Rathnagiri, Bahubali Vihar, Dharmasthala

Date: 24th April 2016

Visitors: Arun and Shilpi

Fee: None

Timing: 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM

After the darshan at Sri Manjunatha Temple, Dharmasthala we went to visit the Bahubali vihar. The monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali is located on top of a small hill. The hill is located right after entering the dharmasthala gateway arch. The trees on both sides of the steps made the easy and cool but too hot on the top. One can climb the steps with footwear and leave it at the top. The temple was not crowded when we reached. The place was more like a picnic spot than a religious place. Most people including us ;) were busy taking photo instead of offering prayers. There is also a small office on top. The April heat did not allow us to stand there for long in bare foot. Only when we reached up there we saw there were many vehicles parked and noticed a road leading till the temple.

Few pics from the visit.

The start of the steps to Bahubali vihar.

The view of Lord Bahubali and the surroundings.

Closer view of the monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali.

Selfie.

Another view of the statue and the flagstaff in front.

We stayed there for few minutes and came back down and started our Journey back to Bengaluru. 

Sri Manjunatha Temple, Dharmasthala

Date: 24th April 2016

Visitors: Arun and Shilpi

Fee: General None. Special entrance Rs250. Rs1000 for annadhana

Main deity: Lord Shiva

Another beautiful drive from subrahmanya to Dharmasthala. Driving in the winding 2 lane road was a wonderful experience. We reached the temple around 8 AM. There were very few cars in the parking and we though it might not be crowded and wanked inside. After crossing Heggade's residence we saw there was another parking inside and it was full. We left the foot wear in the stand and went to the ticket counter. Since we had donated money for annadhana we were sent through special entrance. We reached the point where the special and general darshan queue merges and from there the line was moving slow. Suddenly the line came to a stand still and not sure if its because of pooja timing or because of the visit by Yedayurappa (that's what someone in queue said). The queue did not move for around 20 min. After 20 min the line started moving again. The darshan of lord Manjunatha was not as peaceful as it was in Kukke. We got prasadha and came out of the temple around 9:30 AM. We wanted to have food in the temple but the lunch timing was only at 11:30 so we had to skip food.

Some pics from the temple visit.

The road towards Dharmasthala.

The wooden cars in front of the museum.

The clock tower at the temple junction.

Decorated car in front of the temple.

Another temple car.

The gateway of dharmasthala.

For the records :)

Shri Chandrapranha temple near by.

One of the must visit temples for the Hindus. The temple is also very famous for its contribution towards various social cause.