hi :)
Please visit this temple..
Sri Bhoo Devi Sametha Pralaya Varaha Swamy Temple
Kalahalli It is also known as Varahanathana Kalahalli. It is small village in Mandya district, and it very near to Bookenekere . Now Bookinanekere is synomyn with Karanatka because the Present Chief Minister of Karnataka, sri B S Yeddyurarappa ( Bukinanekere Siddalingaih Yeddyurappa) hails from this place. He is the first chief minsiter from Bharathiya Janatha Party and it is first time the the BJP came to power in South. Now I want you to travel to Kalahalli village with me and it needs your Patronage. It is a very big treasure which our fore fatheres have left for us. The Temple of Varahanatha the protector of World now itself needs the protection and I am sure if we act now atleast for our posterity we can leave something to show them how our fore fathers were great builder and artitechtures without any modern facility like crane etc. I appeal to younger generation to atleast visit this place as cultural tourism. it can be covered in a day, You can Visit Kalahalli, then some jain Basthi is there near it and A Statue of Gomatheswars is there and recently House of Kodhays have rebuild a temple of Venugopala which was submerged in KR Sagar dam when the dam was built. But House of Khodays who are known to do lot of social work for human welfare, entered into the picture and they undertook the challenge to relocate the entire temple when it was lying submerged under dam. When the water was low they started the dismantling act they meticulously numbered and then transported each and every stone and rebuilt a new temple for Lord Venugopala, there is also a Narasimha temple there, then last you can visit the K R Sagar dam and Brindavan Garden and end your Holiday and return safely to your base.
Now let us focus on the Kalahalli It is situated in on the right banks of river Hemavathi in Krishnarajapet taluk of Mandya district, it is in the distant of 50 Kms of Mysore city approachable by a motor able road via Krishanarajasagar Which is incidentally the nearest railway station. From Krishnarajasagar the road runs along the northern banks of the vast water spread behind the dam. The village is called the VArahanatha or varahanathana kalahalli, because of the famous Varaha situated at a distance of 2.5 Kms from the main village. Government can do a lot to protect this treasure.
In the year 2005 I and my udanperava sahodaran Haresh Balasubramaniyam from Singapore were touring different Vishnu Kshetram of Melnadu ( Karnataka) , then one evening we went to Parakala Mutt in Mysore and Swami ji was there , we went and called on Swamiji , we introduced about ourselves and i told represent Gopura Darshanam Magazine in Karanataka and cover the Vishnu temples in Karanataka and also put the detials in my website . Then his spontaneous reaction was that I should Visit the Place known as Varahanathana Kalahalli, Swamiji just told the rough route,Then we we took leave of Swamiji and we proceeded to Hedathale Which is the birth place of our Acharyan ( I and Haresh had Samasharnam from him) H H Rangapriya Swami which houses a Thirukootachala temple for Srikantha Perumal, Lakshminarasimha and Venugopala). Then next morning at 10 we left Mysore on the trail of Varahanathana Kalahalli, We went to Pandavapura, then Chinakurli and Bhukenekere and Ganjegere and finally reached the Kallahalli and for our good fortune Sri Vijay Bhattar was there. He normally comes in the morning 10 Am and he will be there throughout the day and closes the temple at evening 6 Pm and goes off.He stays nearby place known as Bhukenekere. His contact number is 08230 - 266109. Then i could not collect much details so i could not write any article.
Then I visited Kalahalli for the second time two years back . That is another interesting story as desired by Parakala Swamy I was trying to get in touch with Parakala Mutt manager at Mysore , I could not succeed and finally i got his telephone number and spoke to him , he told he does not know much about the details and he in turn put me on to Sri Venkatramaiah in Bangalore. I got in touch with him and told he wil introduce me to Prof E S Dwarakadasa a Srivaishnava and a industrialist who taking deep interest to bring the original glory to this temple .Then He introduced me to Prof.E S Dwarakadasa. Prof told on Varahajayanthi they all are going to Kalahalli . I knew Prof Dasa sir thorugh my e-group. Then I went and met Venkatramaih A native from this kalahalli village (a madhava Brahmin) knew about this temple and he was very much intrested that this temple should be known to the world. He did a lot to trace the history and origin etc, then he stumbled upon a record which stated this this temple is gifted to Parakala Mutt & Muzrai Department. As usual Muzrai department cannot take care of this ancient treasure with limited budget at its disposal. Sri Venkatramaiah told that this temple was deserted and there was fungus formation on moorthy without any abhishekam and pooja etc. Then he went to Parakala Swamy many times and requested to visit the temple. then because of his continuous visit One fine evening Parakala Swamy visited the temple and on seeing the moorthy he shed Ananda Kaneer and from that day Parakala Mutt started taking active part and arranged a for a full time priest who will come in the morning and stay till evening. Then on Varaha Jayanthi in the month of Thai on Revathi Nakshatra I once again visited the temple along with Prof E S Dwarakadasa sir, his family members and Sri Venkatramaiah and had a blissful darshan. Now i have some details which i gathered from Sri Venkatramaiah .
It is believed that this Varaha Moorthy was the samputa Moorthy of Kanva Rishi ( Samputa moorthy is one moorthy which is carried by the rishis in Palm leaves box { Ollaipoti} of Kanva Maharishi who had his hermitage in the nearby area. It is a unique moorthy . Its hieght is 25 Ft from the ground and the Bhoo devi Thayar siting on his left Thigh is 6 feet in height. it is said at the back (MUDUGU) of the moorthy there is a Sudharshan chakra engraved, it is made of Saligrama Shila. Shrines for Varaha are very very rare and to name a few, we have A varaha temple in Sri Mushnam, Then Near Mahabila puram the Nithya Kalayana Perumal temple,Then Varaha Narasimha at Simhachalam and Ahobilam, Then Varaha Perumal at Thirupathi. And in Karnataka we have this Giant Moorthy and also a Sveta Varaha temple at Mysore Palace.
When Krishnaraja Sagar Dam was being constructed 24 villages were submerged but by the grace of Varaha Swamy this Village and Temple escaped. It is really miracle this temple is located on a High mound with the Three rivers Cauvery,Hemavathi & Lakshmanatheertha at its foot and the lush green paddy feilds around ,this village commands a picturesque view of the surroundings and i infer it is under Parakala Mutt. I feel the Lord Pralaya Varaha has not received the due attention it deserves either as a mega scultputre or as unique iconagrpahy.
The history of this area begins with ganga rulers of talakad,subsequently it became the part of Hoysala,Vijayanagara, and Wodeyar Kingdom. Only one shilashasna has been noticed from this village , it is engraved on stone slab lying outside the temple, it is dated Saka 1257 ( It corresponds to reign of Hoysala Veera Bhallala III.It registers the gift of village of Kalahalli which was converted into a Agrahara and renamed as Devalapura after Queen Devala Devi. The temple stands on a high mound facing east with a flight of steps leading to the main entrance .The superstructure has undergone lot of changes from the original structure .There is also remain of rubble wall around the temple which had functioned as protective wall against the fiery of river Hemavathi's floods. The temple consists of a garbhagruha, Antardwara,Navaranga.
The main moorthy of Varaha with Bhoo Devi Measures 21 feet .Swami is seated in Sukhasana, with mother earth Godess seated in the left lap and hold a water lilly ( Lotus) Swami is embracing the lower left arm around mother.His right lower hand is in Abhaya Mudra. With Chakra and Shanku in his upper right and left arm respectively. Similarly Mother is shown with two arms , her left hand she sports the Nilothphala flower and her right hand is around lord waist. Lord wears Kiritamukhuta and Mother is sporting Karanda Mukhuta. from the point of art and sculpture the Moorthies are carved in beautiful manner.
Now since the politically there is change of guard , i am sure in coming days this place will be recognized and it will become place tourist attraction.
Now lot of people go and visit in week ends. It is said that people who dont get married visit this place and pray to Mother Bhoo Devi and she blesses them and they get married soon after visiting this place. Those who are afflicted by planet Rahu also visit this place and get the dhosha nivarthi. It is place for Vathu Dosa Nivarthi since Vasthu Purusha is Bhomi Putra.
So please patronize our ancient treasure left to us by our ancestor and please help in restoring the ancient glory of this Varahanathana Kalhalli temple.we should be happy while building the K R Sagar Dam all nearby place got submerged but this place escaped, because it is prama dhaya of our Karauna Moorthy Varaha and Bhoo Devi.
The Temple of Varahanathana the protector of World now itself needs the protection and I am sure if we act now at least for our posterity we can leave something to show them how our fore fathers were great builder and architectures without any modern facility like crane etc. I appeal to younger generation to at least visit this place as cultural tourism.
Sri Vikay Kumar Bhattar
Archakar,Sri Pralaya Varahanatha Temple,
Kalhalli Tel:08230-266109 & 9731932259
From Bangalore- reach Mandya -after Mandya towards mysore- look on right side of Highway for padavapura road sign board. Turn and reach padavapura, continue to drive staright through pandavapura- keep going straight(enquiry too) to reach gangigere- Take left after the KSRTC Bus Stop of gangigere-about 2 KM is the Varadaswamy temple (from Mandya about 65 KM)
It is on Bangalore Mysore Highway. The village is 32 kms from Pandupura which comes under KR Pet taluk of Mandya district. KalhaliiGangikere is the nearest bus stop for KSRTC buses and Kalhalli is 2kms from here.
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