Location:
Tumkur DistrictKarnataka
Distance from Bangalore:
Gorvanahalli Mahalakshmi Temple - 85 Kms
Madhugiri Fort - 114 Kms
Estimated Travel Time (by bike):
Gorvanahalli Mahalakshmi Temple - Two Hours Fifteen Minutes
Madhugiri Fort - Three Hours
Route:
Bangalore - Yeshwanthpur - Nelamangala - Dabaspet - Gorvanahalli - Koratagere - Madhugiri
Places Covered:
1. Gorvanahalli Sri Mahalakshmi Temple
2. Theertha Reservoir
3. Madhugiri Fort
Best Time to Visit:
October to March
The nearest place to stay is Tumkur
We four (myself, Mr. Nageshwar, Mr. Venu & Mr. Venkatesh) planned on Saturday evening to take the blessings of the money goddess "Mahalakshmi" and also to trek Madhugiri Fort on Sunday. We started at 09:18 AM the next day in two bikes & had a break on the Highway for refilling the tummy just before reaching Dabaspet and traveled towards Gorvanahalli Mahalakshmi Temple.
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| Sri Mahalakshmi Temple |
The legend says that a poor man (Abbayya) was blessed to get the idol of Mahalakshmi and he became very rich after worshiping the idol in his home. Later Thotadappa, brother of Abbayya & Abbayya jointly did charity work. After death of Abbayya, Thotadappa had dream in which Mahalakshmi asked him to construct a temple. So, Thotadappa constructed a temple which was neglected over period of time.
Later in the year 1952, Kamalamma started performing regular poojas here after which many people started visiting the temple. In due time, temple attained fame by word of mouth. Lot of people visit the temple on Tuesdays and Fridays as those days are considered very auspicious here.
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| Crowd in Que |
There were many people even on Sunday and so we decided to take "Special Darshan Tickets" which costs Rs. 100/- for two people. With this we were able to have darshan of goddess in fifteen minutes.
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| Special Darshan Ticket Counter |
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| Sri Mahalakshmi Idol |
People believe that tying the bangles to the trees in the below picture will fulfill their dreams. There were many bangles tied to the trees. Humans always have unlimited wants!!!!!!
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| Bangles tied to the trees |
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| Shopping stalls |
There are various poojas done in the temple and the details of the same as approved by the Government of Karnataka are displayed outside the temple in Kannada Language.
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| Rate Chart of Various Poojas offered in Temple |
On the right side of the temple there is a huge hall called as "Dhyana Mandira" covered by corrugated sheets.
The cold water arrangements on the back side of the temple made by the temple authorities saved us from the hot Sun and also from getting dehydrated.
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| Cold Drinking Water |
At the entrance of the main temple there is a small temple constructed in memory of Kamalamma who actually did a pioneering work in improving the temple.
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| Kamalamma Temple |
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| Kamalamma Photo |
On the left side of the temple, there is a temple dedicated to Sri Lakshmi Ranganatha Swamy.
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| Sri Lakshmi ranganatha Swamy Temple |
Exactly on the back side of the Mahalakshmi temple there is another small temple dedicated to Marikamba.
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| Marikamba Shrine |
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| Parking area for vehicles |
In Kartheekamasa, "Lakshadeepotsava" (lighting of one lac lights at the same time) is one of the revered religious programmes here. After spending about Forty Five minutes here, we moved towards Theertha reservoir which can be reached by five to ten minutes walk from the temple.
It is another attraction for tourists which is constructed on "Suvarnamukhi" river. There was hardly any water in the reservoir when we went. However, we understood the mechanism of transportation of water to the channels.
This is the controlling point for transportation of water to the channels from the reservoir. The black colored equipment acts as a valve for controlling the flow of water.
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| Controlling Point for flow of water |
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| Valve |
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| Outflow Point from reservoir |
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| Channel Outside the reservoir |
We had very tasty prasada (Yellow Rice & Sweet Pongal) offered in the temple and traveled towards Madhugiri Fort.
It is constructed on the second largest monolithic hill in Asia, The construction of the fort was started in the year 1678 during the reign of Raja Heera Gowda of the Ganga Dynasty and was finally completed around 1740 A.D. It is an example of impressive architecture in stone.
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| Madhugiri Fort/ Madhugiri Betta |
Further fortification was carried out by Hyder Ali who added huge arches, watch towers and circular granaries to the fort. The fort derives the name from Honey Bee colonies that were abundant during those days in the northern part.
The climb to the fort is very interesting. The steep slopes and the wind makes the climb very adventurous. The walls of the fort are spoiled by useless writings by the visitors. Care should be taken by the visitors not to spoil the ancient monuments.
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| Fort Wall on which writings are made |
After climbing the hill in hot sun we found place to hide from the Sun and relax. It was very cool under the big rock
There is a huge pond made in the middle of the hill for storing the rain water as it will be difficult to bring the water from the bottom of the hill.
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| Watch Tower |
The major portion of the hill has to be climbed using the grills attached to the rock which gives a very good support. One needs to be very careful while climbing as it will be very risky due to the steep slopes and slippery rock.
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| Aerial View from top of the hill |
Due to heavy rainfall, the grill support and also the wall is destroyed which makes this place very dangerous. We should be very careful while crossing this portion.
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| Destroyed portion of the Grill |
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| Ruins of the Wall |
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| Crossing the dangerous portion |
It took three hours for to and fro trek of the hill. This is a very great place for trekking lovers. We were very hungry and very tired by the time we reached bottom of the hill. So, we immediately rushed to a small hotel to have stomach full of lunch. It was 05:45 PM by the time we completed the lunch and as it was very late we started back to Bangalore and reached home at 08:33 PM.
