Triambakeshwar, Triambak, Nasik district, Maharashtra

 Trimbakeshwar  Shiva temple is in the  town of Trimbaka in  Nashik district, it is an ancient temple and is situated at the foot of Bharmagiri hills. We had visited the temple during monsoons and the rain drenched green hills with clouds looming over provided a scenic view. But could not spend much time inside the temple as it started pouring heavily.

This is one of the 12 Jyothirlingas of Lord Shiva. Inside the sanctum there are three lingams of Brahma,Vishnu,Maheshwara .

The Lingam is visible during the morning worship and gets adorned later for other worship and rituals. 

There are also deities of Kedarnatha, Rameshwara, Gangadevi and many other images inside the temple. The sacred pond inside the temple is the origin of  the river Godavari. The present temple was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao.

The spire of the temple is very impressive with beautiful stone carvings.

There are free and paid darshan facilities in the temple.

This place is famous for Kalasarpa Shanti, Narayana Nagabali and Tripindi vidhi.

The temple is 30 Kms from Nashik and we did travel by road as we were visiting many other temples in Maharashtra. Check the link for more details

Mandarti Durga Parameshwari, Mandarthi, Udupi district , Karnataka

Mandarthi Durga Parameshwari  is the Goddess of this temple situated in Mandarthi village in Udupi district of Karnataka.

The Goddess here is very powerful and is very famous among the locals and nearby villages.

Navarathri festival is celebrated for 9 days with great  religious  fervor.

Annual festival is celebrated in February.

The Yakshagana worship here is very famous. Stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata are enacted and it is offered as a worship to Goddess here  by devotees  for fulfillment of their wishes.

The temple remains open form 5.30 am to 8pm which becomes very convenient for the long distant travellers. More details here.

Kalaseshwara temple , Kalasa, Chikmagloor district , karnataka.

Kalasa is a tiny serene and picturesque village situated on the banks of river Bhadra. This place is famous for its hill top temple of Kalaseshwara. A few steps up the hill leads one to this temple. The top of the hill offers a stunning view of the village below.

 The presiding deity is Shiva known as Kalaseshwara, a swayambhu emerged from the kalasa of sage Agastya. Sarvanga Sundari is Lord's consort here. The God sits in a silver mandapa in the sanctum. There is also a shrine for Kasi Viswanathar here.

It is believed that when Shiva married Parvati all the Gods and celestial beings attended the wedding. The earth started titling due to the big assembly of Gods  in one place. Lord Shiva asked  sage Agastya to proceed to  South to balance the weight of the earth. He did so but was sad as he would miss the wedding. Lord Shiva blessed him to view the celestial wedding from wherever he was. And sage did so from Kalsa.

There is also a separate shrine for Kasi Viswananthar here. One would also find a imposing  idol of Shiva at the entrance of the temple. There are also twin Ganeshas in a small shrine on the way up the hilltop.

I visited this temple on my way to Horanadu from Sringeri.

Shani Shignapur, Maharashtra

 Shanishwar temple is situated in Nevasa taluka of Ahmednagar district . It attracts lot of  devotees from all parts of the world. One finds Lord Shanishwar here as a big granite block under a tree in the open  courtyard without any  roof above . The deity is considered to be very powerful and is a considered as a swayambhu

Entry for women inside the temple was permitted only a few years back. Now women are  allowed to go near the idol to offer prayers and worship. Devotees offer flowers and do abhisheka with Til oil. No theft, burglary is reported in this village as they believe the Lord guards the temple and the village .

More details can be found here

Virupaksha temple, Hampi, Ballari district , karnataka

Hampi- is situated on the banks of river Tungabhadra . It was the capital city of Vijayanagara kings and was then a very prosperous, grand and wealthy city . It even attracted traders from Persia and Portugal. The city is full of rock cut sculptures  and monuments. The whole city  is  surrounded by boulders and rocks of different shapes and sizes and this would have encouraged the kings to shape this city into a beautifully carved structure. One can see and feel how the  the craftsmen would have toiled hard to construct and put together each piece of art to perfection to be only destroyed later by the Muslim rulers . There are lot of monuments here and one shouldn't miss this at any cost. All are protected  monuments coming under UNESCO World Heritage. One can easily spend a couple of days leisurely visiting the monuments.

Virupaksha is Lord Shiva and this  temple stands tall among the ruins of Hampi and is believed to be the largest functioning temple since 7th century. Lord Virupaksha's consort is Pampa Devi, a  local Goddess  and is associated with river Tungabadra. The huge temple complex was built  by a chieftain king called Lakhana Dandesha under Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara Empire. The temple attracts huge crowds in December during the temple festival. The temple has a multi-tiered  Raja gopuram and this temple has about 3 Nandis in Nandi mandapam. The temple is embellished with carvings, paintings and beautiful sculptures.

Hampi is 350 Kms from Bangalore and there are good hotels in Hampi but we chose to stay in the nearest town Hosapete which is 15 Kms from Hampi.

Temple Pond

                                                              inside the temple

 

Kodandarama temple and Yantrodharaka Hanuman temple - Hampi, Karnataka

 Kodandarama temple is situated on a small hillock just about 2Kms from the Virupaksha temple.  One has to climb a small rocky path  which is on the banks of river Tungabhadra. The sparkling water of  the river meandering through the rocky hills, gliding coracles, and the long distance view of the Anjanadri hill* is enjoyable.  This hillock is the Kishkinda where King Sugriva  lived. Lord Rama had visited this place and here we find a small temple of Kothanda Rama , Seeta and  Lakshmana. We find Sugriva's idol  in a separate  niche near the pedestal where Rama's idol is worshipped. There is a priest to carry out the daily rituals. The river flowing in front of this holy place is known as chakrateertha.

*Anjanadri hill is  the birth place of Lord Anjaneya.

Yantrodharaka Hanuman - A few more steps  up the hill  from Kothanda Rama temple would lead one to Yantrodharaka Hanuman. As the name suggests here one would find Hanuman sitting inside a Sudarshana Chakra in meditation. This is carved out of a single rock and  Lord Hanuman here is considered to be very powerful. Many devotees visit here with the sole purpose of performing special poojas to the Lord in the belief that Lord would protect and grant all their wishes.

Check a few pictures 

                               

                                  View of Kodanda Rama temple

                                                         Kodanda Rama , Sita, Lakshmana 

                                                         Yantrodharaka Hanuman

                                                                       Tungabhadra 

Anjanadri hill in the background

                                                               Sugreeva inside the temple

                                                       View of river from temple

                                        Yantordhara Hanuman. 

           

Veerabhadra Swamy temple - Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh

Veerabhadra Swamy is reincarnation of Lord Shiva and He took this form during  the Daksha Yaga. It is  Raudra bahava of Shiva and He is the presiding deity in Lepakshi temple.   

Lepakshi is a small village In Andhra Pradesh and is about 75Kms from Bangalore city. The temple is very famous for its marvellous carvings, mural paintings and the Hanging Pillar. 

This place has an interesting connection with Ramayana. Jatayu after the unsuccessful  battle with Ravana got injured and waited at this place for Rama. When Rama saw Jatayu  he compassionately said Le-Pakshi' meaning 'rise, bird' in Telgu. 

About the Temple.

This temple was constructed in 16 the century by two brothers who were in service of Vijaya Nagara King . The temple is situated on a low  rocky hill called Kumarasailam. There are other shrines surrounding the sanctum for Ganesha, Vishnu, Badrakali and Lakshmi. The main deity is in a standing posture and the idol is very impressive . One has to circumambulate around the rock to see all the sub shrines.

There is a multi pillared mandapa in front of the main shrine and a dwajasthamba. This  mandapam is beautified with carvings, sculptures and mural painting on ceilings.

 The mandapam houses a hanging pillar and is an  architectural marvel. There are about 70 pillars in the mandapam and one among them hangs from the ceiling. i.e. its base does not touch the floor .There is a small gap between the pillar and the floor. One can spread a cloth below the gap in the pillar and can be pulled out easily. Really amazing creation from the craftsmen of yesteryears. Many engineers and architects have tried to study the secret behind this marvel. Presently the pillar appears slightly dislodged from its original position. We were told that  one British Engineer tried to move it in an unsuccessful attempt to find out the secret of the construction. 

The huge temple spread on a rock itself is a great attraction. In the outer enclosure of the temple one would find a beautifully carved Nagalingam, a  seven hooded serpent holding a Shivlinga in its coil. There is also a huge Ganesha idol nearby .One would also find a pair of huge foot prints as one goes around the temple which is believed to be of Sita devi's.

 A Kilometer or so from the temple one can see a beautifully carved gigantic monolithic Nandi. 

A few pictures from my collection.