End of India Series- Navaneeta Krishna, Dodda Malur

Dodda Malur in Channapatna Taluk, in Karnataka, has some hidden treasures. While in Bangalore this year we visited 4 such wonderful temples in and around the place. First we visited the Rama Aprameya temple which is home of the famed Aprameya Swami or Lord Vishnu. The temple is dated to be almost 1500 years old. There is a separate altar for Lakshmidevi or Aravindavalli Thayar on one side of the temple and on the other is a beautiful deity of "Ambegal Krishna" or Navaneeta Krishna, Krishna who is crawling on all fours and holding a ball of butter in one of his palms. He is carved of black granite and is absolutely enchanting to behold. On the ceiling of His sanctum are numerous miniature cradles. Some in silver and the others made of the famous Channapatna wood crafts. The local folks believe that childless couples who pray to this Lord are blessed with children. My mind went back to a conversation that I had with a devotee some years ago where she mentioned that in their tradition a woman who has only daughters is also considered barren because she doesn't have a putra /son to liberate her. . That it should come up at the moment when I was having Darshan of the Lord made me think of the powerful nature of Samskaras on our Citta. The impressions created by words sometimes torment us. Thankfully the Shastras and songs provided by our Acharyas and the positive impressions that they create far outweigh the negative impressions, and I quickly became reminded of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakura's song from Saranagati where he eloquently establishes that our only true relationship is with KRSNA. Janaka, janani, dayita, tanaya prabhu, guru, pati--tuhu sarva-moya Father, mother, lover, son, Lord, preceptor, and husband; You are everything to me. 

Srila Prabhupada's translation and purports on Putana rung in my ear Pūtanā Rākṣasī's heart was fierce and cruel, but she looked like a very affectionate mother. Thus she resembled a sharp sword in a soft sheath. Although seeing her within the room, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī, overwhelmed by her beauty, did not stop her, but remained silent because she treated the child like a mother. SB 10.6.9

Elsewhere in the purports of Canto 3 Srila Prabhupada mentions Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the motherhood of Putana because she pretended to be an affectionate mother, allowing Kṛṣṇa to suck her breast. The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?

Offering Prayers to Srila Prabhupada, I prayed to the Lord in His mind boggling baby form to please accept my least qualification and destroy the Putana like tendencies that sometimes strike my heart.

For pictures of the beautiful deities you can visit this link 

http://www.doddamallurtemple.net/visual%20treat.htm

We also visited Sri Ugra Narasimha temple in Maddur. We were rushing to have Darshan before the temple closed and from a distance we could hear a voice singing “ ito Narasimho Parato Narasimho” I was confused, how is it that I am hearing a standard ISKCON song being sung here in a somewhat remote place in Maddur, something that was not usual.. For almost a month and a half now I had been without much devotee association except for a small trip to the Bangalore Jagannath Mandir one Sunday and this was the sweetest music to my ears. After hearing next comes seeing. Then I saw the devotees with beautiful tilaks singing in rapt attention while clapping to the beat, no kartalas or mridangas, just clapping with their hands. After having Darshan of Narasimhadev who was unique with 8 hands and 3 eyes we stepped out. As wee headed to the temple of Sri Varadaraja across the Ugranarasimha temple, Iinquired  one of the matajis about their whereabouts and came to learn that they belonged to the new narasimha temple of ISKCON in Bangalore and had won this trip to Ugra Narasimha temple for having distributed many books during the Christmas Marathon. She added that many of them who had purchased Srila Prabhupada’s books also made a trip to the temple but paid for their own travel expenses. Jaya Srila Prabhupad I exclaimed, again recounting Lord Caitanya’s words "Prithivite ache yata nagaradi gram. Sarvatra pracar haibe more Nama".

You can read about this most unusual deity here http://www.vishnutemplesofkarnataka.info/Mandya/madnar.htm

We stopped next at the Varadaraja temple where the deity is carved to match the original deity at Kanchipuram and is said to have been built by Raja VishnuVardhana. The deity is said to have restored the eyesight of his aged mother who could not travel to the original temple in Knchipuram.

It was January 26, a beautiful Republic day to remember by. While remembering that I am not a Brahmana, not a kshatriya a vaisya a sudra, I quietly, offered mental obeisances for having taken birth in this wonderful land filled with treasures that shape our spiritual unfolding. I next thanked all my preceptors for having made this trip one filled with unique flavors and realizations. Without their intervention life would have been a meaningless maze of material pursuit.

Pushya Abhishek at Sri Jagannatha temple in Bangalore