Monday 14 January 2013

The village where Garuda was born

This is a village full of legends. Not only is it considered to be the birthplace of the legendary bird, Garuda, the vahana of Vishnu, but also the place where Narasimha appeared in the form of a pillar.
This is also the place where the revered sage, Shuka Muni, meditated.
Shaka Muni  is the son of Ved Vyasa and also the person who gave a discourse on Bhagavath Gite to Parakshit to rid him of the curse of  death by snake bite.
This is the village which was named after the revered sage. It was originally called Shukapuri and subsequently became  Shukanahalli. Today, it is better known as Sugganahalli.
Suggenahalli is in Magadi taluk and it is a pleasant getaway from Bangalore.  
The presiding deity of the village is Kambada Narasimha. The idol of Narasimha is on a stone and, hence, the name Kambada Narasimha. Kamba in Kannada means pillar. The other idols in the temple are that of  Mahalakshmi, Garuda, Andal, Hanuman and a Brindavan of Shuka Muni.
According to legend, Shuka Muni travelled all over India and he offered penance at six sacred places and attained siddhi. The six places are Badrinath and Naimisharanya in Uttar Pradesh, Melkote and Shukapuri in Karnataka and Vanamamalai and Ahobilam in Andhra Pradesh.

When he was meditating at Shukapuri, he heard a divine voice and then Narasimha appeared in a stone pillar. The Sage then consecrated the pillar and constructed a temple which popularly came to be known as Kambada Narasimhaswamy.
This temple is unique as it is built as per Vastu Shastra. There is a Badri Vruksha in the temple backyard, which is always evergreen. A few feet away from the tree, is a Brindavan where Shuka Muni attained siddhi.
The temple has twp courtyards and they symbolise Brahmacharya and Gruhastya. Nearby is the temple of Katari Veerajaneyaswamy where the deity faces west.
Narasihma also asked Shuka Muni to install another pillar two kms away from the temple. Here too, Narasimha is in the same pose as he is in the Kambada Narasimha Temple. This is a very beautiful spot and one can have a fascinating view of the surroundings.
Nearby is a temple of Rama.   
Another legend here is that Suggenahalli is the birth place of Garuda Vahana. There is a bronze statue of Garuda here whoch has healing powers. 
Sugganahalli is about 75 kms from Bangalore on national highway No  4 (Bangalore - Kunigal Road). After reaching Nelamangala Circle, take a left turn and travel up to Marur cross (around 60 kms). Take a right turn to Kudur town (about six kms) and then continue to Sugganahalli temple which is nine kms away.
Suggenahalli is well conncted by KSRTC and private buses.  KSRTC buses to Thondekere ply via Sugganahalli from Majestic bus-stand in Bangalore.
The temple belongs to the Muzrai Department. The temple is open at specified times in the morning and evening. The temple needs three persons to be present while opening. The key to the main door is nearly 2 feet in length.
 

1 comment:

  1. Very useful.. I ll hv to visit this place. Thanks

    ReplyDelete