Karnataka Temples - 3. Karighatta Srinivasa Perumal

The Karighatta Srinivasa perumal temple is about 30 minutes from the Mandya Lakshmi Janardhana perumal temple, and about 10 minutes from the Srirangapatna Ranganathaswamy temple. While going from the Mandya temple we were stuck for a while in a level crossing in Mandya. Need to check if there is an alternate way.

I had not heard of the Karighatta temple before, and was going based on online reviews. A wild card, so to say. The temple was on top of a hill at 2697 feet.  It was a scenic drive on the hill which was very pleasant since the road was good and there were no vehicles coming in the other direction. Not sure how comfortable it would have been on a more crowded day. There are about 500 steps if one were to climb the hill instead of driving up. It was a surreal feeling on top of the hill with gentle breeze and great views.

I am not uploading any photos of the hill since I did not take any photos without people in them. A simple Google search will show a lot of great photos of this place.

The temple has 3 Srinivasars - the main deity is the Karigirivasa Srinivasar, who is flanked by shrines for Yoga Srinivasar and Boga Srinivasar. All the three Srivasars are tall statutes casting a gracious glance. We were fortunate to witness the thirumanjanam of the main deity.  

Lord Srinivasa,
 photo from the internet

The Thayar is goddess Padmavati. 

Goddess Padmavati,
photo from the internet 

The urchava moorty is not kept in the temple due to the fear of theft/robbery. We visited the priest's home in the village below the temple and were blessed to get the dharshan of the urchavar.

Urchavar - Srinivasar

Legend/history (Source: https://www.thrillophilia.com/karighatta)

The temple is famous for being associated with two legends of Hindu mythology. One legend says that the temple was built when Sage Kutsamuni performed his penance so as to pray to Lord Srinivasa to bring back to life four maidens (devotees of Lord Srinivasa) who were killed by an elephant called Kari. 

Another legend is related to the Hindu epic Ramayana where it is said that Sugreeva (the monkey king) brought this hill (then called Nilachala) from Thirumala for helping to make a bridge to Lanka in order to bring back Sita. However, at the request of local devotees of Lord Vishnu, he left the hill here and then on it came to be known as Karighatta. 

A different Source quotes that the idol of the God was installed by sage Brigu.

The sangamam of Cauvery and Lokapavani is supposed to be visible from the hill. I did not see.

Operational details: No entry fee. Footwear can be left just outside the temple but will suggest leaving them in the car since there are many monekys. There is ample car parking atop the hill. I could not find the priest's phone number online, so could not check before going.