Yedatore Weekend Getaway from Bangalore/Mysore

chillibreeze writer — Savita Ramachandra

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A vision of beauty amid holy serenity.
We have been visiting Mysore a number of times of late, as there are so many places to visit around that all cannot be covered in one go. This time our destination was Yedatore. So we started off to Mysore from Bangalore, this time by train. One can go to Krishnaraja Nagar directly from Bengaluru, but as we had lots of time on hand, we decided to halt at Mysore overnight. There are many places to stay at KR Nagar but hotels at Mysore offer a much better facilities.

Yedatore is located in the Krishnaraja Nagar Taluk of Mysore district, Karnataka. Krishnaraja Nagar is about 51 kilometers from Mysore and Yedatore Sri Arkeshwaraswamy temple is a couple of kilometers further. This place is well connected with Mysore and Bangalore by bus and train. We chose to hire a taxi from Mysore to have flexibility of time and halts. We set off after a light breakfast. We drove along the Hunsur road which also leads to Hassan. It was a bright day with cool breeze. There were sugarcane fields in full bloom on either side of the road. There were many paddy fields specked with white eggerts. This view looked very beautiful. The ride was smooth as the roads are very good here.

After driving for about an hour, we reached Sri Arkeshwara Swamy temple. This is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is just beside the main road and is on the banks of river Kaveri. In front of me was the temple painted light yellow and this color augmented its glow in the sunlight. On the right side is the river in full flow. The rest of the two sides are green. There are paddy fields swaying softly to the breeze, they were seeming to enjoy some soft rhythmic music. All these put together was the picture perfect. There was another group of people who had come to solemnize a wedding at the temple. It was not crowded but not lonely either, just perfect for a family holiday.

Standing in front of the main entrance was the ‘ratha’ or the chariot of the Lord. It was beautifully and intricately carved and was about 10 feet high. We went to the river first. Here one can have a quick bath or just splash around. Swimming in this area is not advisable due to the strong under currents. So we walked down the stone steps, got down into the water ankle-deep and offered prayers to the mother Kaveri. As the monsoons had just ended, the water level was quite high.

We then went straight into the temple. This temple is mainly built of stone. As soon as we went inside the main entrance, two virtues of this place caught our attention, cleanliness and calmness of the place. This place is amazingly clean and tidy. The wide corridors were welcoming us as if with open arms. The square pillars stood as a proof of the donations and contributions of well wishers made to the temple. All the details of contributions and names of the generous were inscribed on them in Kannada.

The celestial bull or the ‘Nandi’ stood guard at the entrance, as is the case in all the ‘shivalayas’. We went around in ‘pradakshina’. In the surrounding corridor are 41 small ‘shivalingas’ depicting various forms of Lord Shiva. In the center is the main temple and to the right side of the Lord is a temple dedicated to Goddess Parvathi. The stucco images decorated the upper portion of the temple. The basic temple design is thus very simple.

We then entered the main temple. Inside the sanctum sanctorum is the one foot tall lingam. This is said to be an ‘udhbava lingam’ meaning lingam which was naturally formed (and not manmade). The head priest informed us that the rays of the sun touched the main deity only on one day in a year, which is on the next day of Mahashivarathri. And this happens only for a few minutes. We were amazed at the perfection of the architectural designers of those times.

After all the pujas, we were given sumptuous ‘prasadam’ of ‘kichidi’, ‘sweet pongal’ and ‘curd rice’. This was very filling and sufficed as lunch. We then came out and relaxed a short while on the river bank. We sat there admiring the beauty and slowly the calmness entered our beings. The scene of the distant bridge on the river could motivate anyone to be a painter or poet. This place is wonderful. We felt at peace with ourselves.

Other nearby places of interest are Chunchunkatte (18 kms), Bilikere (22 kms), Saligrama (30 kms) and Akkihebbal (27 kms). Nearest rail head is the Hampapura railway station and both the government and private buses ply till KR Nagara. There are also many hotels offering decent accommodation here. This place combined with any other nearby places makes for a lovely weekend getaway.

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