The Quadrilateral Goddesses of Bangalore

Last week, my daughters wore woken up from their afternoon snooze by the sound of drum beats. The beats were intermittent: yet they were sounded in perfect unison. The rhythm of the beats compelled my five-year olds to leave the safety of their house and head towards the place from where a cacophony of sounds was coming.

When we reached the Byresandra Main Road in Jayanagar 3^rd Block, we found that the drums were being sounded as part of a procession of garishly decorated floats which was accompanied by a fairly large crowd of villagers or rather rural folk.

The floats, on closer look, were goddesses but none of them were familiar to us. A query to the man leading the procession elicited the answer.

The float was an annual tribute to Bangalore’s oldest Goddesses-the four quadrilateral sisters-Annamma, Patalamma, Gadagamma and Muthyallamma.

All the four plus two others were being taken around in a procession and while Patalamma was from Elephant Rock Road near South End in Jayanagar, the rest were from different localities.

Anamma had come from Majestic, riding in her chariot as behoves an elder sister-you see all the three mentioned above are her younger sisters. Gadagamma had come from Domlur and  Muthyallamma from Shivajinagar.

All four are Grama Devethes and all of them are considered to be pox  healers. The oldest and perhaps the first among the Grama devathe is Anamma.

Anamma stands on Subedar Chatram Road in Majestic and the huge populace that flows by the temple seems oblivious of the historicity of the temple and the Goddess. Generally considered to be patron Goddess of Bangalore, she was right from the time of Kempe Gowda, the presiding deity of Bangalore.

The temple once stood just off the magnificent Dharmambudhi Tank. This tank was one of the outer tanks of Bangalore built by Kempe Gowda. It had an outlet that carried excess rain water to the inner tank of Siddi Katte, which is today’s City Market. (Kempe Gowda conceived the idea of outer and inner tanks to ensure that excess water from outer tanks flowed into the inner tanks.)

Today, neither Siddi Katte nor Dharmambudhi tank survive. The Siddi Katte is now a bustling locality called City Market and Dharmambudhi tank the Subashnagar bus stand.

Similarly, the Patalamma temple too is bereft of the pristine Kanakanapalya lake which today is named as Lalbagh lake. The Laklbagh lake is now enclosed within the walls of the Lalbagh and the Patalamma temple stands just opposite the Elephant rock in erstwhile Kanakanapalya, now Jayanagar 3^rd Block and Jayanagar 2^nd Block.

Patalamma descended from the sky when she saw the present spot. She got a temple built for herself. The temple survives but even the neighbours are unaware of the history.

The Gadagamma temple is in Dimlur, now known as Domlur. It was once close to Challaghatta tank but the waters of the tank have receded and the temple stands near the better known Chokkanatha Temple.

The temple is surrounded by one of the area’s busiest markets. As far as Muthyallamma goes, she is located near the busy Shivajinagar busstand.

If Muthyalamma is the grama devathe (village deity) of the Cantonment, Patalamma is the presiding deity of Kanakanapalya, Gadagamma of Domlur and Anamma or Anyamma, the grama devathe of the City area.

Interestingly, all the four sisters are well-known in the annals of City’s history for curing all varieties of poxes, including plague. Infact, Muthyalamma's history can be traced to the Great Plague of Bangalore that claimed hundreds of lives.

Thus, these four sisters form the quadrilateral deities of Bangalore and this is the tale I told my daughters. Unfortunately, in the rush to head towards the procession, I forget the camera and, hence, could not take any photographs. The procession was being held to herald the birthday of Patalamma and her sisters had come to Kanakanapalya to wish her.

However, I promised my daughters and myself that I would take photographs of the temples and post it along with the article.     

When a Goddess alighted from an elephant

The Goddess was flying through the sky on her elephant and when she saw a serene and beautiful spot in a thick forest, she came down and took rest. She then took off again, but this time without the elephant as her Savari or  vehicle.

The elephant slowly merged with the surrounding landscape and today there is a huge boulder which bears the painting of an elephant. This painting was one among the many rocks of a small park which has come up at the spot.

The road too is known after the pachyderm and the temple of the Goddess too is almost diagonally opposite the painted elephant. If the elephant rock is on one side of the road, the temple to the Goddess is on the other side of the road.

This is the Ane Bande or Elephant Rock road of Jayanagar, which is an important junction for vehicle coming from South End and proceeding to Jayanagar 3^rd Block, Jayanagar 4^th Block and the Shopping Complex.

This road is perhaps the only one that can be described as an ode to an elephant.

According to legend, Goddess Patalamma, one of the four local deities of Bangalore, was astride her elephant and passing through the sky when she saw a spot in today’s south Bangalore. She alighted from the elephant and spent some time in the forest and this is the place where the Ane Bande road passes through.

She again took to the skies after some time but she was without her elephant which then dissolved into the rocks. Over time, locals of the area drew the picture of an elephant on the rock and also consecrated the Patalamma Temple across the road.

There is a small temple of Bhavani Shankar adjacent to the elephant rock and several smaller rocks which are believed to be part of an elephant herd. The temple was consecrated by Shantaveera Mahasawmi on November 6, 1994. It was built by a local corporator Bangaramma.  

Today, both Patalamma temple and Ane Bande or Elephant Rock road are inseparables. The Elephant Rock Road begins from the South End Circle and joins the 9^th main road, Jayanagar 3^rd Block.
When Jayanagar was formed in 1948, some builders wanted to take over the land around the elephant rock. One of the builders employed two engineers to get the rocks removed. The story goes that the engineers died and since then nobody has dared to touch the rocks.

The Patalamma temple a few decades ago was the village deity of five villages around Jayanagar — Nagasandra, Kanakanapalya (area around RV teachers College), Siddapura, Byrasandra and Yediyur. In the early years of the 19^th century, it was the deity of  fourteen villages.

The temple is more than 500 to 600 years old. The fire-sacrifice ritual, that is held once in three years, is famous. Devotees throng to the temple on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Within the temple premises are two long pillars with another stone joining them at the top with iron hooks. This is the swing of Goddess Patalamma and she sat on the swing when she alighted from the elephant.  The swing today is used on ceremonial occasions. Close to Patalamma temple is another small temple dedicated to Maha Ganapathi.

At the junction of South End Circle and Elephant Rock Road is the  Southern range of City Central Library. This is one of the oldest libraries in this area and it was established way back in 1969.

Today, very few remember the history of the road and it is slowly being transformed from a totally residential area to a place with business and commerce.

Interestingly, the road that continues after South End circle is called Patalamma Temple Street. This comes under Basavanagudi.