A
visit to Bangalore often ends with one visiting
some of the oldest and most beautiful temples that Bangalore boasts of. One such temple worth
visiting is the Venkataramanaswamy
Temple, located adjacent
to Tipu Sultan’s summer palace. It is a 300 year old temple built by Maharaja
Chikka Devaraya Wodeyar, displaying some of the best features of Dravidian
temple art. The ornate stone pillars opposite the Venkataramanaswamy Temple,
supported by magnificent lion brackets, still bear the imprint of the cannon
balls, which ruined portions of the temple during the Third Mysore War.
However,
after the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the Wodeyar Dynasty was restored, and
Krishna Deva Raja Wodeyar III performed his thanksgiving puja at this temple
before holding his historic Durbar at Tipu's Palace on October 15, 1811.
The temple is quite
the hub of activity, with something happening at all hours of the day! To enter
the temple, get prepared to take your shoes off, stand in separate Men and
Ladies queues and give some rupees as an offering. The Venkataramanaswamy
Temple is a testimony to the fact that
Bangalore has
some of the most beautiful and oldest temples in the country.
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