Perpetually Perplexed

This is one of the famous temples in Bangalore. The temple complex is quite huge and again the temple is constructed on a rock. I knew it was Saturday and I knew there will be a crowd. But the crowd was much much larger than expected. The queue started right from the place where you need to leave your slippers, it continued to the Ganesha temple, which I think is at the ground level and then it continued on marble steps to the main temple. Even inside the temple we were marched around the deities. No time to breathe too - unless the queue is not moving. Not my cup of tea? OK, some how I liked this devotion today. Last time, I had stood in such a large queue in a temple was 17-18 years ago, in Muscat. There on Shivarathri, there would be serpentine queues in front of the Shiva temple growing and filling the roads. If not direct heavenly abode, can I expect at least a reservation of a seat "there"for this queue? smiley face, smiley face. The main temple has shiva lin...

Having visited Maruti mandir in Vijayanagar which is a modern temple, I did some research on next visit. This Someshwar temple in Ulsoor was said to be thousands of years old. The moment I got down from Ulsoor metro station, I felt I am in another place. A smaller town, slightly calmer but not cleaner than Bangalore. The temple is hardly 5 minutes walk from the station. The outer dwara gopura was temporarily covered with dried coconut leaves. But the walls themselves had such nice carvings. Once you enter the courtyard, there are many smaller temples in the periphery and a what looked like a brass Nandi with its own gopura. The temple has very large open mantapa with 48 stone pillars each with intricate carvings. According to wikipedia these carvings represent various scenes like Ravana lifting a mountain, Girija kalyana etc. Many pillars had sculpture of a man riding a lion. Internet told me that this temple is in Vijayanagar model. And some of Gods ...

Has wanderlust attacked me? Or it is just boredom accentuated by empty nest? But all the self help articles, all pinterest images tell me to "go outside". Walking in the park gets tedious after a while. And super markets are just not right. Because a) they do not have 'nature' b) they make us more depressed because there are so many things you want to buy, but you don't want to buy after looking at the cost. So where does a woman go then. Hence the early pilgrimage. Now don't tell me this next phrase is sacrilegious. ek bhale maanushi ke devout banake choda!  :) But today it was to be my real passion. Books. Do I read? Do I get time to read anything other than newspapers? But again all articles ask me to read a book. So I am at least making an effort. So I had to return previous book by Margaret Atwood and Anitha Desai and bring new books. That done, I was on my way to metro station (new fad). I saw this chapak  (sampige in kannada) petals on the ...

Gavi gangadhareshwara temple is one of the oldest temples in Bangalore. It is inside a cave - hence the name. The temple complex is on a monolithic rock. On the courtyard of the temple you will notice damaru(drum), trishula (trident) and two  discs, all of which are on stone pillars. The discs are called suryapana and chandrapana and they face each other. And there is a brass dhwajastambha (flag post). Suryapana and Chandrapana facing each other Dhwaja Stambha Trishula Damaru Observe nandi on both sides  The temple is inside the cave and you should climb down the stairs. The height of the cave tapers as you go inside the temple. The pradikshina paths (there are two of them) are so low that you need to bend and walk. Every year on 14th January, on Makara Sankranti, the ray of sunlight passes through the nandi in front of the idol and then falls on the idol. People from all over the state come here to watch this wonderful spectacle. Imag...

 I had originally planned to visit Ramanjaneya temple on Friday. But I had walked in the morning and I had climbed what seemed like 100 steps in metro stations. And I don't know what that bus stop is called. More importantly more steps.. kabhi nahi. So I visited dodda ganapathi temple instead. Why Ramanjaneya temple? Am I a bhakt or bhakte of Anjaneya or Hanumantha? No. I am not. Though we have a huge selection to show our piety, I am not particular about any God. If I have to, I will just say as we mortals are unable to imagine nirakara rupa God, we give him/her aakara and pray to them. OK, the reason for me wanting visit this temple is, we go in that road quite often. And each time I think, I need to go there, and climb the stairs and visit the temple. And today it materialized. So today I planned ahead - which is unlike me. I skipped walking. I took my two wheeler instead of metro. But I started late from home and reached around half past 12 and the temple was closed....

Entrance to the temple Dodda Ganesha temple - named so because it has the largest Ganesha idol in Bangalore, is situated in Bull temple road in Basavanagudi,  south Bangalore. The temple is housed within the complex of famous Bull temple. The Lord Ganesha idol inside this temple is 18 feet tall and is 16 feet wide and is carved from a single rock. It is said to be constructed by Kempegowda in the year 1536. And it has been renovated since then. Devotees like to perform Benne(butter) alankara on this idol - which needs around 100 kg of butter. How to get there: You can travel by metro from Majestic Bus stand to National College. From there it is 1.5 kms approximately. You can catch an auto from metro station. If you come to national college bus stop in vanivilas road there will be plenty of buses to Hanumanthanagar ward office from where the temple is walkable distance.

Rajarajeshwari Temple Bangalore Sri Chakra temple You can understand how immensely confused I am from the fact that in one post I write god humor and in the next post I will display the images of some temple. Yes, I did visit the famous Rajarajeshwari Temple as a part of my goal of blogging about Bangalore temples. I expected the temple to be much more crowded what with today being tuesday in a Shrava masa. And I find some construction work going on in the temple, as almost always. Inside the temple, you find the 6 feet tall vigraha of the Goddess carved from Granite.  I asked few people inside the temple about when it was constructed. One person told 40 years ago. Another told 60 years ago. According to the temple website the temple construction started some time in 1960. People believe the temple has lot of power. I wanted to post the image of deity. But was told that photography is not allowed inside the temple. There are other deities within the temple, ...