Our team recently visited Kannambadi a small village in Mysore district which is around 140 kms from Bangalore . This place is famous for the 'Kannambadi Katte' or the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam which was constructed during the early 19th century.
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| Sri Venugopalaswamy temple , Kannambadi |
They had a mindset to explore one of the mysterious and famous temple here - "The Venugopalaswamy Temple". This temple earlier seemed to have existed since 12th century during the period of Hoysalas and hence finds much importance as a archaeologist spot. Surrounded by Cauvery river , Brindavan gardens and lush greenery makes it one of the hot favorite tourist weekend one day trip spots from Bengaluru. In this first post , we cover the temple view , in the second post we cover the surroundings.
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| Front View of the temple |
Our team visited here on a Sunday evening by 5.30 PM here and the weather was pleasant. The National Highway connecting to Mysore and Krishnarajapete was good enough while the cross roads to reach this temple from highways was not that good with some humps and bumps. One may feel a lone drive experience as there are no much houses or shops nearby.
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| Deepa Sthambha Pillar at the Entrance |
When we reached the spot , we were welcomed by the huge temple campus which may be at least occupying 4-5 acres with ample parking spot on the side , Cauvery river on the sides and the KRS dam at one end and a calming evening sun and some mobile shops selling snacks , ice creams , churmuri etc. As it was Sunday there was good flow of visitors.
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| Huge temple varanda |
As per the history of this temple, it was constructed during the reign of Hoysala kings during the 12th-13th century on the banks of river Cauvery. When Mysore Kings had constructed the Dam in the 19th century - this temple was submerged below water for at least 60 feets.
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| Old Kannada inscriptions |
Later during 2003 , when there was drought in the region , people noticed some part of the temple , realized that it must be very ancient , showed interest to explore and relocate this temple. Later with the help of Khodays foundation , engineers were allocated - many parts of the temple were identified and within 13 days , were moved to other safe side of river banks. The relocation was completed during 2011 since then it has attracted the tourists . However the main idol of Venugopalaswamy - Lord Krishna with a flute is yet to be established officially here. So don't get disappointed , the temple and the spot is mesmerizing.
Read on , Part 2 of this article
Check out our touring spots guide for more details on other spots.
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