Talakadu, Mysore, Karnataka

“I travelled a lot once, but you can go on doing that and not get anywhere. Wherever you go or whatever you do, most of your life will have to happen in your mind. And there’s no escape from that little room!”

– Ruskin Bond, “Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra” (1991)

A city, no matter how miniscule or how fervently explored, can rarely ever be entirely depleted of its numerous spellbinding tales – some endearingly regaling, others unforgettably horrific, almost all of them ceaselessly striving to explain the commissioning of a medieval edifice, or the continuation of an ancient custom, or the destruction and devastation of others. Nor can a city ever truly be exhausted of its myriad visual compositions, gratifying gastronomic corners and haunting portraitures both of the melancholy of socio-economic oppressions and the sudden brimming jovialness of life that it is undeniably composed of. And an individual even ever so slightly grazed by the travel-bug can rarely ever stop seeking not just the magnificent edifices and the mouthwatering gastronomic hubs but also the perplexing folktales and the seemingly implausible myths for one gradually dawns on the blissful enlightenment that every single place, no matter how superficially regular or conventionally unstimulating, is always brimming just slightly below the surface with a perennial supply of bewildering lore and the remarkable shared wisdom of the communities that relentlessly demands to be meticulously discovered and lovingly shared.

Ancient grandeur recreated - Keertinarayana temple

Of course there are by-passes and escape routes for whenever one does eventually decide to terminate the dream-like sojourn, but how can one ever stop exploring, stop discovering both the mesmerizing country and one’s own deep philosophical self? How can one not look forward to the next (hopefully everlasting) journey, the next multihued sunset, the next tranquil beach front and the next unbelievably sensational tale? Soon enough one begins to derive indescribable pleasure from living out of tiny suitcases, the soothing cradle-like locomotion of buses and trains legitimately lulls one to peaceful slumber better than any bed can and the thrilling provocation in the knowledge of one’s own steadfast endurance associated with the intermittent terrifying vulnerability arising from not understanding a language or a place’s milieu, geographic, socio-cultural or otherwise, becomes an interminable addiction.

But continuous ceaseless travel can often become harrowingly lonely. One is obliged to surrender the comforts of a conformist life, the cherished company of family and friends and, indeed, it demands the investment of a considerable sum of time and capital without any particularly conspicuous dividends except of course what one carries within one’s own self – and yet, the sudden irresistible conversations with complete strangers commuting on public transport, the exploration of myriads of cuisines, fragrances, visual compositions and monumental edifices, the enviable ability to hop on/off buses and trains and run off unrestricted wherever one wishes to, one becomes bewitched so irrevocably that one can never log off. Ever. There always are more embellished myths to be unraveled, intriguing narratives to be interwoven, cities and states to be charted, medieval artistic and architectural accomplishments to be marveled at – soon enough superfluous conversations begin to seem disagreeable, life becomes a continuous adventure and, despite the occasional heartfelt pangs at not having someone one can curl up with over long-distance journeys, one comes to realize that all one actually requires in this pursuit of happiness are earphones, cameras, a bucket load of money, lots of well-detailed maps and full-fledged travel ideas!

Small wonder - Nandi pavilion, opposite Veerbhadreshwara temple

In the enviably indomitable shadow of the elegant city of Mysore, the incredibly unassuming and terribly underdeveloped historic village of Talakadu on the serene banks of the mighty river Kaveri is where I explicably found myself waddling in endless stretches of orange-brown sand this past weekend – unsurprising of course, considering that the place epitomizes a seamless assimilation of implausibly far-fetched medieval folklores and ancient mythological legends with emotionless history and cataclysmic geographical turbulence. Said to originally have been a densely forested fertile land, the spiritually hallowed site suffered spontaneous irreversible devastation in AD 1612 when the pious noblelady Alamelamma, unnervingly aggrieved and infuriated when Maharaja Raja Wadiyar I (reign AD 1578-1617) arrogantly schemed to deprive her of her fabulous royal jewels after crushingly defeating her mortally ailing husband Tirumalaraya, the viceroy of his liege-lord Emperor Sriranga Raya I (reign AD 1572-86) of the Vijayanagar empire (ruled the modern states of Karnataka, Telangana, Seemandhra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and minute portions of Maharashtra, AD 1336-1646. For further details, refer Pixelated Memories - Hampi), catastrophically cursed the place prior to committing suicide (festooned indisputably with the invaluable jewelry) in the dreaded waters of torrential Kaveri –

“Talakadu maralagi, Malingi maduvaagi, Mysuru Arasarige makkalagadirali!”

“Let Talakadu be submerged under creeping sands, let a cruel whirlpool be the scourge of Malangi and let the Mysore kings bear no offspring!”

Irrevocably cursed? - Pataleshwara temple

The atrocious curse promptly evoked for me thoughtful ruminations of the one formerly uttered by the saintly Hazrat Nizamuddin to categorically chastise Delhi’s megalomaniac Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (reign AD 1320-25) and his gigantic fortress at Tughlaqabad (refer Pixelated Memories - Tughlaqabad Fortress complex). Spookily enough, the two uniquely geomorphic villages Talakadu and Malangi (originally located opposite each other on either side of the river) have since been completely buried respectively under an inestimable amount of sand and furious vortexes of the treacherous river Kaveri, perpetually perplexing acclaimed archaeologists, geologists, genealogists, historians, rationalists and visitors alike. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) concludes that over 30 temples (dated between 6th and 17th century AD) of varied historical origins, artistic and architectural features and spatial measurements lie intriguingly submerged underneath an infinite amount of all-pervading sand at Talakadu and has undertaken an ambitious project to entirely excavate and conscientiously restore as many of these as feasible. What is however infinitely more baffling is the ruinous consequence of the punitive curse on Mysore’s extravagant Wadiyar sovereigns – since then, the Maharajas have ceaselessly failed to beget heirs and interestingly therefore the regal bloodline continues such that a reigning Maharaja adopts an illustrious heir from his immediate family to succeed him, however the new Maharaja’s otherwise prodigious sons too afterwards fail to beget heirs and the entire cycle reiterates when they succeed to the throne.

Extensively restored! - Vaidyanatheshwara temple

Of course, like most inexplicable folklore this one too seems extravagantly embellished and full of numerous glaring inconsistencies – firstly, to his credit, Maharaja Raja Wadiyar was merely demanding the retrieval of sanctified ornaments belonging to the fanatically revered deities at beautiful ancient Srirangapatnam which were then in the secure custody of the queen, secondly, why consider a queen, notwithstanding how religious, as pious if she avariciously covets sacred ornaments and miserably proceeds to curse ancient temple towns with irreversible annihilation for no apparent fault of theirs? Repenting afterwards, Raja Wadiyar had a realistic sculpture of Alamelamma deified in a small personal shrine within the regal palace at Mysore (refer Pixelated Memories - Mysore Palace) which is till date annually venerated by his blue-blooded descendants to mollify the so-called “Curse of Talakadu”. The last Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar (titular reign only to fulfill straightforward cultural and religious obligations sans administrative authority, 1974-2013) too died without any biological heirs.

In any case, numerous medieval shrines have already been unearthed in Talakadu and it wretchedly needs be noted that ASI as well as the local religious committees supposedly entrusted with managing these have in a severely harebrained manner ridiculously subjected most of these in the name of conservation and restoration to an unbearable application of conspicuous slabs of featureless granite and painted plasterwork and insufferably drenched what remained with an excruciating overdose of paint in flamboyant shades of sunshine yellow, mottled blues and blazing orange so much so that most of these hallowed shrines, the larger ones significantly so, easily resemble modern unromantic constructions and do not in any way retain most of their original subdued, and yet glorious, artistic ornamentation and sculptural accomplishments!

Worshiped by Lord Brahma?! - The Shivalinga at Maruleshwara temple

The unquestionably magnificent Vaidyanatheshwara temple is physically the largest and artistically the most majestic amongst the extensive cluster and constitutes the widely renowned and passionately celebrated “Panchalinga” (“Five divine Lingas”, a “linga” being the terribly austere rounded cylinder representation of Lord Shiva, the Hindu Lord of death and destruction) in association with the Pataleshwara, Maruleshwara, Arakeshwara and Mallikarjuneshwara shrines. The majestic shrine, composed throughout of painstakingly sculpted granite and surmounted by a brick and plasterwork pyramidal superstructure (of fairly recent origins and soaked with the ubiquitous blinding brilliant yellow), bears the telltale architectural and artistic idioms of the Vijayanagar empire and also possesses pillared hallways, gorgeous subsidiary shrines (most notably that of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva) and highly ornamented and bejeweled embossed depictions of benevolent heavenly sentinels, celestial deities, anthropomorphic entities, mythological creatures and numerous geometric and floral scrollwork patterns of discernibly diverse motifs and imaginative designs. Realistically however, the evocative sculptures cannot even be remotely considered as impressive as their elegant counterparts at Belur-Halebidu or Hampi (refer Pixelated Memories - Hampi, Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu and Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur), undoubtedly as a terrible consequence of calamitous exposure to moisture and the elements having been land-submerged for several centuries.

Be dazzled! - Goddess Parvati, Vaidyanatheshwara temple

Local belief postulates that Talakadu, historically chronicled as “Gajaranya” (“Elephant forest”), derives its present nomenclature from two legendary forest-dwelling hunter siblings Tala and Kadu who, having sneakily witnessed an ancient gnarled tree being deferentially worshipped with fragrant flowers and sacred river water by massive wild elephants, severely mutilated it with axes only to see copious blood horrifically sprout through it and realize that in it had incarnated Lord Shiva for the spiritual gratification of his affectionate devotee Sage Somadatta who had been reborn as an elephant. The gorgeous shrine too has its derivations in this remarkably convoluted mythology and is said to have been expanded and embellished around a tiny primordial temple conceived around this mythical sacred tree. The blessed tree is said to have automatically healed itself immediately afterwards, thus the self-explanatory nomenclature “Sri Vaidyanatheshwara” or “Lord of the Healers”. How did the ancient Hindu poet-writers conceive such fabulous fables, teeming with every sort of marvelous wildlife, everyday professions and mythological chimeric entities, is entirely beyond comprehension!

Sands of Time! (Oh, how could I not have used this cliche!)

Not once failing to capture the imagination of visitors to this horribly underdeveloped, geographically besieged town, from here on begins the strangely sanitized wilderness zone where wide serpentine paths have been cleared in the rugged midst of tall eucalyptus trees whose mottled brown-green bark discontinuously peels away to reveal the glistening silver underneath, and scores of unnaturally shy monkeys peeping from behind the trees and hopping on to the corrugated iron roofs sheltering the pathways from sweltering summer sun near-continuously create a shocking, clattering commotion. It is singularly demanding to tread the bottomless sands which instantaneously swirls and realigns itself into frustrating eddies around one’s feet and suffuses into the shoes as soon as one pushes forward another fatigued step. Scores of wrinkled, indeterminably old beggars with cataract-clouded eyes line these pathways and intermittently one also comes across small makeshift shops offering tiny stone idols, packets of sugarballs, clarified butter-drenched sweets, brilliant red vermillion, multi-hued flowers and incense to appease the deities.

Sculpted (and restored!) to perfection - Keertinarayana temple

The remaining shrines are predominantly unremarkable single-celled simplistic structures buried encompassed within enormous craters as if recently constructed within an urban construction zone (unquestionably the presence of shimmering multihued paintwork and ubiquitously modernistic superstructures is to be blamed!) and accessible via sets of staircases delineated by glinting steel cordons. ASI has built brick and cement embankments to restrict sand accumulation, however the same aren't as efficient as one would have liked them to be. The massive Shivalinga in Maruleshwara temple is said to have been established by Lord Brahma (the Hindu God of universal creation, profound knowledge and learned enlightenment), while the diminutive Shivalinga in Pataleshwara temple, festooned with fragrant jasmine garlands, is said to miraculously transform from red in the morning to black in afternoon and white in the evening! There are several other smaller, relatively architecturally/artistically unremarkable shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva too scattered around, and a large rectangular water tank (“pushkarni”) only a stone’s throw away from the Vaidyanatheshwara temple.

Several shrines are also located amongst thick eucalyptus tree forests spanning vast sand plains and rock undulations in the immediate vicinity of the majestic Kaveri where gather tourists and locals alike for fun frolic (there even are tourist-laden coracle boats sashaying to-and-fro!). Catering to the tourists near the beatific riverfront exists a vividly colorful, perennially boisterous bazaar lined with cheap roadside eateries (offering fried fritters, steamed rice cakes (idlis), greasy noodles, tea/coffee, cold drinks, cigarettes and meals comprising servings of steaming boiled rice and watery vegetables and lentils) and makeshift shops (offering stuffed toys, cheap plastic playthings, faux-leather hats, vividly multi-hued stoles and the occasional souvenirs).

Submerged! - Gaurishankara temple

Mysteriously peeping from its unintended entombment, the exceedingly tiny, single-celled Gaurishankara temple, constructed when Maharaja Chikka Devaraya Wadiyar (reign AD 1673-1704) ruled over the area, despite also being painted over with faded yellow and hideous silver, is almost entirely concealed and can be regarded a perfect exemplar of how physically punishing the advent of these shifting sands was to the architectural and religious heritage of the laidback village.

Despite its unostentatious appearances and uncultivated, almost untouched atmosphere (even the majority of signboards here are in Kannada!), Talakadu is not just any other miniscule village next door – though its medieval prestigious impressions are presently indiscernible, it was an important religious township throughout the supremacy of the Western Ganga Dynasty (reign over parts of Karnataka and Seemandhra, AD 350-1000) and the Chola Dynasty (reign over the modern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the islands of Sri Lanka and Maldives, 300 BC – 1279 AD), two of the most prominent kingdoms of southern India! Originally referred to as “Dalavanpura”, it was developed as the outstanding capital of the Ganga dynasty, an honor it retained over a course of 600 years from AD 390 to 1000. Later, it came to be recognized by the name “Rajarajapura”, christened after the remarkably distinguished emperor Rajaraja Chola I (reign AD 985-1014), and was afterwards seized from the Cholas by the formidable Hoysala sovereign Bittideva Vishnuvardhana (reign AD 1108-52) in AD 1117 who celebrated this outstanding military conquest by assuming the title of “Talakadugonda” (“Victor at Talakadu”) and gratefully commissioned the construction of the notably matchless Sri Chennakesava Temple at his capital Velapuri/Belur (refer Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur). Historically, it is believed that the Keertinarayana temple at Talakadu was also ordered to be constructed by him to commemorate this significant achievement upon the request of his spiritual mentor Sri Ramanujacharya, the celebrated interpreter of Hindu Vishishtadvaita Vaishnavism texts – indeed the staggered square-shaped grandiose shrine heralded by an equally handsome gateway is the only one discovered at Talakadu to be conceived and executed in the traditional Hoysala style of architecture.

All dressed up and nowhere to go! - Lord Vishnu, Keertinarayana temple

It needs be noted that the magnificent shrine was commendably transported stone by stone from its marshy submerged location, painstakingly recreated in its entirety and impeccably restored to flawless perfection by the ASI. The exceedingly skillfully finished, variously patterned delicate pillars of the shrine's associated hall gracefully frame the sanctum where is consecrated an eight-feet tall idol of Lord Vishnu, the Hindu God of life and nourishment, flanked by relatively smaller sculptures of his two consorts – the earth Goddess Bhudevi and Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and prosperity – each deferentially adorned with brilliantly glittering silk and exquisite gold-tinged ornaments.

The exquisite shrines exhumed so far, despite being physically moderately-proportioned and predominantly artistically unremarkable, conclusively prove to be a mysterious phenomenon in themselves, attracting several million wonder-struck visitors and faithful devotees annually from all over Karnataka and neighboring states, especially for the spiritual Panchalingam Darshan festival, a prominently renowned cultural extravagance organized every 12 years. What is however most remarkable about the enigmatic place is that one cannot shake off the extraordinary, somewhat unnerving, consciousness that one might actually be treading centuries-old superlative civilizational and architectural heritage while walking around here! Surely, these unusual thoughts and destinations are reason enough to travel!

Talakadu's secret fun zone - Kaveri riverfront

How to reach: Talakadu is located approximately 45 kms from Mysore and 185 kms from Bangalore. Private autorickshaws and shared cabs ply between T. Narsipur and Talakadu villages (15 kilometers – 20 minutes – Rs 20/person). Regular government buses are available from Suburban bus stand, Mysore to T. Narsipur bypass flyover (35 kilometers – 30 minutes – Rs 15/person) from where one can walk to T. Narsipur village bus stand. The roads between Mysore and T. Narsipur, although terribly pockmarked, wind through vast water-logged paddy plantations that alluringly glisten soothing blue-green early morning and brilliant blinding green in the afternoon. From T. Narsipur onwards, the route is simple and the roads perfect, and the combination can pretty easily lull one to an undisturbed slumber, especially on slightly cold, extremely pleasant days when it is gently drizzling!
Entrance fees: Nil for all the shrines
Photography/video charges: Nil for all the shrines
Note: All temples are open everyday for people of all socio-economic and religious backgrounds and genders from 8.30 am – 5.30 pm. Footwear are not allowed within the individual shrines and have to be left outside. It is advisable to carry sufficient drinking water and wear comfortable shoes since one has to walk considerably long distances across undulating topography and punishing sand plains to cover all the monuments.
Relevant Links -
Other monuments/landmarks in/around Mysore -

1. Pixelated Memories - Church of St. Joseph and St. Philomena
2. Pixelated Memories - Mysore Palace
3. Pixelated Memories - Seringapatnam
4. Pixelated Memories - Sri Chamundeshwari Temple
5. Pixelated Memories - Sri Prasanna Chennakesava Temple, Somnathpura

Another cursed location - Pixelated Memories - Tughlaqabad Fortress complex, Delhi
Suggested reading -

1. Akshay-chavan.blogspot.in - The Curse of the Mysore Royal family: A rational analysis
2. Thehindu.com - Article "Jain basadi at Talakad to be excavated" (dated July 23, 2013) by R. Krishna Kumar
3. Thehindu.com - Article "Thousands throng Talakad" (dated Nov 21, 2006)
4. Wikipedia.org - Wadiyar Dynasty

Sri Prasanna Chennakesava Temple, Somnathpura, Karnataka

“From the origin of things down to the fifteenth century of the Christian era, inclusive, architecture is the great book of humanity, the principal expression of man in his different stages of development, either as a force or as an intelligence.

When the memory of the first races felt itself overloaded, when the mass of reminiscences of the human race became so heavy and so confused that speech naked and flying, ran the risk of losing them on the way, men transcribed them on the soil in a manner which was at once the most visible, most durable, and most natural. They sealed each tradition beneath a monument.

And not only the form of edifices, but the sites selected for them, revealed the thought which they represented, according as the symbol to be expressed was graceful or grave. Greece crowned her mountains with a temple harmonious to the eye; India disemboweled hers, to chisel therein those monstrous subterranean pagodas, borne up by gigantic rows of granite elephants.”

– Victor Hugo (“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, 1831)

Poetry in stone (V4.0) - Sri Prasanna Chennakesava Temple

In the unbelievably tranquil tiny village of Somnathpura not very far from the elegant city of Mysore exists the majestic Prasanna Chennakesava temple, chronologically the last and visually the most remarkable exemplar of Hoysala architecture and an epitome of highly symmetrical, immaculately designed and imaginatively embellished sculptural magnificence. Dedicated to the mythological Lord Keshava/Krishna, an ostentatious playboy-strategist-statesman-cowherd-warrior-philosopher who supposedly lived some 5,000 years ago and is regarded as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Hindu God of life and nourishment, the architecturally outstanding and artistically unequaled triple-celled (“trikutachala”) temple seated on its perfectly symmetrical juxtaposed star-shaped platform (“jagati”) venerates the “Venugopala” (“The hypnotic cowherd flute-player”), “Janardhana” (“He who bestows worldly success and spiritual liberation”) and “Kesava” (“He of the beautiful long hair”) aspects of the Lord respectively in its three highly embossed, excellently ornamented individual shrines. In their literature and folktales, the Hoysalas (reign AD 1026-1343) traced their historic lineage to the Yadava clan of north India which claims genealogical descent from Lord Krishna himself – therefore the conspicuous overabundance of exceptionally splendid shrines and vividly bejeweled sculptures throughout the historic land of Karnataka revering the mythical deity.

Indescribable!

As if traversing a mysterious mythical barrier delineating the reality from the fantastical, a strangely verdant world presents itself to a visitor as soon as s/he steps within the wire mesh-demarcated physical boundary of the painstakingly landscaped lawn surrounding the temple. Vividly colored flowers mesmerizingly flutter against the gentle breeze and butterflies drunkenly flit around in arbitrary patterns from one shrub to another, flawless white egrets traverse the unfluctuating spread of the grass carpet in search of grub and overhead large hornbills with majestic beaks swoop from the immense spread of the gnarled branches that envision to block out the entire sky somewhere in the future. Several massive flame-of-forest trees compose the boundaries of the lawn while rows upon rows of neatly manicured hedges eventually terminate in an enormous acacia tree that benevolently shelters in its cool shadow the simplistic gateway of the temple’s enclosing rectangular courtyard whose boundaries in their turn are composed of strikingly symmetrical colonnades.

Indian Grey Hornbill - Another of nature's wonders

Step through the gateway and one literally feels unreservedly humbled in the face of indescribably gorgeous sculptural grandeur – not only is the sheer variety and noteworthy ornamental nature of the artworks and sculptures adorning every conceivable surface of the shrine unmentionably vast and beyond description, but furthermore, overawing every person that beholds the small shrine, here at least, unlike the more grander, unmatched Hoysala specimens at Belur and Halebidu (refer Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu and Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur), the layered pyramidal spires crowning the three individual shrines, meticulously proportioned and exquisitely detailed with a spellbinding miniaturization of precisely-defined flourishes, insignificant deities and mythical creatures, are still existential and exceedingly well-preserved.

Moreover, such is the attention to the minutest of ornamental details that the extraordinarily accomplished craftsmen-sculptors introduced in their craft that one can be forgiven for believing that the patterns and mythological lores are carved not in stone but in wax or wood! The entire superstructure is composed of dark green/blue-black hued chloritic schist (soapstone) which is extremely easy to chisel into ornately detailed patterns in its original form but transforms to tremendously resilient, unmalleable stone once exposed to the elements for years. Interestingly though, the fascinating sculptures here are significantly more richly jewel-encrusted despite their considerably smaller dimensions relative to their counterparts at Belur and Halebidu.

A world in its own

Also, except for a visual representation each of Goddess Saraswati (the ethereally beautiful patron of arts, music, learning and knowledge) portrayed here ecstatically dancing while deftly playing her Veena (Indian string instrument) and a ten-armed Goddess Durga (a fierce manifestation of primordial feminine energy) piercing the body of buffalo-demon Mahishasura with her intimidatingly long trident while straddling a particularly realistic buffalo, all depictions here are strictly those of Lord Vishnu and his numerous anthropomorphic incarnations, mythological divine aspects and legendary followers. And while the larger sculptures layering each angle and protruding corner are exemplars not only of unparalleled sculptural art, but also of excellent ancient mythological fables that even precisely specify how a deity is to be visually depicted and which weapon and which facial expression and bodily movement symbolically represents what action and which boon-bestowing capability, the most enthralling are of course the outstanding individualistic horizontal friezes comprising the base of the temple’s external ornamentation – the six layers, punctuated by miniaturized discontinuous depictions of tales from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, are respectively composed of charging elephants, mounted horses, floral scrolls of foliage and variegated creepers interspersed by fearsome “Kirtimukha” (the ferociously wide fanged, lion-like face of an all-consuming demon conceived and originated out of thin air by Lord Shiva, the God of death and destruction, to destroy other mightier demons), mythical “Makara” (entities possessing the body of a fish, the face and tusks of an elephant, the limbs of a lion and the tail of a peacock) and beautiful swans respectively symbolizing insurmountable stability, matchless agility, formidable strength, unchallenged might and elegant grace.

Mythology articulated in stone

The temple’s front face possesses, instead of the larger sculptures, tiny scroll bands of numerous perceptibly different geometric and floral patterns followed in their turn by diminutive decorative circular or star-shaped pillars supporting in their midst an extravagant mesh work of small arched alcoves inset with tens of thousands of inconsequential deities, celestial dancers and divine devotees.

The most spellbindingly realistic and artistically evocative statues are however those of the celestial guards that flank the entrances – draped with extremely fine jewelry and headgear that one would have been hard pressed to even be able to carve in soap and yet those tremendously skilled sculptors of yore crafted in stone, the marvelous figures, bearing divine chakras (serrated spinning disc weapons) and conch shells and wrapped with layers upon layers of extraordinarily delicate jewelry, are embossed upon layers of elaborate foliage and geometric patterns once more culminating into fierce Kirtimukhas, miniature Makaras and tantalizing floral patterns.

Those sculptors, these details, such polish!

The multitudes of sculptures and scroll work lend testimony to the incomparable skill of the architects and artists who were themselves so impressed and overjoyed by their own creations that they disregarded ancient Hindu architectural customs that prohibit artists and sculptors from signing their work – thus come to light the names, sovereign-bestowed titles and places of origin, but not the achievements and lives, of Ruvari Mallitamma, Masanithamma, Chameya, Chaudeya, Nanjeya, Rameya, Pallavachari and Cholavachari. A huge inscribed stone tablet records the commissioning of the temple in AD 1268 by Somanatha Dandanayaka, the illustrious Commander-in-Chief of Emperor Narasimha III (reign AD 1263-92), within the small village he had established and christened after himself as “Somnathpur Agrahara”. In and about the temple are several other inscriptions as well dated from AD 1269 to 1550 recording its substantial embellishment by private individuals and the endowment of the revenue of several villages for its maintenance by later sovereigns.

Sculptural extravaganza!

The enchanting T-shaped superstructure is divided internally into three exactly identical, incredibly narrow sanctums facing the central hallway, each possessing a singular sculpture portraying the Lord’s aforementioned aspects and heralded by massive astonishingly impressive doorjambs and resplendently ornate divine guards crafted from lustrous granite. Each mesmerizing idol is so thoroughly detailed and finely polished that it lustrously shimmers golden-brown in the warm mellow glow of the numerous incandescent bulbs that illuminate the incredibly dark interiors since the minute streaks of sunlight tracing their way in through the formidably set entrance and the numerous miniscule cross-shaped openings in the ornamental stone latticework that defines the magnificent temple’s walls prove to be grossly insufficient. The darkness further accentuates the forbiddingly straight vertical and horizontal lines that define the numerous deftly designed stone patterns carved into the heavy set walls, but it also succeeds in blurring the methodically detailed nature of the numerous ornately carved concave stone roofs that grace the enchanting rectangular hallway preceding the sanctums and culminate into unequaled patterns fairly realistically reminiscent of the development and blossoming of a massive banana bud.

Soothing sacredness

Except for two stellar-shaped ones immediately adjacent the entrance, all the tantalizing pillars that support the extensively conceived, immensely heavy roof are lathe-turned polished to spotless brilliance and passionately decorated with ornate strings of sculpted trinkets and meshwork patterns. It is compelling to notice how the relatively straightforward interiors were transformed into an artistic extravaganza along the exteriors by those matchlessly accomplished sculptors and consummate craftsmen through the employment of numerous angles and recesses in cohesion with hundreds of thousands of sculptural curves and miniaturization art in collaboration with an unequalled understanding of light and shadow play. Not to be easily outdone by the physically larger and regally patronized shrines at Belur and Halebidu, here were constructed at each protruding vertex of the plinth (“jagati”) smaller ornate sculptures of caparisoned elephants, insignificant deities and serpent divinities.

Impossibly detailed

Sadly though, despite witnessing such incomparable visual extravaganza and sculptural grandeur, I left the shrine slightly dejected – it being a Sunday and therefore a vacation for post offices and furthermore, there not being any significant information on the internet apprising passionate philatelists that a letter/post card dropped in the small red postbox nailed to the aforementioned massive acacia tree outside the temple enclosure will be stamped with a special commemorative cancellation depicting a pictorial profile of the shrine, the enthusiastic amateur philatelist in me (further goaded by an innate, much despised tendency to collect and hoard souvenirs!) could not help feeling crestfallen about not having on me an envelope and consequentially not being able to post a letter from here.

The last of its kind

Open: All days, 8.30 am – 5.30 pm
Location: Somnathpura, 35 kilometers from Mysore
How to reach: Infrequent private buses ply between T. Narsipur and Somnathpura villages (12 kilometers – 20 minutes – Rs 10/person). Regular government buses are available from Suburban bus stand, Mysore to T. Narsipur bypass flyover (35 kilometers – 30 minutes – Rs 15/person) from where one can walk to T. Narsipur village bus stand. The roads between Mysore and T. Narsipur, although terribly pockmarked, wind through vast water-logged paddy plantations that alluringly glisten soothing blue-green early morning and brilliant blinding green in the afternoon.
Entrance fees: Indians: Rs 5; Foreigners: Rs 100; Free entry for children up to 15 years of age.
Photography/video charges: Nil
Note: The temple is still fervently revered by faithful pilgrims and footwear is not allowed within the central courtyard. The same can be deposited (for a miniscule sum of Rs 2/pair) at the makeshift counter near the humble gateway.
Relevant Links -
Other Hoysala temples in Karnataka -

1. Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple complex, Halebidu
2. Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple complex, Belur
3. Pixelated Memories - Sri Pataleshwara Temple, Belur

Other monuments/landmarks in/around Mysore -

1. Pixelated Memories - Church of St. Joseph and St. Philomena
2. Pixelated Memories - Mysore Palace
3. Pixelated Memories - Seringapatnam
4. Pixelated Memories - Sri Chamundeshwari Temple

Suggested reading - 

1. Indianphilately.net - Permanent Pictorial Cancellations: Karnataka
2. Kaladarshana.com - Somnathpura
3. Wikipedia.org - Chennakesava Temple, Somanathapura

Church of St. Joseph and St. Philomena, Mysore, Karnataka

“A good traveler is the one who does not know where he is going to, and a perfect traveler is the one who does not know where he came from.”

– Lin Yu-tang, Chinese writer (1895-1976)

Soon enough, in slightly less than a month from now to be precise, it’s going to be the four-year anniversary of “Pixelated Memories”. It really is tremendously hard to believe that it has been such a painstakingly long, long time travelling and writing. Equally difficult is the dazzling comprehension about the numerous gorgeous places I’ve been to, the infinite number of fascinating people I’ve encountered, inexplicable emotions felt, colorful souvenirs and photographs collected, and most importantly, bewitching memories cherished. As mentioned once previously on this blog, the journey hasn’t always been easy – I’ve often been utterly frustrated by the lack of inspiration (writer’s block!) or the paucity of sufficient funds and enthusiastic companionship. There have been n number of times when I had to grudgingly ask myself if I wanted to eat better or drift further – and more often than not, travelling triumphed – it is somehow unreservedly preposterous to stay at one place and miss out on wandering around and admiring the magnificent landscapes that nature benevolently studded this country with and the hundreds of spellbinding colossal edifices that mankind constructed in his persistent zeal for unparalleled renown and architectural immortality. Of course, there is also the considerable pressure of maintaining a thoroughly-detailed memoir, a journal of all my sojourns and musings which I can refer to when I’m old and senescent and incapable of pinning names on the photographs I’m clicking now. Or perhaps not trustful enough to accept that massive Gothic palaces and outstanding cathedrals – like the unbelievably beautiful Church of St. Joseph and St. Philomena – could exist in this part of the world as well.

Singular - The Church of St. Joseph and St. Philomena

Inspired by the Cologne Cathedral of Germany and constructed in 1936 in the Neo-Gothic style of architecture, St. Philomena’s Church (as it is popularly referred to) can unarguably be regarded as one of the defining landmarks of the magnificent city of Mysore. Capturing brightly illuminating rays of sunshine in its numerous painted glass windows and stretching its painstakingly carved, 175-feet tall twin towering spires in a remarkable attempt to touch the sky, the handsome church dominates the beautiful city’s skyline and generously reflects upon the extraordinary amalgamation of different faiths, cultures and architectural styles that the Wadiyar/Wodeyar Dynasty (reign AD 1399-1947 over most of Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) impressively achieved. The present edifice, an exceptional epitome of Gothic architecture and its fascinating visual impact especially in an undeniably foreign setting, is located at the site of an earlier wooden church that was consecrated in AD 1843 and was commissioned by the then sovereign H.H. Maharaja Sri Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar III (reign AD 1799-1868) for the British Catholic soldiers posted at nearby military town of Seringapatnam to pray at. The legend inscribed on the foundation stone of the original church read –

“In the name of that only God – the universal Lord who creates, protects, and reigns over the universe of Light, the mundane world and the assemblage of all created lives – this church is built 1843 years after the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Enlightenment of the World, as man."

Exemplar!

Upon the request of Father Cochet, the second church was commissioned in 1933 by H.H. Maharaja Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (reign AD 1894-1940) to house the sacred relics of St. Philomena of Greece that his personal secretary T. Thumboo Chetty had obtained in 1926. The designs were prepared by a French architect remembered only as Daly (next to nothing is known about him and his credentials) and the construction was overseen by Bishop Rev. Rene Feuga (Parish priest, 1831-41). The structure was consecrated in 1936 and dedicated to St. Philomena (lived AD 291-304), the martyred Greek princess who had committed her life and love to God and took a vow of consecrated virginity at the tender age of 13 years (soon thereafter, the Roman Emperor Diocletian cruelly threatened to destroy her father’s kingdom, relented only after he inconsiderately decided to marry her on a whim and, unnervingly infuriated at her continued refusal, had her barbarically tortured and mercilessly decapitated). Numerous churches and cathedrals have been commissioned throughout the world since after the discovery of her sacred remains in the year 1802 in Rome and her cult remains particularly strong in the Indian state of Karnataka where several charitable institutions and hospitals are financed and managed by religious organizations associated with her name. On the fronts of faith and belief however, recent archaeological developments and historical literary records and practices have cast deep doubts over whether the hallowed relics brandished throughout the world as the martyred child’s are actually hers – the hollowed rock mausoleum where they were found bore the Latin inscription “pax tecum Filumena” (“Peace with you, Philomena”), however placed deliberately in an incorrect manner which was generally accomplished by medieval clergy and church functionaries to indicate the reuse of a mausoleum for a second burial.

Sublime!

This, and the numerous scientific papers questioning the veracity of the accounts of St. Philomena’s life and the Vatican’s refusal to venerate and canonize her as a saint, of course do not in the slightest deter the faithful nor do they erase the honorific “Saint” affixed preceding her name. Be that as it may, the church in Mysore is definitely unique, not merely because it is a singularly focused entity in terms of its architectural inspiration in a visually heterogeneous city otherwise renowned for its eclectic edifices conceived to blend in numerous styles and symbolic motifs, but also because it is a rare example of the cultural and architectural synergy that is becoming so drastically threatened to extinction in these troubled times – commemorating a Greek saint, financed by a Hindu King and designed following German architectural ethos by an unknown French architect for British soldiers to worship in!

The colossal church is built in the shape of an enormous cross and its two remarkably gorgeous towers pierce the sky towering over the peaceful green crowns of surrounding trees and the roofs of the neighborhood houses and can easily be recognized from rooftops around for several kilometers. The immensity of the soaring towers however do pose the often encountered (and immediately sympathized with!) extreme difficulty involved in attempting to photograph the entire massive structure justifiably well – I too was forced to click most of the photographs in portrait orientation despite my near aversion to. It need not be mentioned that Gothic edifices are always a source of wide-eyed fascination given that very few exemplar specimens were ever built in the vast subcontinent – the church here is definitely an epitome of the same.

Graphic!

The entire vertical immensity is finely balanced by stone buttresses, as is common with most Gothic structures, especially cathedrals, of such grand proportions. The massive structure is flanked on either side by two large sculptures (although visually dwarfed by the towers’ gigantism) composed of flawless white marble. The first is that of St. Philomena, appearing immaculate celestial and depicted with a substantially heavy anchor by her side and a small arrow clutched in her hand (proclaimed symbols of her unflinching martyrdom since she was repetitively tormented (and miraculously saved) by being fired upon with arrows and drowned tied to heavy anchors). The second portrays a bearded and robed St. Joseph, the husband of Mary (Jesus’s mother), triumphantly holding in his arms a baby Jesus – for some mysterious reason, and puzzlingly so, everybody omits St. Joseph’s name from the church’s when referring to it. The expansive grounds adjoining the leviathan church building also house the offices and residential quarters of the Order’s clergy and a school run under their aegis. Photography is prohibited within the church (and the housekeeping staff does very strictly implement the same), however the Father there generously, and quite instantaneously, granted me the requisite permissions and even had a caretaker show me around and point out the consecration stones and commemorative tablets pertaining to the Bishops interred herein and the gorgeous, vividly multihued stained glass windows. The devotees being very much Indian here, one does notice the practice, same as one would in a mosque or a temple, of leaving one’s footwear outside before stepping into the premises.

Hallowed!

Apart from the numerous dexterously carved sculptures and bewitching scenes from Jesus’s life and tribulations and the twelve most significant occurrences in his short life painted on small wooden panels, one cannot fail being impressed by the numerous colorful, brilliantly-lit dioramas, painstakingly crafted sculptures (wreathed with flower garlands and fairy lights!) and the overall striking symmetry and immediately noticeable gracefulness of the architecture. The perspective unity introduced by the handsome Corinthian pillar shafts culminating into gorgeous bouquets of Acanthus blossoms before converging into soaring pointed arches no doubt spectacularly contributes to the effect. Numerous captions painted on wooden tablets adorn the walls to create a rather crowded mishmash of wooden boards and plastic fixtures, among them –

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen.”

Closer to the altar is a narrow staircase leading down to a small subterranean chamber harshly lit with fluorescent lights – here, in the likeness of a beautiful blonde damsel lying prone within a glass and wood case, surrounded by numerous flower vases are contained the remains of St. Philomena – legend goes that soon after the discovery of the bone dust remains, the same multiplied to a large amount and could therefore provide for hundreds of deeply venerated repositories throughout the world! Hoping for spiritual blessings, financial prosperity and physical and matrimonial well being, devotees leave offerings of coins and currency down a large well-like opening adjoining the highly realistic casket.

Tragedy!

On either side exist very dimly-lit narrow passages lined with black-grey stone slabs engraved with the names of hundreds of thousands of faithful who chose to be buried in crypts in the vicinity of the saint’s mortal remains – among them the Maharani of Bajang (Nepal) who lies interred so very far from her kingdom! Sadly though, visitors have vandalized these too with grotesquely etched love letters and hieroglyphs. Walking through the cool, dark passages is definitely a strange experience full of strange morbid sensations – the uninterrupted loneliness, the sudden intense feeling of walking subterranean amongst the dead, the deeply evocative darkness intermittently punctured by shards of orange-yellow light emitted by low-wattage incandescent bulbs – at the same time one does not wish to walk into the blinding illumination outside and is also inexplicably afraid to stay. But walk back to the sunshine one does. The dead are not going anywhere. For the rest, life must go on.

Spooky!

Open: Everyday, 5 am – 6 pm
Mass timings: Monday-Saturday: 5.30 am, 6.15 am, 7 am and 4 pm; Sundays: 5 am, 6 am, 7 am, 8 am, 9 am and 4 pm
Nearest bus stop: Suburban sto
How to reach: Walk or avail a bus/auto from Suburban bus stop (850 meters away) or City bus stop (1.8 kilometers away).
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil. But prohibited within the church.
Time required for sightseeing: 1 hr
Relevant Links -
Other monuments/landmarks located in Mysore - 

1. Pixelated Memories - Mysore Palace
2. Pixelated Memories - Seringapatnam (Mandya)
3. Pixelated Memories - Sri Chamundeshwari Temple

Suggested reading - 

1. Wikipedia.org - Philomena
2. Wikipedia.org - St. Philomena's Church, Mysore

Sri Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysore, Karnataka

“Into the bosom of the one great sea flow streams that come from hills on every side.
Their names are various as their springs. And thus in every land do men bow down
To one great God, though known by many names.”

– Tikkana, late 12th-century Telugu poet

Venerated as a “Shakti Peetha” and dedicated to Goddess Chamundeshwari (aka Chamunda), a fiercely destructive manifestation of the primordial universal feminine energy who was adoringly worshipped by the famously affluent Wadiyar/Wodeyar Dynasty of Mysore (reign AD 1399-1947), the mesmerizingly beautiful Sri Chamundeshwari Temple situated as a glorious crown atop the crest of the towering Chamundi Hills some 13 kilometers from the charming city of Mysore is so exceedingly renowned that no visit to the city is considered complete without a trek (or a bus ride like in my case!) up to the revered shrine. Identical to the folkloric and historically chronological development of the attributes and mythologies associated with most of the Tantric Hindu Goddesses, the fearsome aspect of Goddess Chamundeshwari – often portrayed as a terribly emaciated, horribly deformed, frighteningly fanged feminine deity who roams about graveyards and battlefields with packs of ravenous jackals and fiendish goblins, feasts on the blood of the horrible demons she recently slayed and adorns herself with ornaments conceived from decapitated skulls, live scorpions and slithering serpents – is said to have its origins in tribal Goddesses who were assimilated into Hinduism and Jainism and associated with primal all-encompassing mother Goddesses who are in their entirety considered an embodiment of the combination of the all-pervading life force, the unimaginably diverse aspects of matter and relentless, boundless time.

Heartwarming yellow! - The fierce Goddess' abode

Like the famously notorious Kamakhya Temple of Assam and Kali Ghat of Calcutta (refer Pixelated Memories - Kamakhya Temple and Pixelated Memories - Kali Ghat Temple), this ancient shrine too has its mythological roots in convoluted Hindu legends which recall the ritualistic sacrificial worship (“yagna”) commissioned by the mythological emperor Daksha in which his own angelic daughter Sati (Shakti) and her husband Shiva, the Hindu God of death and destruction, were unwelcome. Sati, though requested not to go by Lord Shiva but persuaded by an unremitting love for her father and maternal family, nonetheless reached her father’s abode only to be faced with an unrelenting onslaught of merciless abuses and insults heaped upon her all-powerful husband, as an anguished consequence of which she committed suicide by jumping into the ceremonial fire. Dangerously enraged and unnervingly grief-struck, Lord Shiva picked up Goddess Sati’s lifeless body in one arm and his frightening trident in the other and began the frenzied “Tandava Nritya” (“Dance of  Universal Annihilation”). The entire world was on the brink of irrevocable destruction when all the Gods and deities collectively invoked Lord Vishnu, the Hindu God of life and preservation, who used his “Sudarshana Chakra” (serrated spinning disc weapon) to cleave Sati’s body into 51 parts since an infuriated Shiva had vowed not to stop his terrible dance till Sati’s body existed. Each of the sacred spots where these 51 hallowed parts fell came to be sanctified as an auspicious “Shakti Peetha” (“Seat of Power”) where an intent worshipper would be endowed with immeasurable intellectual and spiritual prowess. Sati’s hair are said to have fallen at Chamundi Hills and a small shrine was constructed eons ago in the city’s ancient history to commemorate the mythological event and its bequest of sacredness to the city’s frontiers. It was later expanded and exquisitely adorned by the formidable Hoysala Dynasty sovereigns (reign AD 1026-1343), especially Emperor Bittideva Vishnuvardhana (ruled AD 1108-52) whose reign also saw the construction of two of Karnataka's most renowned temples at Belur and Halebidu (refer Pixelated Memories - Sri Chennakesava Temple and Pixelated Memories - Hoysaleswara Temple); the shrine's massive towering gateway, surmounted by an intricately ornate elongated-pyramidal spire (“Gopuram”), was a later addition financed by the courtly cultured Vijaynagara Empire sovereigns (reign AD 1336-1646) and was extensively repaired during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III (ruled AD 1799-1868).

Enigmatic sculptural art - Vijaynagara Dynasty's finest legacy

True to its fame, the marvelous sunshine-yellow shrine is not just an excellent epitome of the hundreds of fanatically worshiped and patronized religious heritage sites scattered throughout the country, but is also a fascinatingly detailed study of the assimilation of several exhilarating mythological tales and mythical folklores into religious and sculptural art as well as the evolution of architectural features chronologically appended to numerous edifices by the historical dynasties that lorded over the beautifully-endowed state of Karnataka. The temple’s surroundings, overly crowded with humans and animals and frequented by hordes of often excessively pestering vendors, though are an altogether different picture which might leave a sour taste in one's mouth – functioning as an extensive, poorly-managed parking lot, a feeding space for dozens of cadaverous cows sniffing through mounds of rotten, scandalously foul-smelling garbage and leftovers accumulated around courtesy of the thousands of devotees who throng to the shrine every single day of the year (that’s Indian religious hypocrisy for you!), and a commercial zone lined with makeshift shops, food carts, trollies and cross-legged vendors squatting on the ground offering everything a visitor could possibly desire (crudely sculpted stone souvenirs, plastic framed photographs of the shrine, offerings of sugarballs, sacred red thread, brilliant orange marigold flowers and ripe coconuts for the deities, colorful bead necklaces, several kinds of eatables and streetside food like samosas (deep-fried, spicy potato-filled triangular parcels crafted from corn flour), pakoras (deep-fried lentil and vegetable fritters), bananas, sugarcane juice and steamed/roasted corn garnished with lime juice and rock salt). The magnificent shrine itself rises through the sheer surge of humanity and proudly flaunts depictions of mythological creatures and mythical anthropomorphic deities conceived in all their artistic splendor through hundreds of years of human imagination and replicated here in an extensive extravaganza of enthralling sculptural art.

Unarguably the most iconic of Hindu deities!

The two sides of the soaring gateway tower that are parallel to the sanctum possess in their centers highly realistic, thoroughly detailed sculptures of celestial guards and the other two sides portray each of the “Sapta Matrika” (the group of seven divine mother Goddesses to which Chamundeshwari also belongs; the other six – Brahmani, Maheshvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi and Indrani – are each considered the feminine aspect (“Shakti”) of a male deity and resemble him in their physical appearance as well, but Chamundeshwari is unique in that she is generally associated with the supreme mother Goddess Durga herself and therefore is depicted seated at the very apex of the tower). The excellent representation of Goddess Chamundeshwari at the tremendously well-conceived crown of the tower is unbelievably spellbinding! The mythological symbolism is so vividly portrayed and each individual feature so seamlessly blends into the next that the depiction is unparalleled, both in the scope of the visual description and composition of the demons and mythical creatures involved, as well as the overall placement and juxtaposition of the elements – the crown literally transforms into an unforeseen rococo of numerous mythical creatures, divine entities and delicate scrolls of floral foliage and firmly delineated geometric patterns – thus there is the voluptuous, four-headed, four-armed Goddess Chamundeshwari in the center, painted flawless white and exuding divine tranquility, seated upon a symbolically unyielding divine throne surrounded by three semicircular rings composed respectively of beautiful swans, formidable elephants and divine followers and servants of the Goddess symbolizing in their turn insurmountable strength, elegant grace and unbending faith – this whole scene emanating on either side from the wide-fanged mouth of a lumbering mythical “Makara” (entities possessing the body of a fish, the face and tusks of an elephant, the limbs of a lion and the tail of a peacock) and surrounded by a resplendently beautiful bouquet of delicate flourishes of foliage before eventually culminating at the very apex into the vicious jaws of a massive “Kirtimukha” (the ferociously wide fanged, lion-like face of an all-consuming demon conceived and originated out of thin air by Lord Shiva, the God of death and destruction, to destroy other, mightier demons) who is flanked on either side by another “Makara”, these however very different from the earlier ones in that these are physically composed of the body of a tortoise, the face of a fish, the teeth of a lion, the tusks of an elephants, the wings of an eagle and the extremely long curved tail of a bird of paradise!

Monumental!

But the vivid blossoming of poetry in stone and plasterwork does not cease here – punctuating the monotony of the brilliant yellow walls are tiny alcove shrines inset with miniaturized sculptures pertaining to numerous mythological aspects and incarnations of the Goddess, each bearing in her numerous arms numerous destructive weapons (mace, swords, battleaxes, tridents, lightening thunder and so on) and astride a beast (an elephant, a bull, a mythical Makara etc) – each an exemplar not only of unparalleled sculptural art, but also of tremendously excellent ancient mythological fables. And then there is a large, brightly colored, multihued sculpture of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed, pot-bellied God of auspiciousness, good beginnings and knowledge, embossed over the massive front entrance. Lastly, facing the temple building and a score meters or so away from it stands its immensely renowned, instantly recognized, dark-humoredly comical, massive 16-feet tall representation of Mahishasura, the buffalo-demon warlord whose illustrious story is retold time and again in epic scriptures in order to stress upon the ever-fruitful power of redemption and the generously forgiving nature of the mother Goddess. It is said that Mahishasura was born from the copulation of a demon and a woman cursed to exist as a buffalo (“Mahishi”) and thus could easily transform to either appearance; moreover he possessed immense physical and meditative strength that was a result of extreme penances that he undertook to impress Gods into granting him boons, thus ensuring his near invincibility. In his arrogance, when he challenged and vanquished the Gods from heavens, the unparalleled rage exhibited by the trinity of Hindu deity pantheon – Brahma (the God of universal creation and knowledge), Vishnu (the God of life and nourishment) and Shiva (the God of death and destruction) – merged together to invoke the primordial sacred feminine, all-consuming, universal energy from which emerged the splendidly radiant Goddess Durga (another divinely interconnected sister-form of Goddess Chamundeshwari) who was then equipped with battle gear and weapons by all the chief Gods and Goddesses so she could take the field against Mahishasura’s massive legions which she did with such inconceivable fury and armed with such terrible weaponry in each of her numerous arms that all three worlds shook with her rage and many demon chiefs dropped dead with fear.

Comical!

She and her fierce lion annihilated the entire demon army including mighty Mahishasura himself, but tradition holds that before his death, the demon king worshipped the Goddess and impressed her into conferring the honor of having him present everywhere where she is prayed to – thus even today, every Durga idol is depicted in the “Mahishasuramardini” (“Mahishasura slayer”) form with the Goddess's lion straddling a prostrate/dead buffalo and her glittering trident piercing the demon’s muscular body – here of course, instead of the ubiquitous “Mahishasuramardini”, we have the sword brandishing, serpent-whirling, flamboyant Mahishasura himself in his full mustached, slick-haired, hilariously colorful glory. This of course has to do with the beyond-belief interesting fact that somewhere down the line implausibly far-fetched mythology incredibly merged with emotionless history and an exciting legend originated that stated that the demon lord Mahishasura, also otherwise spelled as Mahishasuru, actually reigned from a fortified capital located at Mysore which derives its original nomenclature “Mysuru” from the former!

Apart from the shrine’s impeccable mythological associations and the unrelentingly strong faith that millions of faithful devotees have on the Goddess’ ability to shower blessings of health, auspiciousness and prosperity (despite the very fact that symbolically she is actually the personification of death, degeneration, disease and pestilence!), the place doesn’t have a lot to offer in terms of visual compositions and/or observation and learning – besides being a testimony to its far-flung renown, the very fact that there are always several hundreds of devotees literally spilling through the seams of the complex’s peripheries also proves that one can be assured of an absurdly long time spent miserably lined up in an extremely long slowly slithering queue along with the combination of perspiration, frustration, pushing and shoving that comes along with it free of cost (unless of course one pays for a moderately long or an immediate (well, almost!) “VIP” queue – the two cost Rs 30 and Rs 100 per person respectively).

An enduring testimony to the skills of the craftsmen of yore

The bus ride to the apex of the hill does offer some pretty thrilling, greenery-enthused scenes overlooking the entire landscape of Mysore; moreover the 1,000 meter ascent through the curving snaking road at considerable speeds does leave one breathless and apprehensive about toppling down the hill side, besides the surprising ear-popping sensation often otherwise experienced during flight landings – definitely reason enough to prefer a bus ride over climbing the 1,000 steps leading to the summit. But then again, the climb up does take one past the 5 meter tall, 7.5 meter long ornately carved, devotedly deified, monolithic granite sculpture of the bull Nandi, the mount of Lord Shiva and a patron of spirituality and religious dedication.

I had expected the magnificent shrine to be a rather simplistic affair vis-à-vis the grand, opulently decorated exemplars of south Indian temple architecture that I have previously visited – in fact, the journey to the shrine was little more than an effort to tick off another “Shakti Peetha” off the list of edifices, religious and otherwise, that I intend to visit across the entire country (hopefully in this lifetime!) – little did I know that not the shrine but its superlatively graceful entrance tower will steal my heart instead! What surprises me the most is the fact that despite its centuries-old architectural and symbolic heritage and millennia-old religious customs, the shrine is not untouched by the all-consuming winds of modernization and global connectivity – it has begun to offer sixteen religious services, including the worship of the deity, online to millions of devotees throughout the world, of course for a cost! The ubiquitous “ladoo prasad” (the offering of excessively sweet, clarified butter drenched corn flour balls) would afterwards be delivered to the devotees home via mail. Instant religious gratification! Sadly Cash on Delivery is not applicable.

Religion and silver - A combination as old as either

Location: Chamundi Hills
How to reach: Regular to and fro bus service is available from different parts of the city for the hill summit.
Open: All days, 7.30 am – 2 pm, 3.30 – 6 p.m and 7.30 – 9 pm
Free meals for devotees from 12.30 – 2.30 pm.
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: Depends on the queue preferred (Normal/VIP/VVIP). The VIP queue (costs Rs 30/person) takes approximately 30-40 min to reach the sanctum from the peripheries on a normal day.
Note – The shrine being a place of worship, visitors are advised to dress conservatively. Footwear are to be left behind at one of the numerous makeshift shops/counters across the road for the modest sum of Rs 5 per pair.
Relevant Links -
Other monuments located in/around Mysore -

1. Pixelated Memories - Mysore Palace
2. Pixelated Memories - Seringapatnam

Other Shakti Peethas located in the country -

1. Pixelated Memories - Kalighat Temple, Bengal
2. Pixelated Memories - Kamakhya Temple, Assam
3. Pixelated Memories - Kankalitala Shaktipeetha, Bengal

Suggested reading -

1. Chamundeshwaritemple.kar.nic.in (Official website of the temple)
2. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com - Article "Chamundeshwari temple of Mysore offers 16 sevas online" (dated Sep 01, 2013) by Lawrence Milton 
3. Wikipedia.org - Chamunda