We set off on a sunny Sunday to visit places near Bangalore. After research, we selected Koti Lingeswara in kolar district and Bangaru Tirupati in Guttahalli temple. Armed with maps from google, GPRS in phone and bagful of food, we started on our journey at 8am. We stopped on the way to have breakfast and continued on.
As soon as you enter the place, you can see the idols (linga) on either side of the road in the village. There is a large Linga that is visible on the right. Parking is available near the temple. We went one day before sivarathri. The temple was being decorated for the occasion. At the last count there are 90 lakh lingas. The goal is to complete 1 crore lingas within the premises. The first linga to be placed is revered as the main deity.
The large linga is supposedly the tallest linga in the world measuring 108 feet and right in front of it is a large 35 feet high basava (bull). There is a separate place for devotees to perform abhisheka to a small linga place in a water tank.
Within the temple premises other lingas are scattered in a variety of sizes. There are many smaller temples of other hindu Gods. Main ones are temple dedicated to trimurthis: Shiva-Parvati, Vishnu-Lakshmi and Brahma-Saraswati.
We then moved towards Guttahalli where there is a famous temple by name of Bangaru Tirupati. This place is around 10 kms from Koti Lingeswara. The localites can guide you. As soon as you enter the temple premises, you can see the pond with cool water. There are lot of monkeys around eagerly awaiting to snatch things from your hand.
There are two hillocks within the premises on either side. Venkateswara swamy temple is towards the left. Once you reach the top of the small hill, it is a breathtaking view. The main diety, Ekantha Srinivasa, is seen through a small window (which is surprising). The priest enters the place through a small alcove. The diety merely glance from the window. On the second hill is the temple of Padmavati Devi. The temple premises are serene and clean.
