The Gunja Narasima Swamy Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

in Tirumakudal Narasipura, a town in the Mysore district,

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The town is located 20 miles south east of the historically important city of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. The temple dates back to about the 16th rule of the

Vijayanagara empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...

and is built in typical '' dravidian'' style with an imposing ''

gopura A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' (Tamil language, Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu language, Telugu: గోపురం, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Malayalam language, Malayalam: ഗോപുരം) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate ...

'' (tower) over the entrance gate (''mahadwara'') and a four pillared ''

mantapa A ''mandapa'' or ''mantapa'' () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture and Jain temple architecture. ''Mandapas'' are described as "open" or "closed" dependin ...

'' ("hall") in front of the sanctum. The temple is located at the confluence of the

Kaveri river The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari and Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin is estimated to be and encompasses the states o ...

and the

Kabini river The Kabini River is one of the major tributaries of the river Cauvery in southern India, It originates in Wayanad district of Kerala state by the confluence of the Panamaram River and the Mananthavady River. It flows eastward through Wayanad ...

and is considered sacred by Hindus. The temple gets its name from the ''Gunja(Gulaganji in Kannada)'' tree (''

Abrus precatorius ''Abrus precatorius'', commonly known as jequirity bean or rosary pea, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is a slender, perennial climber with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedge ...

'') that grows in the front of the main entrance; a boastful local claim is that the temple is more sacred than

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

(Kashi) by the weight of a gunja plant. Sculptures in the temple include those of the Hindu god

Narasimha Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...

(holding a gunja berry and stalk) and the demon King

Hiranyakashipu Hiranyakashipu (, ), also known as Hiranyakashyap, was a daitya king of the asuras in the Puranas. In Hinduism, Hiranyakashipu's younger brother, Hiranyaksha, was slain by the Varaha (boar) avatar of Vishnu. Angered by this, Hiranyakashipu ...

. According to the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

era historian and

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

B. Lewis Rice, the temple was in the patronage of the ''Dalavoy'' of Mysore ("feudal lord") with an annual maintenance. Records indicate the temple underwent repairs and embellishments during this time.Rice B.L. (1887), p312, ''Mysore: A Gazetteer Compiled for Government - vol 2'', Asian Educational Services, The temple is a protected monument under the Karnataka state division of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

. There is another temple close by, called the "Agastyeshwara" temple, and both temples are the venue of a religious fair ('' Jatra'') that is held annually attracting large number of devotees.

Gallery

File:Renovated temple complex of Gunjanarasimha Swamy Temple at T. Narasipur.jpg, Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple complex, from outside the '' prakara'' at Tirumakudal Narasipura File:View from the rear in the Gunjanarasimhaswamy temple at Tirumakudal Narasipura.JPG, View from the rear in the Gunjanarasimhaswamy temple at Tirumakudal Narasipura File:Decorative door jamb and lintel over a minor shrine entrance in the Gunjanarasimhaswamy temple complex at Tirumakudal Narasipura.jpg, Decorative door jamb and lintel over a minor shrine in the rear '' prakara'' of the Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple at Tirumakudal Narasipura File:Pillared entrance to mantapa of Gunjanarasimhaswamy temple at Tirumakudal Narasipura.JPG, Pillared entrance to ''

'' of the Gunja Narasimhaswamy temple at Tirumakudal Narasipura

References

External links

Abhimana temples of Vishnu 16th-century Hindu temples Hindu temples in Mysore district Narasimha temples {{India-Hindu-temple-stub