It is 29th May. Unlike our expectation and prediction, our Journey towards Sanctity remains shrouded in mystery about his Providence. The much awaited travel happened. And I was not myself when our journey towards Venu Gopal Swamy Temple started, we taking a diversion from Tataguni after NICE Road, Bangalore moving speedily ahead towards Ramanagara. Who doesn’t know Ramanagara “The City which was terrorized by Gabbar Singh of Sholay in 1980’s”. The rocky terrains repeatedly echoed “Kitne aadmi the?”
Reminiscing the Jai, Veeru and Basanti characters, the Khodays vehicle carried us to Chennapattana, the Land of Alice in Wonderland, which plays with a number of toys fostering the innocence and catering to all sections of children’s loneliness in the form of its varied Hathi, Ghoda, Jhula and many more.
Waving a sweet bye for the childhood years, we were moving towards Mandya - The Home of Ambi(Kannada Cine Actor)
Sky kissing Coconut trees, Mango groves laden with green mangoes, Green paddy fields, the intoxicating aroma of Jaggery licked our nostrils, as our vehicle did a mild handshake with the rough unstretched red muddy roads of Pandavapura. Yes, it is aptly said when, India lives and breathes in its and through its Gramas or “Villages”. Being a metropolitan citizen, I was mesmerized seeing the untouched, calm, serene life of Pandavapura.
The curves, turns, humps, bumps, roller coaster rides on these roads came to a sudden halt when the vehicle stopped by the ancestral house of Khodays, where a lonely creeper of green pumpkin had spread lazily among the bushes. Mallikarjun, our driver bestowed us with all the information of Khoday’s ancestral house lying in shambles.
A few miles away, we were mystically transported to the Shri Venu Gopal Swamy -The Peninsular Temple surrounded by the back waters of Kaveri. This temple majestically and royally stood before us saying that the innovative archaeologist who unearthed HIM is none other than Shri Hari Khoday!!
The temple being re-inovated
The very temple speaks, saying time and again of its ancient history when it got submerged under the Kaveri waters. It was as though every stone has its rich rejuvenating story to talk about its Re-Origin.
It was last seen in the original location during the tenure of S. M. Krishna as the Chief Minister, which was also a period of drought and the KRS had gone dry, exposing its underbelly of slush, silt, muck and the ancient remains of the all - stone temple, that was submerged under the backwaters of KRS. Because the temple was built entirely with stone, it stood steady under the water for over seven decades without getting ravaged or dissolved.
Some inscriptions.
The Prakruthi Manthana had made rest Venu Gopal Swamy Temple under the sheets of waters. The construction of Krishna Raja Sagar Dam began with much fervor way back in 1911. As the construction progressed under the guiding light Sir. M. Vishweswariah, the temple, sunk under the waters of Kaveri.
More than 30 villages were taken to have the reservoir of KRS dam. Below is the photo taken when the water level of the reservoir went down.
Kauvery River (KRS Backwaters)
The millionaire liquor baron and industrialist decided to re - locate the temple built entirely in stone and preserve it for posterity, after 74 years of its disappearance into the Kannambadi waters.
Shri Hari Khoday the Liquor Baron as he is rightly called sought the approval of the then Honorable CM S.M.Krishna and expressed his desire to unearth the ancient temple back !! This miracle task was accomplished by him in a matter of 13 days. A selfless man as he is, used all his resources (60 tractors, 2, JCB’s and a Crane was used. Adding to these machineries a voluminous Human Resource of 2000 labourers joined their hands in accomplishing this feat.
The temple stands in all its granite glory waiting to be enhanced and completed which may last for some more months. It is a feast to mortal eyes or those who seem to look out for innovative divineness. For a moment, I thought to accomplish such a feat a divine grace with indomitable strength is a blessing to complete this immense, gigantic, extensive plan of the temple back to its originality.
The view from the temple of the KRS reservoir and the dam is really heavenly, with greenery at the far ends, and the sheet of water shimmering like bits of broken pearls and fragments of diamonds in the golden rays of the setting sun, when I was there. Some of the pictures I took during the visit are published here.
Some more nature's gift.
The temple now stands regaining its glory and divinity step by step, still waiting for the Red Carpet Welcome. I present before you, the divine shots of this Temple.
