Bangalore Shiva Cave Temple
Today I visited the famous Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple in Bangalore. Built by Kempe Gowda, Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple is a natural monolith carved cave temple that is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is located in the vicinity to the Basavanagudi area of Bangalore, a place known for its architecture. One of the special features of Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple is that it is built in such a way as to let the sun rays pass between the horns of the Nandi Bull placed outside illuminating Lord Shiva's diety on the occasion of Sankranti festival. This is a rare phenomenon and worth watching especially during Sankranti (January) festival between 500 and 600 PM. Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple is evidence highlighting the scientific as well as technical knowledge of the ancient Vedic Indians. They brought about this great phenomenon without the use of modern instruments.
Front of the Shiva Cave Temple
In the temple are 33 dieties and 2 famous shrines that are dedicated to Lord Gangadeshwara (Lord Shiva) and Goddess Honnadevi (Parvati). One will also find an image of Agni, the fire god and Shakti Ganapathi with 12 hands in Gavi Gangadhareswara Temple Bangalore. This ancient monolith carved cave temple is located around 3 km from the city market on Bull Temple Road. Dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, the temple built by Kempe Gowda in the 9th century, is inside a natural cave in Gavipuram. It is said that among the two paths inside the cave, one leads to the temple town Shivaganga in Tumkur district and another to Kashi. Apart from the main diety, it also houses dieties of Durga, Parvathi, Shakti Ganapati and a rare diety of Agnimurthi. It also has a beautiful diety of Shiva with his dog. There is a perrenial spring inside the cave that creates a small stream that flows through the inner sanctum. The tunnels are very small and in order to make the circuit one must bend down. The kids that accompanied us to the temple loved it and went running happily around the trails hitting the ceiling with their hands. No photos are allowed in the actual temple but I got some good video and photos of the outside. There was a South Indian Vedic Wedding taking place and I had the good fortune of being able to get some good video of the scene.
The Temple itself is around 500 years old yet the cave that the temple has been built around is extremely ancient. It was formerly connected to the Vedic sage Bharadwaja. Bharadwaja is mentioned many times in the ancient Vedic scriptures thus his connection to the cave suggests that it has been recognized as a sacred place for many thousands of years. |
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