. He has decided to return to Srirangam ultimately. He has discarded his white colored vastrams which he started wearing before leaving Srirangam and now dressed in Sanyasi colored dress. All his devotees numbering more than 1000 decided to accompany him and stay with him for ever. This was not to the expectation of Ramanujar and at the same time he didn’t want to disappoint them also. He conveyed to them they can make a statue of himself with Sudhai and Calcium (Sunnambu) and to which he will transfer all the energy and vibration t so that they can always feel his presence in Thondanur and follow his religion. After all they converted themselves to Hinduism on his request only. The devotees reluctantly agreed to this suggestion. The statue was made and installed in a separate sanndahi inside the Yoga Narasimhar Temple. We can see this statue even today at this temple. Ramanujar body in the statue is circled by Aadhiseshan with his hood behind his head. Another unique feature in this temple is the use of a wooden Thandam in the place of Satari in other temples. It is the Thandam used by Ramanujar to place it on the head of daughter of the King Vishnuvardhan in order to relieve her from the clutches of the Brahmarakshasa. The archakar places this Thandam on our heads instead of the Satari. The Thandam is preserved all these Years carefully (more than 990 Years). We will experience certain amount of vibration when it is placed on our head. I will be failing in my duty if our sincere gratitude is not expressed here to the Shriman Raghava Bhattar, the archakar of Yoga Narasimhar as well as Gopalakrishnan Temples. Even though the temples were closed after the morning pooja, he opened the shrines on our request at 1 PM and did mangalarthi for our sake. He also explained very patiently the sthalapuranams of Thondanur and the life of Ramanujar at this place. The archakar explained that all the genuine prayers of the devotees made to Yoga Narasimhar in this temple is answered. The devotees then perform Thirumanjanam and bring 10 X 6 size dhoty for the main deity and 9x5 (Sanyasi) Kaavi colored dhoti for Ramanujar. The Thirumanjanam is performed with advance notice of 15 days and all the days except Saturday, Sunday and National/State Holidays. His address is Shriman Raghava Bhattar, Archakar, Sri Yoga Narasimhar Temple, Thonnur, Pandavapura Taluk, Mandya District. Pin 579434. The phone number is 08236-251795.

Those who are visiting Melkottai should not miss to visit the temples at Nagamangalam and Thondanur as these temples are part and parcel of Chelva Narayanan temple.

NISHAMBA DEVI TEMPLE SRIRANGAPATNAM Sri Nimishamba is considered as the incarnation of Goddess Parvathi, the consort of Lord Shiva. This place Ganjam is considered as a holy place. Muktharaja of Surya Vamsha performed penance at Nimishamba Temple. Definitely this Temple has great relevance to the Mutharasa! Srichakra is carved on a stone in front of Sri Nimishamba and pooja is performed. There is a belief that Sri Nimishamba is going to remove all the problems and troubles of her devotees within a minute. That is why she is called Nimishamba. Nimisha means a minute. Suryavamsha Mutharasa king Muktharaja was blessed with the boon that Sri Nimishamba will come to his aid in his fight against the demons in a minute. That is why there is a deity Lord Shiva by the name of Moukthikeshwara. This temple was installed at the time of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar1610-38 A.D.) When you come out of the sannadhi, you can see his statue in standing posture with his wife and the son. The temple of Nimishamba lies at a distance of two kilometers from Srirangapatna bus stand in the eastern direction beyond Tippu's summer palace on the road leading to Cauvery Sangam.. The temple is at a higher elevation on the bank of the Cauvery, and faces east. The river flows by at a lower level, and steps have been neatly cut on stone slabs to reach it. It is a small shrine with a seven-tiered Rajagopuram. Goddess Nimishamba sannidhi is to the right as one enters the shrine. It is a fine piece of icon. She is beautifully bedecked with jewellery and garlands of red roses. In front of the Goddess is placed the Sri Chakra to which puja is done with kumkum by the priest. The devotees stand in rapt attention till Deepaaraadhana is offered to the deity. Adjoining the sannidhi of the Goddess is that of Siva, whose appellation is Aksheeswara. The icon is a small sized linga. The Nandi is proportionately small sized, and is diagonally facing Siva. Only after offering `deeparadhana' to Siva, it is offered to the Goddess. Adjoining this sannidhi is that of Lakshminarayana. All the three sannidhis are in a row. There are no suka nasi and Navaranga. There is only a mukha mantapa. There is a big brass bell hanging from the ceiling, which is rung by the priest himself after placing the `bali bhojanam' on the Bali peetam for the crows to eat. Once the bell is rung, the crows come down to the Bali peetam in an orderly way to partake it! It is indeed unique to this temple. There is a prakaram(closed precincts of a temple) for circumambulation. The Nimishamba temple has shot to fame recently for its instant granting of boons to those who pray here. It would be of interest to note that marriage proposals which have been dragging on for years get clicked immediately after visiting this shrine. Saint Ramanuja created a Chakra in front of the Sannadhi

 Sri ParAsara Gurukulam, Mysore This gurujulam on the way to KRS from Mysore City is situated after Pump House on the main road and run by Vishwakarma Trust. The founder was shree V Sowmyanarayacharya, a great Sanskrit Scholor, associated with Academy of Sanskrit Research, an institution that was founded in 1977, by the Government of Karnataka. Way back in the Year 1996, a group pof young men from varied backgrounds, established an informal but active group, feeling the imperative need to vivify the most enduring, ageless and immortal wisdom of Hindu lore and culture especially keeping in mind the younger generation. Since then various activities have been regularly conducted in various parts of our Country such as Sanskrit awareness, yoga, meditation and social welfare activities including Vedic rituals. In this, his brother Shree V Lakshminarayana @ Sriram Chartered Accountant, joined hands. These formal activities culminated I the Year 2000, giving birth to VISHWAKSHEMA a public charitable trust. The gurujulam was started in an area of 5.5 acres of land, near Krishnarajendra Sagar. Unfortunately, in the Year 2007, Shree Sowyanarayanacharya, at a very young age, demised due to ailments beyond any medical treatment/s. His mission is now continued by his father and the brother as trustees. The Gurukulam is presently hosting 64 boys in this ashram, which runs a school according to the National Institute of Open Schooling curriculum, as recognized academic body under the HRD Ministry, Government of India. The course starts from standard V level as stage 1 and under stage 3, the students can go to graduation and Post graduation. The Gurukulam is run through donations and contributions voluntarily made by philanthropists. We returned to Chennai on the morning of Saturday the 5th January. The visit was memorable one in our life, especially the experience we derived at Thondanur and the blessings of Ramanujar through his centuries old THANDAM. The excellent carvings of Aadhiseshan at Buvaneshwari mandapam at Nagamangalam.