Murdeshwar - 4

  

The Great Kings Mother requests him to get “Athma Linga” for which King Ravana starts penance again. The mighty King is seen standing on one foot and all his Ten heads and 20 hands visible.

  

He went to the extent of cutting his Heads with his own hands to please Lord Shiva. In the above picture, The Great King is seen cutting his heads and standing on them. Finally pleased with his penance, Lord Shiva hands over the “Athma Linga” to King Ravana.

Murdeshwar - 3

 

Finally unable to bear the intensity of the Great King Ravana’s penance, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati appear before him and ask him to end his penance and promise that whatever he wishes for, it would be granted.

In the above picture, Sage Narada is requesting King Ravana to put an end to his evil deeds. The most important thing that should be observed in this picture is the Arms that are hanging around the waist of Goddess Kali.

The wedding of King Ravana and Mandodari.

Temples of South India.

This is a series on the Famed Temples of South India.
When i talk about the Numerous Temples that exist in Southern India, The first Temple that Fascinates me is the 'Sri Nanjundeshwara Temple' at Nanjangud.

The Gigantic Entrance to the Temple

Nanjangud is a small town 22 Kms from the Historic City of Mysore and 165 Kms from Bangalore. The town is surrounded by Industrial Area on the North and the chilling waters of Kapila River in the South. Thousands of pilgrims throng the Temple each day and many take a dip in the divine waters of Kapila river. The industrial area is house to many Multinational Companies like Nestle India Ltd, Brakes India Ltd, etc to name a few.

There are various and interesting Idols of Gods for the pilgrims visiting this Temple. Lord Ganesh, Goddess Sharada- The goddess of Learning, Goddess Parvati , Lord Vishnu - Protector of the Universe, Navagraha temple - The nine gods representing the Nine planets and finally Nandi - the Bull.

Apart from all the above, the one thing that has fascinated me over the numerous visits i have paid to the Temple in the last 3 decades is the Emerald Shivaling- fondly referred by the locals as 'Pachche Linga'. This particular shivaling was donated to the Temple by Tippu Sultan, the Great Mohammedan king. It is beleived that Tippu Sultan's Personal Royal elephant was suffering from long sickness and the king had tried all places to get the elephant cured. when everything failed, the king , one night whlie he was asleep had a dream of the Lord Nanjundeshwara appearing and curing the Elephant. The king woke up startled at this divine dream and rushed to see the ailing elephant. To his utter disbelief, he was shocked at the same time ecstatic to find the Elephant Healthy and rejoicing. Immediately the Sultan hired the best of sculptors to make the Emerald Shivaling. The Emerald Shivaling was donated to the Temple and From that day, it's beleived that Tippu sultan - Mohammedan King became a great devotee of Lord Nanjundeshwara.

The Hall where Head Tonsuring ceremony takes place and The Chilling Kapila River

The Temple is famous for many annual celebrations and rites during Festivities. One must really be blessed to witness the Temple on the 'MahaShivarathri' Festival, which falls during Feb or Early March of each year. The sacred activities like Head Tonsuring, Car Festival etc is carried out under the supervision of the Temple Administration.

Nanjangud has been famous for Bananas since ages. The locals address to these bananas as 'Nanjangudu RasaBaale' meaning the sweetest and tasteful Banana from Nanjangud.

But sadly, nowadays one finds it difficult to get these bananas, as there is scarcity of cultivators of these gem of a product.