On Bengaluru – Mysore highway approaching Mandya, turn right on SH – 17! taking a detour of 500 mts, it takes you to ‘Hale Budanur’ and later ‘Hosa-Budanur’ – a 13th century village of Hoysala times! Budanur today has a population of about ten thousand people in a size of 650 hectares!
Here you are greeted by not one but two 13th Century Hoysala marvelous temples! One – Sri Kashi Vishwanatha Temple and the other, Sri Ananthapadmanaba Temple. Here, let me take you through the Lord Vishnu’s temple in the avatar of Sri Ananthabadmanaba. Here the lord is in a standing form with a blessing mode – a unique feature!
The year 1276 was the beginning of the downfall of the Hoysala Dynasty, it’s incomplete temple construction can seen on the walls of this stone edifice, the design scribbles, sketches are still visibly incomplete half carvings… sculpture…. grace the edifice. It’s a ekakutta Hoysala Temple, meaning one Shrine Temple on a raised platform called ‘Jagati’, facing East! A typical Hoysala style! This temple is restored by the ASI – Archaeological Society of India.
The honour of constructing this temple goes to one of the last Hoysala Dynasty kings, Veera Ballala III (1292-1343). This was one of his last temples. After him was the downfall of the Hoysala Vijayanagar Empire.
The Temple has Lord Vishnu as Sri Ananthapadmanaba in a unique form – he’s standing with Chakra, Astabanda, Gadha and Shanka in his divine four hands! The door frames are ornately sculpted, the doors are flanked by the two powerful dieties, Lord Ganapati and Goddess Lakshmi. These, two dieties have two beautiful mini shrines inside the temple on either side of the main diety door of Sri Ananthapadmanaba. The temple is entirely built of sculpted stone!
So next time you are travelling between Bengaluru and Mysore, make this divine stop for some divine intervention in your life. You can call the temple priest Narasimha Murthy on his cellphone +91 9066781436 who is more than glad to come and perform a special pooja, if you.find the temple.closed! He also doubles as a temple guide. His request to visiting pilgrims is for a Deepastamba or a Front Courtyard pillar of reverance!
Both the temples, Sri Kashi Vishwanatha temple and Sri Ananthapadmanaba temples at Budanur are walking distance from each other. Visit here for a divine experience and an intervention. God Bless you. This village has both temples – Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu…
Jagdeesh Laxman Singh
aka Jugie Singh
Text & Photography
Mandya’s Hidden Hoysala Gem! 1250 AD Sri Ananthapadmanaba Temple
