Our date with God: One of the lesser known temples and less visited by people is Thimmarayaswamy temple on a rocky hill in Bettadasanapura on the BMTC bus route no. 378.
One of the most busy routes connecting Kengeri with Electronic city is BMTC route no. 378 and its variants. I understand that there is a bus every ten minutes from both ends making it the most popular routes as well as the most frequent in all of BMTC’s routes. Sadly though, the road is treacherous specially during the monsoon. It is impossible to make out the depth of the pot holes filled to its brim with water and neither can we see the sections of road that have caved in post laying of the sewage lines. Speed breakers or humps/bumps are most common in Bangalore – it has the distinction of being the most bumped city in the world. Our ride today in the monsoon rains was literally like a roller coaster ride, bobbing up and down right through the journey of 14 KM’s. I was using Google maps navigation on my mobile held firmly on a windscreen holder – so I thought until we hit a hump and a pot hole back-to-back. The mobile flew out of the holder and disappeared, invisible to both my wife and I. We soon realised that it was lying somewhere on the floor board and close to my feet and the ABC controls. Retrieving the same was such an ordeal while driving on a heavily congested road not knowing who would come from which side…the two-wheeler riders have this uncanny ability to squeeze through any available gap and plonk themselves right in front of you. But, no one can beat the yellow board cabs – small, medium and large who tear around the city as if the world is coming to an end in the next few seconds. Amidst all the chaos on the roads, it was quite natural for us to miss out an instruction, our navigating partner was barking out on Google maps. To get our bearings reset, we stopped at a roadside shop and asked the owner to guide us back to the place we were heading. Suspecting that we were relying on Google maps, he said don’t rely on that, instead follow the bus traveling on route 378. That wasn’t an issue at all, for these buses are so frequent that one would see them chasing each other back-to-back… we followed one and did land up at the right place eventually.
The temple is perched on top of a rocky bolder. The name of this place is self-explanatory: Betta means hill, Dasa means a devotee and Pura is a village in Kannada. Lord Vishnu or Srinivasa or Venkateshwara is fondly called Thimmappa in Kannada and hence the Lord is referred to as Thimmarayaswamy here at this temple. The rocky bolder, which forms a hill is not very steep and has little or no vegetation in its immediate surroundings. But, 1,200 years back this solitary hillock was in midst of a dense forest, being an extension of Bannerghatta forest jurisdiction. While there is no historical reference as to who built the temple, the story goes that Gauthama Maharishi who meditated here was blessed with a vision of Lord Thimmarayaswamy (Vishnu) along with Goddess Sreedevi and Goddess Bhoodevi. Gauthama Maharishi was one of the seven Saptharishi’s of the Vedic times and is known to be the discoverer of Mantras. It was here at the very place of his meditation that Maharishi was blessed with a vision that he decided to place the idol of Lord Vishnu, flanked on either side by Sreedevi and Bhoodevi. At a distance of around 30 feet is the monolith pillar or Garuda dwajha with Lord Anjaneya carved at the base. Sandwiched between these two are two Arli mara or the sacred fig tree. The legend states that Gauthama Maharishi had found this ideal spot to meditate and was blessed with a vision of the Lord himself and in remembrance of this vision he decided to build a temple. The temple archaka or purohit told us that although the entire temple complex and its immediate surrounding is on a rocky bolder, this Arli Mara has stood the test of time and nobody can explain how its roots have bored through the solid rock to the soil below. It certainly is “Divine intervention” that can only explain its very existence. Another unique aspect of this temple is the presence of a Nagarakallu (idol of King Cobra). Normally, one does not see a Nagarakallu in the vicinity of Lord Vishnu’s idol. This proves that this Vishnu idol and the Nagarkallu are truly from the bygone era. There is also a rock cut Kalyani (Pushkarani) or sacred pond next to the temple.
Post Gauthama Maharishi’s period, the Cholas, who found this idol in the open took it upon themselves to build a temple enclosure/structure around the idol as well as a compound wall built like a fortress with rough cut granite stones. They also ensured that the religious rituals were carried out without a break, every single day and abhishekha once a week, every Saturday. Subsequent to the passing away of the Chola dynasty and for almost a period of 600 years this temple was left alone without the daily puja. Folklore says that the Lord himself appeared in the dream of Raja Dasappa Nayaka that here is an idol of mine that has been lying unattended and that this Raja must make efforts to revive and restart the daily rituals of purification and worship. When the Raja (King) came to this spot to inspect he was shocked to see temple surrounded by dense jungle and wild animals. It was with his effort that the surroundings were cleared and daily religious rituals recommenced. And, to this day the daily and weekly puja continues…
Surrounded by hills in the Kingdom of Raja Dasappa, this temple after its revival came to be known as Bettadasanapura Thimmarayaswamy. Later additions to this temple are idols of Anjaneya to the right of the moola vigraha and Mahalakshmi to the left. And in comparison, in the recent past, closer to 300 years or so, a temple with an idol of Shiva – Kashi Vishwanath, with Ganapathi to his right and Parvathi to his left, has been built. The difference between the old and new temples is stark; original having been built more than 1,200 years back with granite stones and the new Kashi Vishwanath temple superstructure made with brick and mortar.
This temple is now under the management of Government, but they have not really spent time and effort for its upkeep, let alone providing financial support to restore or improve the temple complex. It is in a state of neglect and urgently requires great support from all devotees to pool in their resources to bring back to its past glory. This temple Moola Vigraha is the family God for 33 villages around this area and most of the devotees come during the holy month of Shravana on Saturday (Shanivara), besides Vaikunta Ekadashi and Vijayadashmi. Even to this day as was followed during the Chola dynasty, abhishekha is done only once a week on a Saturday. It is also said that people who are willing to place their entire faith in the Supreme, the Lord grants them their wish.
In God we Trust!!
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