Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Nanjangud, Chamundi Hills and Brindavan Gardens

We along with Pundareeka and family visited these places on Saturday, 13th October. We took Mysore Highway at around 7:45 in the morning. Weather was excellent and for me the trip was even more enjoyable with my new Alto.

We halted for breakfast at Maddur Tiffinies and then proceeded to Nanjangud.

Nanjangud is famous for its ancient Shiva Temple. It is very beautiful and the environment gives very solace and satisfaction.

Nanjangud is a town in Mysore district. It is a temple town and is on the banks of the river Kapila (a.k.a Kabini). It is at a distance of about 25 km from the city of Mysore. Nanjangud is also called as "Dakshina Kashi" (southern Kashi).

The main temple at Nanjangud is dedicated to the god Shiva, whose another name is Nanjundeshwara. Nanjundeshwara means "The God who drank poison". The Gods and demons churned the ocean in search of the nectar of immortality. During this churning, poison also emanated from ocean. To prevent the poison from spreading across the universe and to destroy it, Shiva came to the rescue and drank the poison.

Nanjangud has been a major Shaiva centre since times immemorial. The original Nanjundeshwaraa temple is said to be of Ganga period during 9th century. This temple had then been renovated by the Hoysala kings.

The town is famous because of the huge temple dedicated to Lord Nanjundeswara also referred to as Srikanteswara. It is believed that sage Gauthama stayed here for some time and installed a Lingam, the idol form of Shiva. Nanjangud is also known as 'Dakshina Kashi' or Kashi of the South.

The residing deity of the temple was later called Hakim Nanjundeswara; a title given by the Tippu Sultan, It is said and inscribed in the temple history that his favourite and beloved elephant was bestowed with eyesight by the Lord, after Tippu Sultan's vow with the deity. The Sultan then had a Lingam made of jade along with an emerald necklace and donated it to the temple. The Vaidya Nanjundeswara, even today is said to be a healer for his believers, and one can see even today worshippers doing Urulu seve, a ritualistic practice after taking bath in the Kapila river.

Almighty Lord blessed us with Darshan.

After having darshan of the Lord, Alaknanda took her lunch and then we all proceeded to Mysore and took lunch at Kamat.

Then we started for Chamundi Hills. I wanted to visit Divine Mother's abode on the festive occasion of Navratri. We were lucky that rush was not much and the Mother bestowed upon us all her blessings.

Chamundeswari is the royal Wodeyar family's presiding deity. The "Chamundeswari" temple is on the hill which is popularly known to the world as "Chamundi hills". Chamundeshwari is also popularly known as "Mahishasura Mardini" as she rescued the devas and humans from the clutches for a demon named "Mahishasura" (a demon with a head of a buffalo). The name Mysore originated from "Mahisuru" (the demon Mahishasura's city).

The original shrine is thought to have been built in the 12th century by Hoysala rulers. This temple is built in Dravidian style of architecture with a tall majestic gopuram. The temple assumed significance after the Wodeyars of Mysore came to power in 14th century. This hill stands as the crown jewel of Mysore. The intricate carvings of the temple is magnificant.The temple has a very beautiful Idol of the Goddess wearing a garland of skulls.

The Temple is having large silver gates and golden idols. It is considered to be a very religious temple, where the blessings of the goddess help devotees to fulfill their need. The temple is approx. 10 kms from Mysore.

Mother blessed us with Darshan.

We the thought of visiting Brindavan Gardens also. Jyoti had never visited there so I thought it is a good oppertunity. So our next destination was Brindavan Gardens. We reached there at around 1800 Hrs in the evening. It is quite beautiful but too crowded. We enjoyed musical fountain also there.

The Brindavan Gardens is one of the most beautifully laid out terrace gardens in the world. The creation of this garden in the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam site has been the achievement of Sir Mirza Ismail, the then Dewan of the princely State of Mysore. The beautification of the whole dam complex was conceived by Sir Mirza Ismail. Modeled on the design of the Shalimar Gardens of Kashmir in the Mughal style, the garden is enriched with a number of terraces, parterres, fountains, running and cascading waterchannels, water chutes, lush green lawns, flower beds, shrubs and trees. Today, the Brindavan Gardens is world famous for its ethereal beauty, grandeur and illumination/ musical fountain.

Located in the Krishnaraja Sagar dam site in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district, the Brindavan Gardens is at a distance of about 20 Km. from Mysore. The Krishnaraja Sagar dam is built across the river Cauvery. The Cauvery rises in the hills of Brahmagiri – in Talacauvery, Kodagu District in the Western Ghats and traverses Eastwards in Karnataka for about 320 Km. before entering Tamil Nadu and finally joining the Bay of Bengal. The dam is named after Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV during whose rule the Chief Engineer, Sir M. Vishveswaraya engineered the construction of the dam.

The garden is enriched with innumerable fountains decorated with coloured lighting. The illuminated running waters and fountains with changing colours of lights is a delightful event. The garden has many open spaces, lawns, illuminated flower beds and ornamental plants.

The Musical and dancing fountain is one of the main attraction of the visitors. The water, coloured light and music are harmonized in the fountain to create a water ballet controlled by an aquatic organ operated through a controller.

The best time to visit the gardens is after sunset when all the bright colourful fountains come alive and seem to dance with joy to the accompanying music. This is a sight worth beholding as the entire garden is transformed into a fairyland.

Then we started out return journey at around 20:30 hrs. we reached Bangalore at around 12 midnight. In between we stopped at Indradhanush at Chennapattana for dinner.

In total we drove about 392 KMs with our Alto.

1 comment:

  1. Very well written about your trip experience.I had great time reading your blog.Book your bus tickets in Parveen Travels

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