Pataleswar Temple, Talakad, Near Mysore

Talakad, also spelled as Talakadu, a small town near Mysore city of Karnataka state in India, is famous for the Cauvery river, ancient temples buried in the sand, and Panchalinga Darshan. To know more about the town, visit my post on Talakad. 

Talakad has three temples of Lord Shiva and one temple for Lord Vishnu. As mentioned above, Talakad is also famous for Panchalinga Darshan (a Darshan of five Shiva Lingas). The main temple, Vaidyanatheswara temple, is one of the five Shivlingas. From the famous Vaidyanatheswar temple, if we walk on sand for about 3 km, we will reach the temple of Pataleswar. 

 

This temple is completely buried under sand dunes. The temple comes to life when excavated for the Panchalinga Darshan festival held once every twelve years. As the temple is located underground from the path, completely buried under the sand, the deity is called "Pataleswar." (The word "Patal" means "underground." )

The Pataleswar temple is tiny. It has just one icon of Lord Shiv linga. The highlight is that it is believed that the icon keeps changing the color naturally. It seems the color of Shiv linga is different during sunrise, afternoon, and sunset.

Happy travelling. 

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