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Kolaramma: Scorpion Queen of Kolar!

Kolaramma Temple city kemp Kolaramma Temple Mast. Auspicious Area.Gangas ruled Kolar, then known as ‘Kuvalapura’ – their capital city from 3rd century AD till the end of 10th century AD. After that the Cholas ruled for another century. . . followed by Hoysalas & the Vijaynagar kings – they called themselves ‘Lords of Kuvalapura’.
Later Marathas, the British, the Wodeyar kings of Mysore, Hyder Ali & Tipu Sultan had their stint here too – Infact the grand father of Tipu Sultan was born here & he is buried here, his grave has become a shrine and is still worshipped with reverance even to this day. The British too ruled this rich land of rocks and minerals and had their treasury filled establishing KGF – the Kolar Gold Fields mine. Kolar is just an hour’s drive from Bangalore.
Kolaramma is the presiding deity of Kolar and her temple is situated in the heart of town, it’s just 2 kms from the bus depot. Good roads lead you to this Indian government protected monument shrine. This is a woman-power Devi temple of Goddess Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva in an angry Goddess Kali like avatar of an eight armed goddess, ‘Mahishasuramardini’ or  Mysore’s (Chamundeshwari). Here at Kolar, she is known as ‘Kolaramma’. The Mysore Wodeyar kings would come here often to pay their reverance and pray.
This temple is of the ‘Dravida Vimana style’ of architecture style but in the Ganga tradition. The granite temple walls have several Chola inscriptions – about 30, both in Kannada & Tamil. The earliest belonging to Rajendra Chola (1012 – 1045). The main entrance of the temple is well sculpted, carved and built, it’s an amazing work of art & architecture in granite stone. The temple has two shrines in a common built ‘L’ shaped simple structure. One main shrine of Kolaramma faces east along with Sapthamatrika images inside the temple.  Kalabhairava faces north, here and he is called ‘Mukanacharamma! – because of his broken nose. This temple has amazing clean well maintained corridors & courtyards. Tuesday’s & Friday’s this temple is crowded with devotees and opens early – sunrise! Otherwise 8 am. Early afternoon the temple is closed but open again in the evenings. Sugutur Chiefs of that time and the Morasu Vokkaliga community needs to be acknowledged for the development of the Kolaramma temple at Kolar.
Kolaramma here is considered very powerful, hence one sees the idol in the reflection of a mirror. At the deity there’s a small slit – a break in the ground. . . this is the ‘hundi’ – one is supposed to drop atleast a coin as an offering. This falling coin sound can be heard after a delayed time, the reason being the ‘hundi’ being a big well. For centuries, all devotees have been dropping their thanks giving and is been collecting for centuries – treasure trove!
There is a large scorpion carved on the inside of the temple granite wall. Kolaramma here is called – ‘Chelamma’ or the Scorpion Goddess! It is believed that dropping a coin & paying reverance will guard them against Scorpion bites & stings! During an auspicious day in the month of April – May  one can notice a scorpion at the idol of Kolaramma. Devotees, some of them come with baby scorpions or silver scorpions and offer it to Kolaramma in reverance to please her.  It’s believed the treasure collected in the Hundi is protected by these army of scorpions! It’s believed that there’s a pit near the Kolaramma deity inside the temple which is home to scorpions.
Adjacent to Kolaramma temple is another beautiful ancient Someshwara temple which can be visited. Apart from these temples Kolar Tourism map has got a lot of places one can visit. Choose your other destinations which will suit your energy & time. . .
Avani – 31kms. KGF – 33kms. Kurudumale Ganesha – 40 kms. Virupaksha temple – 37 kms. Antragange – 4kms. Kottilingeshwara – 32kms. Bangara Tirupati – 17 kms. Anjaneya Temple – 18 kms.
(All state highways)
Lots of temples – religious tour or mix picnic spots in this picturesque locale. Sunrise & Sunsets are amazing here! Good toll paid road connects Bangalore to Kolar. Restaurants on the highway is recommended. Plz carry some eatables & beverages. Cash too! Most places don’t accept credit/debit cards! An early start in the morning can cover a lot of destinations. Or, cover over two day trips over two weekends. I have personally seen a lot of cars & bikes – high end one’s!
Kolar is well connected by rail and bus too. Local transportation to places around is available – autos, vans or local buses.

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