Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple

Kalkunte village is in Bengaluru rural district in the state of Karnataka. It is also known as Kalkunte Agraharam. Agraharam is the community of temple priests settled around the temple. It is like a gated community of pujaris whose focus is the worship of Lord only.

Karnataka holds an unexplored treasure of temples. Each and every temple is unique and rare. Every temple is a marvel in itself. One lifetime is definitely not sufficient to explore these temples in Karnataka itself forget about the length and breadth of this country.

Kalkunte houses the temple of Lord Ranganatha Swamy Who is blissfully reclined on the Adisesha bed. Lord Ranganatha here is lovingly called as Prasada Priya Ranganatha – one who loves the naivedya or bhoga offered by devotees. The temple dates back to Vijayanagara period.

Very delicious puliyogare (tamarind rice) and sakkare-pongal (jaggery kheer) are offered to Lord Ranganatha during every utsava. No matter why the Lord is known as Prasada Priya Ranganatha.

History of Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple

Temple priest says that the Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple has a history spanning over eight hundred years but not recorded properly or it is unfortunately lost. However, Lord Ranganatha is worshiped in this temple since two hundred years.

No one knows where the vigraha was worshiped originally. Many devotees believe that the vigraha of Lord Ranganatha is swayambhu i.e, self-manifested and this belief is not supported by any Vedic literature or the sthala purana.

When Ramanujacharya migrated to Karnataka, many of his disciples followed him. A family of such disciples from a village near Kanchipuram, settled in Kalkunte with the help of grant offered by the Kings of Mysore.

After such settlement, obviously the temple must be present within such community of devotees which by now were called as Kalkunte Iyengars. One devotee within the community had a dream that a vigraha of Lord Ranganatha was present in Vokkaleri village near Kolar District. At the same time Lord appeared in the dream of pujari at Vokkaleri instructing him to hand over the vigraha for Kalkunte temple.

At Vokkaleri Lord Ranganatha was found within the anthill. One day the villagers noticed that the cow was pouring milk into the anthill in which the Deity was situated. On the same day in the dream of priest Sri Srinivasa Bhattar, Lord bestowed him with the darshan of His Deity form and ordered him to remove the Deity, install it and begin worshiping.

It is said that at the peak of the grandeur of this temple, two hundred kilos of food used to be offered to the Lord. Lord Ranganatha is also known as Kenavil Kanda Perumal – Lord who was seen in the dream.

Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Architecture

The temple is built in Vijayanagara style. It has a raja gopuram and prakara. Rajagopuram is flanked by the elephants with mahouts on them. The rare side of the temple complex has a small mandapa. At the entrance, on either side, Dashavatara are carved beautifully on the wall. There are separate altars for Alwars and Acharyas.

Lord Ranganatha is in ananthashayana pose, facing North-East (Ishanya) direction. He has four arms. Sri Devi and Bhu Devi are seated at Lord’s lotus feet. Brahma is emerging from the Nabhi. Garuda Deva is present along with Lord just below Adisesha. After the Moksha Ranganatha Temple in Rangasthala, this is one of the most beautiful and charming vigrahas of the Lord I have ever had darshan of.

Utsava murthy of Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple

The utsava murthy of Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple was in the vicinity of Maharaja of Mysuru. When surrounding villagers requested for the utsava murthy, royal family refused. Few days later, the same utsava murthy of Sri Ranganatha Swamy was stolen.

Thieves placed that stolen Deity in a village near the rock in a pit. Due to some reason the base of the utsava murthy was broken in this process. Some passer-by villagers were drawn to the shining of the metal of the Deity and thus found the utsava murthy of Sri Ranganatha.

Inspite of the base being broken, the Deity was installed in the temple as the utsava murthy of Sri Ranganatha and named as Lord Keshava. Since the stolen Deity of Keshava was found near a lake (‘kunte’ means lake in Kannada), in the pit of stone, the village came to be known as Kalkunte. The name also originates from Kalakandu – the sugar crystals or Kalla Kunte lake surrounded by stones.

Festivals celebrated in Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple

Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy Brahma Rathotsava is held every year during Magha Masa on Pubba Nakshatra day. The Poojas in the temple are performed as per the Pancharatra Agamas. During the Karthika Masa and Dhanurmasa special pujas are offered to the Lord.

How to reach Kalkunte Ranganatha Swamy Temple

The best way to reach Kalkunte Ranganatha Swamy Temple is to join Tirtha Yatra and get your tour organised.

By Road: Kalkunte Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple is 37 kms from Bengaluru. Road transport can be easily availed, taxis are also available from Bengaluru.

By Rail: Bengaluru railway station is the nearest railway station. It is well-connected by important towns of India.

By Air: The nearest airport is at Bengaluru. Private taxies are available from this airport location.