Numerous people ply between Bengaluru and Mysore, but nobody ever takes a turn at Mandya on SH – 17! A detour of 500 mts. . . and one hour of your time takes you to ‘Hale Budanur’ and later ‘Hosa-Budanur’ – a small hamlet of a picturesque post card village! That’s how it looked to me one misty early morning. Budanur has a population of about ten thousand people in a size of 650 hectares! Males & Females almost equal in ratio, good gender – healthy ratio!
Getting technical, Budanur is about 8 Kms from central Mandya town. If traveling from Bangalore, the turn-off is towards right before you reach Mandya town. Look for road signs or best ask local population. You are greeted by not one but two 13th Century Hoysala marvelous temples! One – Sri Kashi Viswsnatha Temple and the other, Sri Ananthabadmanaba Temple. Here, let me take you through the Shiva temple… Sri Kashi Viswanatha Temple.
The year 1276, the beginning of the downfall of the Hoysala Dynasty can be seen on the walls of this stone edifice, the design scribbles, sketches are visible, sculpture incomplete etc. But in its incompleteness, one can marvel at the fine stone edifice – Sri Kashi Viswsnatha Temple, a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It’s a ekakutta Hoysala Temple, meaning one Shrine Temple on a raised platform facing East!
The honour of constructing this temple goes to one of the last Hoysala Dynasty kings, Veera Ballala III (1292-1343). The Temple has Lord Shiva in his universal Linga form, the doors flanked by the lord’s two son’s, Lord Ganapati and Lord Subramanya. Ofcourse, facing the Linga, it’s got one of the cutest, Nandi – the bull! The temple is entirely built of sculpted stone! This temple also has the divine tablet of ‘ Sapthamatharikas’ – the 7 mothers mentioned in the ‘Rig Veda’. It’s a stone tablet of 9 figurines starting with Goddess Parvati and ending with Lord Ganeshji her son. Embed between them are the Seven Devis – the female divine force, complementing, their lord and male counterparts.
So next time you traversing between Bengaluru and Mysore, make this divine stop for some divine intervention in your life. You can call the temple purohit Nanjappa on his cellphone +91 9611695091 who is more than glad to come and perform a special Arthi. He also doubles as a temple guide. The next issue I will take you through the other gem of this village, Sri Ananthapadmanaba Temple.
Mandya’s hidden gem ! 13 Century… Sri Kashi Viswanatha Temple
