Nanjundeshwara Temple

History

The temple’s gopuram and prakaram expanded under Wodeyar and later patronage while retaining its river-bank sanctity.

Official tourism listings place Nanjangud among the key Shiva destinations in Mysuru district.

Stories

The God Who Drank the Poison

The name Nanjundeshwara is traditionally explained as Lord of the poison, recalling the story in which Shiva swallowed the halahala poison that arose when the gods and demons churned the ocean. The town's name, Nanjangud, is said to mean the abode of that god.

The Shiva Purana is said to mention the place as Garalapuri. Tradition also holds that Shiva appeared here to slay the demon Keshi after Narada and the gods appealed to him, and the town is therefore called Dakshina Kashi, the Kashi of the South.

A Temple Built Layer by Layer

The temple stands on the right bank of the Kapila river, also called the Kabini. Accounts trace a first shrine to the Ganga dynasty, with the inner sanctum attributed to the Chola period around the eleventh century and the front hall to the Hoysala period in the thirteenth.

The Vijayanagara era added a brick shikhara and further shrines, and the Wodeyars of Mysore gave the temple its present scale. The tall gateway tower was raised in 1845 by Devarajammanni, wife of Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, and a large stone Nandi was installed in 1644.

The Healer Nanjunda and Tipu Sultan’s Elephant

A well-known local story says that Tipu Sultan's favourite elephant lost its sight, and that the temple priests advised bathing it in the Kapila and wiping its eyes with water from the god's ritual bathing for forty-eight days. The elephant is said to have recovered.

Out of gratitude, Tipu is said to have offered a jade lingam to the deity, whom he called Hakim Nanjunda, the physician. A similar story is told of his father Hyder Ali. These are traditional accounts, though the temple's festivals, including the Dodda Jatre with its five chariots, continue to draw large crowds.

Good to know

Kapila river bathing ghats near the temple

Large gopuram visible from the highway toward Kerala

Often visited with Mysuru and Srirangapatna

Getting there

Nearest airport: Mysuru. Rail: Nanjangud Town / Suttur Road; road: NH766 Mysuru–Nanjangud (~23 km).