Talkad…Talkadu: History, Mystery, Mythology, Geology . . . !

185 kms from Bengaluru or 45 kms from Mysuru on the banks of river Cauvery lies this town, Talkadu which has had a continuous human inhabitation since 10,000 BC. It was ruled by the Ganga lineage of kings from 3rd century AD. Later Gangas succumbed to the Cholas who called this place Rajarajapura.
The Hoysala king, Vishnuvardhana drove away the Cholas from here and established his Vijayanagar kingdom. Ultimately the Wodeyars established their kingdom after the death of Tirumala Raja (Sri Ranga Raja) – the then ruler of Srirangapatnam, a Vijayanagar vassal – who was planning to upsurp this part of the failing Vijayanagar kingdom along with his pious wife – Alamaleamma. Raja Wodeyar was a viceroy of the Vijayanagar kingdom.Talkad once had 30 temples, most of them today lie burried in sand.
On hearing the death of Tirumala Raja at Talkad, in 1610 Raja Wodeyar sent his soldiers to annexe Srirangapatnam as his kingdom and establish the Wodeyar regime. He badly wanted to upsurp the family jewels from Almaleamma the now widow queen who used to adorn these jewels on Lord Ranganatha at the Srirangapatnam temple twice a week. On hearing this, Almaleamma threw the jewels into river Cauvery and killed herself by drowning in the swirling waters. Before killing herself, she cursed …” Let Talkad become sand. . . Let Malangi become whirlpool. . . Let the Mysore Raja’s fail to beget heirs”
… that’s the curse of the pious Almaleamma! That’s the folklore and people attribute it to the scenario! The place, the river and the king – the Wodeyars!
Talkad today is a town full of sand, temples burried, it can witness 7-10 feet of sand on its land each year. Malangi, Almaleamma’s town side Cauvery river is full of whirlpools and sadly the Wodeyar kings beget no heirs in their linage!
The Wodeyar king felt bad on the death of Almaleamma and as a mark of respect and reverence to this pious lady, her statue is worshipped on the 9th day of Dussera at Mysore Dassera celebrations even to this day!
Tala & Kadu were two twin hunter brothers who innocently cut the tree where Shiva was residing and 2 elephants were worshipping this particular tree (the elephants were actually cursed to that avatars – they were rishis) Shiva was bleeding as the tree oozed red color. The blood drops fell on that land and it has become a pious land… Shiva pardoned the twin brothers and they ended becoming dwara palakaru or door-men of the Veerabhadra temple. Shiva took form as Vaideshvarya – the self healing physician… any one sick… goes here for prayers & divine intervention.
That’s the reason Almaleammas husband, Tirumala Raja went there and dies. Shiva named this land … Talkad after the twin wood cutter hunter brothers. That’s Mythology surrounding the place. Every 12 years Panchalingeshwara – a festival of worshiping 5 Shiva Lingas takes place. Devotees trong here during the celebration in the hope that the curse will be lifted from Talkad. The last festival was held in the year 2009.
Belief & Faith eludes a rational, logic & scientific person. On constant probing, investigation it was discovered that in 1336 a Vijayanagar Minister Madhava built a small dam (anecut) at a place called Hemmige above Talkad, this led to the river Cauvery taking a turn and letting some bank dry of sand.
Talkad receives strong winds from north-west & south-west, these winds deposit 7-10 feet of sand into town, Even Sir M Visvesvaraya couldn’t apply his engineering brains to stop this sand deposit on this land, he tried planting eucalyptus trees on the banks of the river – this just helped a little. Indiscriminate digging of plenty of man made canals over a long period has caused this erosion. The sudden turn of the river Cauvery has forced pressure on towards Malangi side and whirlpools has developed. The Wodeyars are a closeknit ‘Ursu’ community, marrying among themselves – this practice of consanguineous marriages have genetically affected them. 10 of the 19 generations lineage have been affected.
The folklore tales were spread by the durbar of Mysore to avoid the imposition of the British government’s ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ law, where the British government took away kingdoms which didn’t have a natural heir. Lord Dalhousie was very strict about imposing this law ruthlessly.
Leaving aside all of the above. . . coming to present reality, Talkad is a good day trip to enjoy the beautiful excavated temples, appreciate the art, the sculpture. See the vagaries of nature and man fighting towards it. Most of all the safe & serene river Cauvery, sandy banks, wooded trees making it an ideal picnic spot.
Talkad river bank almost resembles a beach at Goa. This place welcomes you to carry your own food, snacks & drinks. There are a few tuck shops selling water, softdrinks & snacks. Talkad doesn’t have any hotels or restaurants, the nearest place of comfort is Mysore. This place is good to lay back and relax or one can combine other places near Mysore as your tourist destination. Talkad is definitely the best picnic spot at hand for family, friends or office groups.
Traveling from Bengaluru, one need not go to Mysore… just take a turn-off after Maddur and enjoy your day. Roads are excellent. This place is well connected by buses. The nearest train station being Srirangapatnam, if not mysore. It’s better to avoid summer months to go to this place.