Hiremagalur (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: hirēmagalūru, or 'town of the big'/'elder daughter'), was until recently a separate village, is now a locality in

Chikkamagaluru Chikmagalur, known officially as Chikkamagaluru, is a city and the headquarters of Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri peak of the Western Ghats, the city attracts tourists from ...

(or ''town of the younger daughter'') of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. In 1971, its population was 1,456 in an area of 1,300 hectares.

History

During the 9th and 11th centuries Hiremagalur was a flourishing

agrahara An ''Agraharam'' or ''Agrahara'' was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to susta ...

town. Legends suggest that in this area, nine

siddhas ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...

performed penance near a pond in the village known as ''Siddha Pushkarni''. Legend has it that

Parashurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who will appear ...

too lived here, giving the village the epithet ''Bhargavapuri'', or "the town of Bhargava (Parashurama)." Another legend suggests that this city was given as a gift to the elder daughter (elder daughter or hiriya magalu in Kannada) of King Rukmangada. Hence the name of the locality came to be known as Hiremagalur (the town of the elder daughter).

Location

The town is located about 3 km from the city of Chikmagalur. The new Chikmagalur railway station is being built in this place. A lot of new industries have started in this place.

Religion and Culture

The village is well known for its

Kodandarama Temple Kodandaramaswami Temple ( kn, ಕೋದಂಡರಾಮಸ್ವಾಮಿ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ, ) is a Hindu shrine located at Hiremagalur near Chikkamagaluru, in Chikkamagaluru district, Karnataka, India. The temple deity is called ''K ...

, which depicts

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

, his consort

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

, and brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

, as they would have appeared according to a Hindu wedding procession, with Sita to the right of Rama. This is different from popular renderings of the trio, where Sita appears to Rama's left. In the Kodandarama Temple, rituals and prayer are recited in pure Kannada, which is contrary to the other temples where all the prayers are recited in Sanskrit rather than Kannada. Villages in Chikkamagaluru district {{Chikkamagaluru-geo-stub