Inaugurations at Two Ancient Temples

I had the privilege of witnessing inaugurations at two ancient Temples in a short span of one month.

Mahathobhara Sri Karinjeshwara Temple:

This is a Shiva-Parvati temple, situated on a hill at Karinja Village, Kavalamuduru Post, Bantwala Taluq, Dakshina Kannada District. My grandfather, Shri B. Ramakrishna Acharya, had the privilege of being the Managing Trustee of the Temple till he passed away in the year 1968. The Shiva Temple is situated at the peak of the hill, and the Parvati temple is situated half-way up the hill. The climb is steep and has to be covered by foot.

The Parvati Temple was renovated a few years back, under the present Managing Trustee, Shri Jinraj Ariga, a Jain, who has taken immense and selfless interest in developing the temple. He is a humble, pious and hard-working gentleman to the core, and in fact only the second true Brahmana (not to be confused with Brahmin) I have come across, the first being an aged Muslim Auto-rickshaw driver at Bangalore.

The Annapoorna Bhojana Shala (Dining Hall) was inaugurated on 21^st February 2009, by Rajarshi Padmabhooshan Shri Veerendra Hegde, the Dharmadhikari of Shri Manjunatha Temple of Dharmasthala, in the presence of two former Ministers, Shri Nagaraj Shetty and Shri Ramanath Rai. The Muzrai Minister could not make it to the function as he was at Bangalore to collect Ganga-jal for distribution to all Shiva Temples on the occasion of the festival of Mahashivaratri. The single largest donor, Smt. Shashi Sharad Shetty from Dubai, who had donated over Rs.20 Lakhs for construction of the Dining Hall, was felicitated along with others, including the building contractor, Mr. D'Mello. The Roadway to the Parvati Temple was also completed and opened on the same day ahead of the function, and my car had the honour of being one of the first cars to use that road.

Shri Jinraj Ariga was kind enough to arrange for our accommodation at Vogga on National Highway 13, between 21^st February 2009 and 23^rd February 2009, which happened to be the festival of Shivaratri which is celebrated with pomp and fervour every year at the temple. On the occasion of Shivaratri, devotees offer Thulabhaara, which is an offering of any of rice, coconuts, gingely oil, etc., equivalent to one's own weight, in exchange for favours received from the deity.

The festivities were well-organised and grand. However, the Thulabhaara seemed influenced by temple-politics and favouritism, since seniority numbers given at the time of booking the Thulabhara were being flouted by the priests and other Brahmins conducting it. In fact one experienced but apparently ignorant priest also expressed that one could weigh himself with rice and offer gingely oil, whereas every child knows that no one would allow even a shopkeeper to weigh rice when he wants to buy gingely oil. My two year old nephew's Thulabhaara was delayed by about an hour, with fit and able people jumping the seniority, putting the aged, elderly and disabled back, making my nephew's Sl.No.22 be taken up at Sl. No.68. Even when my nephew's turn came up, he was weighed with the temple's rice instead of the 16Kg of Gingely Oil we had carried up the hill, and was weighed with the oil only when we protested.

I could not stay for the main festivities on 24^th February 2009 when the Shiva Idol is brought down from the peak to meet His consort Parvati, as I had to rush back to Bangalore.

The Temple's Website: http://www.karinjeshwara.templeinfo.in/
About the Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karinjeshwara_Temple
Map of the Temple: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.914209&lon=75.126427&spnx=0.01&spny=0.01&m=h

Mahathobhara Yelluru Sri Vishweshwara Temple (Henceforth known as Mahathobhara Yelluru Sri Vishwanatha Temple):

The ancient temple of Lord Vishweshwara at Yelluru Village, near my mother's village of Kunjoor, Udupi Taluq, Udupi District, which belonged to the Six 'Maagane's (Villages) of Yellur (Including Kunjoor), Belapu, Kuthyar, Kalathur, Padur, and Nandikur (Including Adve), was renovated under the guidance of His Holiness Paryaya Shri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji of the Puthige Mutt, who holds the present Paryaya of the famous Udupi Shri Krishna Temple, with the involvement of three more 'Maagane's of Admar, Pilar and Santhoor.

The renovated temple was inaugurated in the Brahma Kalashotsava which lasted for nine days from 04^th March 2009 to 12^th March 2009. The festivities continued round the clock for these nine days with devotees thronging the temple. Free food and refreshments sponsored by some devotees were served to all devotees who attended the functions and cultural events, 24 hours a day. The honourable delegates who graced the occasions included the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dr. B.S. Yeddyurappa, Rajarshi Padmabhooshan Shri Veerendra Hegde, the Dharmadhikari of Shri Manjunatha Temple of Dharmasthala, Mathrshri Hemavathi V. Hegde of Dharmasthala, present and former Ministers, including Dr. V.S. Acharya, Smt. Shobha Karandlaje, Shri Nagaraj Shetty, Shri Ramanath Rai, Shri M. Veerappa Moily, Shri Vasanth Salian, Shri Harikrishna Punaroor, philosophers like Padmashree Bannanje Govindacharya, etc., on different dates.

The function was well organised and no visitor left without his/her share of the Prasadam. The crowd was also well managed with medical facilities for the aged and weary. Drinking water was provided by volunteers every few yards of the queue for Darshan. The elderly and those with small children were allowed to skip the queue with due consideration for their difficulties, with regular announcements in the public address system, unlike at Sri Karinjeshwara Temple.

A booklet on the temple in the Kannada Language was available for a nominal price of Rs.25.00 along with an album of the temple sculptures @Rs.50.00, which was available on the date of release at a discounted price of Rs.30.00. DVD of the Nagamandala and Brahmamandala of the last day can be booked for Rs.150.00, and a set of Five DVD's covering the entire 9 days (including the Nagamandala and Brahmamandala) will be available for Rs.350.00 against advance booking.

I missed the Nagamandala and Brahmamandala on 12^th March 2009, as I had to rush back to Bangalore on the night of 11^th March 2009 itself.

The Temple's Website: http://www.yelluruvishweshwara.org/
About the Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelluru_Shri_Vishweshwara_Temple
Map of the Temple: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=13.181167&lon=74.797578&z=18&l=0&m=h&v=2