Yesterday, because of Smt. Saraswathi, who is a long-standing devotee and visitor of avery old temple in Vasanthapura…the Vasantha Vallabha Raaya Swami Devasthana, dedicated to Vishnu and Lakshmi, I happened to visit it, and I came away deeply impressed.
Here’s the temple….
Another view:
Here are the beautiful brass Dhwajasthambha (flagpole) and the pavilion behind it:
Some more views of the decorations outside the top:
As one enters, one sees haldi and kumkum bowls at the feet of the Dwara Palaka (Guardian of the entrance):
Here’s a view of one of the Dwara Palakas:
At the entrance is the Sannidhi of Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle:
By sheer chance, a Seeta Kalyanam (marriage of the God and Goddess) was happening as we visited. Here are the Utsava murthis, bedecked in regal grandeur:
Here is the adorned idol of Amman, facing the Utsavar:
The "thirai" (curtain) was held in front of the Utsavar after the abhishekam:
Each time, the priests exchanged the garlands of the God and Goddess, reciting their lineage for three generations "Naphtrae/Naphthreem; Pouthrae/Pouthreem; Puthrae/Puthreem) as we do for our weddings, too:
Arathi was shown to the idols:
Click here to see a short video that I took, you can hear the relationships being chanted (for the Goddess).
In front of this temple is another small and old temple, dedicated to "Sri Rama Jaya Rama Anjaneya":
This, too, has an ancient pavilion for people to use:
The public space around this temple is still lovely, with flower sellers hawking their wares, and several trees.
A wonderful piece of history, heritage, and the Hindu religious tradition of our beautiful city, that I was lucky enough to see by serendipity…thank you, Smt. Saraswathi! ⊕
For more info about the temple, visit heritage architect Krupa Rajangam’s article
Comments welcome!
Thanks for bringing out an article on temples.It would be really helpful if address/landmarks to reach this temple are given.
That’s a good point you’ve raised. I didn’t think of getting the postal address, in future, I’ll certainly do so!
If you have an internet connection, go to Google maps and type in Bengaluru, you will get the Bangalore map.
Then, click on “get directions” and type the “from” destination that you want, and the “to” destination as:
Bengaluru, Karnataka (Vasantapura Temple)
You will get the directions.
Visited this temple in month of June-the next week the kumbabisheka was supossed to be held then and work was going on-temple was a nice one and nice to know a old temple in our city limits
The following buses available to the temple:
Majestic: 210E(Via Uttarhalli) and 210R(via K.R.Road)
Market: 210(Via Konanakunte cross) and 210D(via Kadirenhalli cross)
Shivajinagar: 210G
Banashankari: 210T and 210V(Circular routes)
Electronic City: MBS-25(Via Silk board) and 378(Via Gottigere)
Kengeri: MBS-25 and 378
From Konanakunte Cross it is about 3-4 klometers straight road after taking a right at Konanakunte Cross
Thank you, Siddharth, for the inputs! That was truly citizen journalism!
I recollect my visit to this place way back in 1950 for a scout activity of Acharya Patashala, Basavanagudi. I preseve even today a black and white photo taken in a box camera by none other than world famous Wild life photographer Late E Hanumantha Rao, my good friend of Samson dresses. we miss all such good personalities these days overtaken by greed for money in all spheres of human activity.
Very nice post 🙂 One more thing… The Lord is not just another of those deities in temples as we come across 🙂 one can really feel His presence there 🙂 i am happy and blessed to have His darshan enroute my college everyday 🙂