VAIDYANATHESWARA SWAMY TEMPLE,TALAKAD,KARNATAKA

HISTORY OF SRI VAIDYANATHESWARA SWAMY TEMPLE

Talakad(also known as Talakadu) (Kannada: ತಲಕಾಡು) is a town on the left bank of the Kaveri river at a spot where the river makes a sharp bend. It is 45 km from Mysore and 140 km from Bangalore in Karnataka, India. A historic site, Talakad once had over 30 temples that today are buried in sand. Now it is a scenic and spiritual pilgrimage center. Here the eastward flowing Kaveri river changes course and seems magnificently vast as here the sand on its banks spreads over a wide area.

Tala and Kadu - More Stories...

We paused to give our feet a bit of rest and heard the story of Tala and Kada, the two hunters, after whom my guide says, this town in named. One more story, this time, it fuses a bit of religion as well. A sage, Somadatta and his disciples were killed by wild elephants when they were doing their penance. They were said to be reborn as elephants in the same forest. Two hunters, Tala and Kada watched the ritual of the elephants offering prayers to a silk cotton tree. And out of curiosity, axed the tree down, only to find it bleeding. A voice then instructed them to heal the wound with the leaves and the blood miraculously turned milk which immortalized the hunters and the elephants as well. A temple later was built here around the tree, and the place became known as Talakadu.

In 1634 it was conquered by the Mysore Rāja under the following circumstances. Tirumala-Raja, sometimes called Srī Ranga Raya, the representative of the Vijayanagar family at Srirangapatna, being afflicted with an incurable disease, came to Talkad for the purpose of offering sacrifices in the temple of Vedesvara. His wife Rangamma was left in charge of the Government of Srirangapatna ; but she, hearing that her husband was on the point of death, soon after left for Talkad with the object of seeing him before he died, handing over Srirangapatna and its dependencies to Rāja Wodeyar of Mysore, whose dynasty ever afterwards retained them. It appears that Rāja Wodeyar had been desirous of possessing a costly nose-jewel which was the property of the Rāni, and being unable to obtain possession of it by stratagem, and eager to seize any pretext for acquiring fresh territory, he levied an army and procceded against Talkad, which he took by escalade ; the Raja of latter place falling in the action. The Rani Rangamma thereupon went to the banks of the Cauvery, and throwing in the jewel, drowned herself opposite Mālingi, at the same time uttering a three-fold curse,-"Let Talakad become sand ; let Malingi become a whirlpool ; let the Mysore Rajas fail to beget heirs." The latter part is now happily of no effect.

The following is what is known as the curse of Talakad, in the original -

• Talakadu Marulagi.
• Malingi maduvagi
• Mysore maharajarige makkalagade hogali.

A Beautiful sculpture from vaidyanatheswara swamy temple

Shiva prevents Yamaraja from taking away the life of bhaktha Markandeya.