One of the most
beautiful ‘man-made’ temples is Golden Mahalaxmi temple in Sripuram,Vellore. I
say man-made because unlike some other historic temples, the diety has no
history or fable attached.
The drive from Bangalore
via krishnagiri is pure pleasure if not for the frequent tolls which sometimes
test your patience with the long queue of vehicles waiting. We had to go
through 4 tolls.
Bangalore ->
Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> take left towards Vaniyambadi -> Vellore
If you go through
the Vellore town, the route is very confusing. You can ask the locals for way
to Sripuram. After a while you can see the signages. There is another route
without touching the Vellore town. But for that you have to watch out for
Sripuram signage on the right near Abdullah puram.
This temple warrants
a visit purely for its beauty. The temple is situated in a large compound. The
free darshan will take minimum 3 hrs since they make you walk through a last
queue complex. Special darshan costs Rs 250 per adult. This is faster and you
can complete the darshan within an hour. Nothing is allowed inside except the
wallet with money.
The first thing that
you see after entering the complex is the thoranas and a well maintained
garden. The main complex is in the shape of star (Sri chakra). The temple is in
the middle of a round pond (reminds of golden temple of Amritsar). The walls of
the temple are covered with gold and so is the diety. The whole complex is a
beautiful piece of art with intricate designs.
It is said that
around 1500 Kilograms of gold was used for this temple. There is a special
lighting system which makes the temple glitter at night.
We started at 5.30
am on a Saturday, reached the temple by 8.30 am. Started back by 10 am and
reached Bangalore well in time for lunch.
One can also visit
the Vellore fort on their way back which is not too huge but will still take an hour to cover.
