Talakadu is a desert like town on the left bank of river Cauvery,and is known for its sand dunes. It is a scenic and spiritual pilgrimage center .Here the Cauvery river changes course and seems magnificently vast, as here the sand on its banks spreads over a wide area.
Located at a distance of about 50 Kms from
Mysore and about 130 Kms from Bangalore, Talakadu is a small town, with lot of
ancient history and mythology related to it.
The town is peculiarly covered
with sand dunes several meters deep and has folklore behind its appearance.
Story goes that it derived its name from two hunters Tala and Kada.
A sage Somadatta and his disciples were killed by wild
elephants when they were doing their penance. They were said to be reborn as
elephants in the same forest and
continued worshiping God, with his disciples,at a place where a ‘salmali’ tree
stood.
The two hunters, Tala and Kada watched the ritual of the elephants offering prayers to a tree. And out of curiosity , axed the tree down , only to find out it bleeding . A voice then instructed them to heal the wound with the leaves.The blood miraculously turned into milk drinking which hunters and the elephants became immortal. Lord Shiva who suggested medicine to his own illness came to be known as ‘ vaidyanatheeswara’ ( The Lord of Physicians ) .A temple was later built here around the tree and the place became known as Talakadu.There are two stone images of those hunters in front of Lord Veerabadraswamy temple here.
The two hunters, Tala and Kada watched the ritual of the elephants offering prayers to a tree. And out of curiosity , axed the tree down , only to find out it bleeding . A voice then instructed them to heal the wound with the leaves.The blood miraculously turned into milk drinking which hunters and the elephants became immortal. Lord Shiva who suggested medicine to his own illness came to be known as ‘ vaidyanatheeswara’ ( The Lord of Physicians ) .A temple was later built here around the tree and the place became known as Talakadu.There are two stone images of those hunters in front of Lord Veerabadraswamy temple here.
There are about 30 temples at Talakadu, some of which have
been excavated and some of which are still buried under sand.The most imposing
temples here are Vaidheeswara , Pathaleshwara , Maraleshwara , Arkeshwara and
Mallikarjuna temples, the five lingams believed to be represent the five faces
of Shiva, form the Pacha pathi .
The famous Panchalinga Darshan, which is held
once every 12 years, is held on Monday falling on a new moon day in the month
of Karthika ( November/December ) when the two stars Khuha yoga and Vishaka
conjoin.
The Pathaleshwara Shivalingam is said to change colors
during the day ( red in the morning, black in the afternoon and white in the
evening )
The kingdom which once stood at this place is now only sand
and temples.It is unfathomable how a city of a kingdom completely gets
submerged under sands for acres.
One can learn the history of the place by visiting the various temples spread across a radius of 2 Km.They have put up a canopy for walking from one temple to another on the sand dunes so your feet don’t feel the heat.
One can learn the history of the place by visiting the various temples spread across a radius of 2 Km.They have put up a canopy for walking from one temple to another on the sand dunes so your feet don’t feel the heat.
Talakadu also houses a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.The
Keerthinarayana temple ( an incarnation of Lord Vishnu ) is known to have been
built by the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhan to commemorate his victory over the
Cholas in 1117 A.D. The deity is 8ft tall, flanked by Sridevi and Bhudevi.
The curse of Talakadu
Many historians and devotees of Alamelamma believe in the story
of greed and desire for power that lead to the infamous curse. In the early
1600s , the ruler of Srirangapatnam was Sri Ranga Raya , an heir of the
vijayanagar family. He was in the throes of an incurable disease and undertook a
pilgrimage to Talakadu in the hopes of being cured.
Before the journey, he handed over the reins of
his kingdom to his wife Alamelamma.Alamelamma used to send her ornaments every Friday to
decorate Sri Ranga Nayagi , the consort of Sri Ranganatha of the Srirangam
temple.When she heard that her husband was on his deathbed and would possibly
never make the journey back to his capital , she decided to go to visit him
before he passed away .
She handed the kingdom
over to the Mysore Maharaja , Raja Wodeyar, whose dynasty ever afterwards
retained them.
After the death of her husband , the wodeyar king and his
soldiers started to harass the woman for her jewels. The Mysore king sent his
force to seize the jewels . Out of
helplessness and anger Alamelamma jumped into the river Cauvery at a place
called Malangi, with the jewels tied up in a cloth. When she was drowning she
uttered a curse in Kannada saying
" Talakadu maralagali, Malangi Maduvagali , Mysooru arasarige makkalu aagadirali"
Which translate to , ' Let Talakadu be covered by sand , let
Malangi become a whirlpool and may the kings of Mysore not have any heirs’.
The curse has been effectively operating in
miraculous way till today. You can witness that Talakadu is like a desert, with sand everywhere.The whirlpool is dangerous spot. The
king of Mysore never had a heir.
Thus since 17th century the
cursed Talakadu established itself in the folklore, as a miracle. Historically, it is a vibrant city which later submerged under sand dunes several meters deep.
Its origin now lost in antiquity.
Even today, it is stated that the current
ruler and his family conduct secret prayer before the image of the Queen during
Dasara to seek her forgiveness.
Other than the Queen’s curse , one school of thought blames
that this is to an ecological disaster stemming from the construction of a dam
in 1336 by Madhave Mandri a minister of the Vijayanagar empire. This dam caused
the sand on the river bed to be exposed to the strong winds that frequent in Talakadu .Another school of thought blames the plight of Talakadu to a
geological fault that runs across the Cauvery river here .The Talakadu story
remains unresolved.
Lord Mallikarjuna temple
During Mahabharatha period , Arjuna stayed here on the hill.
He carved the idol of Lord shiva and did pooja with “ Mallika pushpa “ . That's
the reason the Lord Shiva is called as Mallikarjuna.It is one of the five temples that are part of the
Panchalingadarshana held at talakadu.
The uniqueness of this festival is that the poojas at the
five temples begin at the same time following the ancient tradition of
obtaining blessings for devotees and ruler of the country.
The genius of the construction of all the temples should
definitely appreciated. The conjoined rings that hang from a corner , below a
five headed snake has no visible joint.
The ASI ( Archeological Survey of India )is doing a commendable job by excavating and
restoring the lost temples here .
The place is
full of history and legends, and this makes it a perfect destination for any willing tourist.
