Kolaramma is the presiding

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

of the town of

Kolar Kolar or Kolara is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Kolar district. The city is known for its milk production and gold mines. It is also known for Someshwara temple and Kolaramma temple. History The Weste ...

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Kolaramma temple is thousand years old and built by the

Cholas The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

in the South Indian style. Goddess

Parvathi Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

is worshipped as Kolaramma by the people of Kolar. The erstwhile maharajas of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

frequently visited this temple to get the blessings of Kolaramma. The temple itself has beautifully carved statues and designs all done using the abundantly available

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

stones. Another deity of this temple is

Chelamma Chelamma, is a Hindu goddess of the Southern Karnataka region of India. Chelamma is a Scorpion goddess and is worshipped along with Kolaramma in Kolar. Followers believe that by praying at the Chelamma shrine a person will be guarded from scorpi ...

or the scorpion goddess. People believe that by praying at the Chelamma shrine a person will be guarded from

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

bites by the deity. Another interesting thing about the temple is the hundi or the well which is used to collect money offerings from the people, and it is a tradition to at least put one coin into the small opening on the floor of the temple, which apparently is a large hole dug into the earth, one can still hear the clicking sounds of coins accumulated over hundreds of years. File:View of open entrance mantapa in the Kolarmma Temple at Kolar.jpg, Kolarmma Temple, Kolar File:Profile of the Kolaramma Temple complex at Kolar.jpg, Kolarmma Temple, Kolar - Full View File:Inscriptions on Kolaramma Temple (KL 112 109).jpg, Chola Inscriptions on Kolaramma Temple (KL 112 109) File:Rajendra Chola in Battle, Kolaramma Temple - Edited.jpg , Rajendra Chola I in Battle, Kolaramma Temple

References

{{HinduMythology Hindu goddesses Forms of Parvati Chola architecture