Hiremagalur Kodanda Ram Temple

Chickmagalur, the land of coffee, is one of India's most beautiful travel destinations. The word "Chikmagalur" means the land of the younger daughter in the Kannada language. There is a small town near Chikmagalur, which is called Hiremagalur. This word means the land of the elder daughter. In Hiremagalur, there is a big ancient Rama temple located. This article talks about this temple.

Kodanda Rama Temple is the top attraction of Hiremagalur. The sanctum, along with the beautiful sculptures on the walls of the sanctum, are the works of Hoysalas. It is dated to the 14th century CE. The Mukha mandapa, tower and the other sub-shrines were later additions by Vijayanagara and other Kings.

The neatly maintained east-facing temple has a five-tiered tower. There are a few stucco images on the tower. The images of Shankaracharya, Madhva and Ramanuja together are noticeable. Although these images are new, finding the founders of three different schools of thought is unusual.

As per the legend, Parasurama lived in this town. Hence, the town was called Bhargavapuri in those days. (Bhargava is another name for Parasurama). It is believed that Parasurama, who met Rama only after the latter's wedding, requested him to give the darshan of divine wedding. Accordingly, Rama held Sita on his right side and gave darshan to Parasuram. Rama also got his younger brother to his left side. To depict this legend, the life-sized stucco images of Rama and Parasurama are found outside the temple complex.

Even the atheist would turn a devotee by seeing the beautiful idols of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. My vocabulary is limited, and I cannot explain how stunning these images are. All these three images are very tall, and additionally, a small image of Hanuman is also found along with them in the sanctum. Rama and Lakshmana carry bows in their arms and Sita is found at the right side of Ram. The bronze icons of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana are also located in the sanctum.

The flag staff, bali peetha and Ram Paduka are found facing toward the sanctum. The metal idol of Hanuman (in the posture of Vahan) is also found facing towards the presiding deity.

In Maha Mandapa, the big bronze images of Srinivasa-Sri Devi-Bhoo Devi, Vishnu seated on Garuda and Kaliya Nardana Krishna are located.

The temple has one prakara. There are many sub-shrines found in the prakara that include:

• Rukmini-Panduranga
• Vishnu
• Yoga Narasimha (big idol)
• Madhava in the standing posture
• Venu Gopal
• Ramanuja
• Desikar
• Tirumangai Alwar
• Periyalwar
• Lakshmi
• Nammalvar
• Hanuman
• Navagraha (located outside the temple)

We could always find devotees in this temple who keep writing Sri Rama Jayam. The temple authorities have arranged the desks and writing materials to enable the devotees to do so.

The sculptures found on the sanctum's walls are exquisite. As mentioned earlier, they all belong to Hoysala's period. Most sculptures are related to Vaishnavism sects such as Narasimha, Krishna, Garud, Varaha, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Hanuman, etc.

The image of Ganesha is found in a niche.

Happy travelling.