Temple

Chowdeshwari Temple at Dasarighatta is an ancient Hindu temple located near Tiptur of Tumkur district, Karnataka. Devi is installed here on an anthill. The unusually tall, vertical wild date tree (eechalu) in front of the temple is a special feature here. A Samivruksha too has added significant beauty to the temple.

Legend

Hundreds of years ago, it is said, that there was a kingdom called Nandavara on the banks of the river Tunga in Karnataka near Raichur district.  According to a legend, the king of Nandavara was a Shakti Upasaka.  With the help of divine mantra Shakti, the king used to wake up at 4 'O' Clock in the morning, reach Kasi, bathe, in the holy Ganges and return to his kingdom before dawn and offer worship to Devi at Nandavara.  This was his daily practice. Maharani becoming suspicious of his absence, questioned the king. The king revealed everything in detail. Having made up her mind to test the king, she compelled him to take her also with him. The king reluctantly accepted. The next day, he took her to Kasi along with him.  The queen had her monthly course during their stay at Kasi. This affected the king and he lost his mantra Shakti. As he was unable to return to his kingdom as usual, the king became restless and worried. While walking along the banks of Ganga, being unable to find a solution, he saw a group of Brahmans performing Chandi Homa and went near them. The Brahmans, having understood the reasons for his restlessness, promised to pass on to the king, one fourth of what they had acquired as punya(good deeds) by offering Arghya to Lord Surya every day at the appropriate time which would purify the queen and enable them to return to their kingdom. They asked the king what he would give them in return for their help. The king promised to give Jahagirs to them for purposes of their performing Dharmic deeds whenever they approached him. Thus the king got the power from the Brahmans and returned to his kingdom. He never again made use of his manthra Shakti.

Years rolled on. There came a terrible famine in Kasi. The Brahmans having remembered the king's promise, went to Nandavara and met him. They reminded him of his promise. The king had totally forgotten his promise. He abused the Brahmans and gained their displeasure. From that day onwards, all the efforts of the king started yielding negative results. The Brahmans worshipped Shri Chowdeshwari and requested her to come down to Nandavara as the lonely witness for the king's promise. Devi did as they desired. The king realized his mistake. He apologised to Devi and Brahmans. The dynasty of Brahmans thus settled at Nandavara came to be known as Nandavariks and Chowdeshwari became their Kuladevatha, she is also the family deity of Togataveeras.
There still exists a beautiful temple of Chowdeshwari at Nandavara on the banks of Tungabadra and she is being worshipped on all days of the year.

About 300 years ago, there lived a paleyagar called Jasavantharaya near Tiptur. He desired to extend his kingdom. Having come to know of the powers of Shri Chowdeshwari, he went to Nandavara and prayed to her sincerely with all devotion. Devi appeared before him and asked what he wanted. The paleyagar revealed his desire. He requested her to follow him as a protector during all his expeditions. Devi agreed on the condition that, she would stay permanently at a place of her choice. Paleyagar continued his expeditions and conquered kingdom after kingdom. While marching in this way, Devi came across a plain land, surrounded by beautiful dales and mountains, with lush green patches of forestland. Devi decided to stay there and informed the Paleyagar accordingly. This place came to be known as the town of Jasavantharaya. The same Jasavantharaya town is now called Dasarighatta.

Architecture

The temple is built on Dravidian style architecture. The temple is dedicated to goddesses shakti,known here as chowdeshwari devi. The temple looks with pyramid shaped towers and are constructed of sandstone,soapstone or granite. It has a temple tower(Gopura). The temples also houses the Navagraha idols and a large space has been designated for them. The main attraction of the temple is having several halls in its premises such as yajna-hall for occasional sacrifices, vahanamandapa-place where the festival vehicles are kept,asthana-mandapa-where the processional deity holds alankaramandapa where the processional deity is dressed before being taken on procession, vasanta-mandapa-hall in the middle of the temple tank used for festivals. This entire area is surrounded by high walls with entrances through towering gateways (gopurams). The gateway facing the sanctum is called mahadvara and is the main entrance to the temple.

Darsan Info

Temple timings : 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM (All days of the week)
Tuesdays : 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM and 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Darsan Dresscode

Clean and conservative clothing is preferred.

Famous Festival

Navaratri Utsava ( Chowdeshwari Devi Fair)

Culture

The place is one of the heritage sites mapped with many temples. Pongal and Ganesh Chaturthi are the most revered festivals of this place which are celebrated with full fervor. A special dish made of rice is cooked on these occasions.

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Temple Rituals

Morning pooja and harathi at 9:00 AM.  Archana can be conduted in the temple after 9:30 AM.

Special Rituals

Every Tuesday - Special Pooja.
Navaraathri Pooja during Navaraathri.
The secret speciality of this temple is a panchaloha idol of Shri Chowdeshwari Devi, which write backs the reply if a question is asked orally or even in mind.  The question can be posed in any language- Kannada, Hindi, English, Konkani,Telugu etc. The head of the deity is believed to write down the answers in the Kannada language on  rice flour or ragi flour base.

Additional Info