Vasantha Vallabha Raya Swami Temple, Vasantapura

Yesterday, because of Smt. Saraswathi, who is a long-standing devotee and visitor of avery old temple in Vasanthapura…the Vasantha Vallabha Raaya Swami Devasthana, dedicated to Vishnu and Lakshmi, I happened to visit it, and I came away deeply impressed.

Here’s the temple….

vasanta vallbaha raya temple 011110

Another view:

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Here are the beautiful brass Dhwajasthambha (flagpole) and the pavilion behind it:

dwaja sthambham and pavilion 011110

Some more views of the decorations outside the top:

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decorations vasantha pura 011110

temple 011110

As one enters, one sees haldi and kumkum bowls at the feet of the Dwara Palaka (Guardian of the entrance):

haldi kumkum at feet 011110

Here’s a view of one of the Dwara Palakas:

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At the entrance is the Sannidhi of Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle:

garuda 011110

By sheer chance, a Seeta Kalyanam (marriage of the God and Goddess) was happening as we visited. Here are the Utsava murthis, bedecked in regal grandeur:

utsavars 011110

Here is the adorned idol of Amman, facing the Utsavar:

seeta image 011110

The "thirai" (curtain) was held in front of the Utsavar after the abhishekam:

thirai 011110

Each time, the priests exchanged the garlands of the God and Goddess, reciting their lineage for three generations "Naphtrae/Naphthreem; Pouthrae/Pouthreem; Puthrae/Puthreem) as we do for our weddings, too:

seeta kalyanam 011110

Arathi was shown to the idols:

arati to seeta 011110 

Click here to see a short video that I took, you can hear the relationships being chanted (for the Goddess).

In front of this temple is another small and old temple, dedicated to "Sri Rama Jaya Rama Anjaneya":

sri rama jaya rama anjaneya temple 011110

This, too, has an ancient pavilion for people to use:

ancient pavilion 011110

The public space around this temple is still lovely, with flower sellers hawking their wares, and several trees.

A wonderful piece of history, heritage, and the Hindu religious tradition of our beautiful city, that I was lucky enough to see by serendipity…thank you, Smt. Saraswathi!

For more info about the temple, visit heritage architect Krupa Rajangam’s article

 
here

 

Comments:

  1. Deepa Mohan says:

    Comments welcome!

  2. Arun Srinivasan says:

    Thanks for bringing out an article on temples.It would be really helpful if address/landmarks to reach this temple are given.

  3. Deepa Mohan says:

    That’s a good point you’ve raised. I didn’t think of getting the postal address, in future, I’ll certainly do so!

    If you have an internet connection, go to Google maps and type in Bengaluru, you will get the Bangalore map.

    Then, click on “get directions” and type the “from” destination that you want, and the “to” destination as:

    Bengaluru, Karnataka (Vasantapura Temple)

    You will get the directions.

  4. Siddharth S says:

    Visited this temple in month of June-the next week the kumbabisheka was supossed to be held then and work was going on-temple was a nice one and nice to know a old temple in our city limits

    The following buses available to the temple:

    Majestic: 210E(Via Uttarhalli) and 210R(via K.R.Road)

    Market: 210(Via Konanakunte cross) and 210D(via Kadirenhalli cross)

    Shivajinagar: 210G

    Banashankari: 210T and 210V(Circular routes)

    Electronic City: MBS-25(Via Silk board) and 378(Via Gottigere)

    Kengeri: MBS-25 and 378

    From Konanakunte Cross it is about 3-4 klometers straight road after taking a right at Konanakunte Cross

  5. Deepa Mohan says:

    Thank you, Siddharth, for the inputs! That was truly citizen journalism!

  6. Nagaraja Magonahalli says:

    I recollect my visit to this place way back in 1950 for a scout activity of Acharya Patashala, Basavanagudi. I preseve even today a black and white photo taken in a box camera by none other than world famous Wild life photographer Late E Hanumantha Rao, my good friend of Samson dresses. we miss all such good personalities these days overtaken by greed for money in all spheres of human activity.

  7. Adithya Rangan Chakravarthy says:

    Very nice post 🙂 One more thing… The Lord is not just another of those deities in temples as we come across 🙂 one can really feel His presence there 🙂 i am happy and blessed to have His darshan enroute my college everyday 🙂

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