Virupakshi is a lost Vijayanagar village dynasty temple in Mulbagal! It is a temple, especially for the spiritual enlightenment seeker! The reason being, here two lingas are worshipped – the ‘atma-linga’ radiates energy throughout the day activating your right side of the brain honing creativity and increasing your IQ. Autistism is believed to be cured in children here apart from major ailments! You can visually see the atmalinga red at sunrise, white during the day and orange or honey coloured at sunset! During exams one can find a lot of school children studying for their exams at the temple premises and the results are astounding!
The two lingas are in tandem one behind the other. The Atmalinga is at the front and the other Shiva linga is called the Marga Darshneshwara Linga is behind. This Shiva linga is called ‘Swayambhu Lingam’ – which says that the king and the commoner worship at the same shrine! The chariot festival is a sight to be watched.
The Virupaksha Temple is 100 kms away from Bangalore and is just 2 kms off NH4 near Mulbagal. Only two temples in India where two lingas are worshipped together are one here and the other at Gokarana Mahabaleshwar temple along the Mangalorean coast. Apart from Vijayapuri – 1. Pataleshwara temple, Talkad, Karnataka. 2. Kantheswara Temple, Mangalore, Karnataka. 3. Sri Kalayana Sundeshwara Temple, Thirunallur, Tamilnadu – the Shiva linga changes colour through the day! Goddess Bagalamukhi is the woman shakti deity of the temple at Virupakshi. This place was called Guttahalli in it’s earlier days.
The temple is set in a 11 acre ruined plundered fort wall property with stone pillars with carvings of flowers, animals, human and mythological creatures. The vast corridors have shrines of Hindu God’s. This temple was built by a chieftain called Lakkanna Dandesha on behalf of his lord & master Devaraya II (1425-46) of the Vijayanagar Dynasty. Devaraya-II was a patron of art & literature and contributed a lot for Kannada language.
One can find a lot of Kannada carvings on the temple walls dated 1481. He was also known as Prauda Deva Raya and a great elephant hunter – a brave king. He was born in Hampi & last breathed there! A lot of Dravida style architecture and Hampi influence is seen here at the temple complex. When it was built 400 villages were attached to it, it took a dip during Tipu Sultan’s rule at Kolar and nose dived to 2-4 villages after the British took over this region.
To feel the energy, there’s a small pit in front of the garbagudi. One needs to stand in this pit with a divine pose of Namaskar with your hands over your head. Early morning after a bath is recommended to experience this divine cosmic force! The temple is open from 7 -11 am & 3:30 – 6 pm. It’s sad to see that this temple is not a protected property and is vandalized by surrounding villagers, who hardly care for the heritage! The temple comes under the state government’s Muzari department’s lowest category. The serving priests tales of woe are disgusting and pitiable. Hope the right authorities take control of this heritage site and protected it – after all Kolar has a lot of protected heritage sites, this would be another beautiful one!
This trip is a day trip. One could include other Kolar tourist places -it will be a divine temple tour. This place is well connected with local transport especially from Mulbagal. Kolar is the nearest railway station. There are many buses from Bangalore. The only hillstation out here is Horsley hills which is about 100 Kms from Kolar – Mulbagal. This hillstation with average facilities is in our bordering state of Andhra Pradesh.
The only place for breakfast, lunch & dinner are on the highway – Nandi hotel about 35 kms from Bangalore. Adigaas & Kamat between Kolar & Mulbagal are good vegetarian hotels. Non-Vegetarian, one’s got to stick to the glorified dhabas! Please carry enough water, drinks and snacks to last the day. Cash please, credit cards acceptance is very low!
Happy Journey! Return back as a wise healthy one with cosmic energy radiating from you. May the divine force be with you!
Virupaksha Temple – a place for the autistic & the intelligent !
