Historical Ravi Rameshwara Temple at H.

D Kot e Sri Ravi Rameshwara temple, part of the Taranimunti (Kittur) village, has a history of around 1500 years. Kittur village was the capital of the Punnata i ngdom, the first annada ingdom. Punnata ingdom is believed to have been estab lished prior to 345 A.D and they were the first to use our Kannada script. The t emple was built between 430 A.D. and 450 A.D during the reign of Ramaverma. Arou nd the year 1960 the Kabini dam project was ta en up and this made it inevitable to shift some villages adjacent to the dam as these would be submerged.Kittur a nd our temple were one of those affected. The careta ers of the temple were the Arasu families of Mysore samsthana. They decided to shift all the Devi-Devathas to another temple.But this did not go as planned.Instead,these vigrahas were sol d for a price. However, the main Sri Ravi Rameshwara idol could not be touched a s the Nagaraja ( ing of sna es) was guarding it. Hence for about 40 years, Sri R avi Rameshwara remained in seclusion and provided shelter for wild animals In th e year 2000,group of our people made a suggestion to assemble all the migrated K ittur families and form an association. The Sri Ravi Rameshwara temple was in a dilapidated condition. It was difficult to even enter the temple premises. The S ri Ravi Rameshwara temple has been cleaned and restored to the current state. Wo r on improving the temple is still in progress. From 2010 onwards, the Mahashiv arathri pooja is celebrated in a grand manner. In Kittur the villagers of Tarani munti come together to celebrate the Mahashivarathri pooja. We have a Ravi Rameshwara temple there where every year people in large n umbers gather to celebrate Shivratri festival with immense faith.This year we we re luc y to be there to see his blessings and thought the experience is worth a share. Lets slightly dwell into its history. We have a Ravi Rameshwara temple there where every year people in large n umbers gather to celebrate Shivratri festival with immense faith.This year we we re luc y to be there to see his blessings and thought the experience is worth a share. Lets slightly dwell into its history. They built a Guest House in Kittur, according to the village standards.It h as a large dining hall with 2 rooms and a bathroom. The reason why I specified t he 'village standard' is, people well accustomed to city luxuries should not exp ect the same here. After all we are see ing peace in a village. Now getting bac onto the trac , let me shed some more light on this year' s Shivratri celebration. On the morning of Mahashivarathri, Rudrabhishe a was pe rformed. Few days before the festival, villagers of Kittur had requested to marr y off a couple who were economically unstable. So, in the evening necessary arra ngements were made for the marriage to ta e place. This is just one of the examp les which ma es clear that the association (Kittur Balaga) also intends to uplif t the village families socially and economically along with the welfare of their own. Following the wedding was the Teppotsava, where the lord's Utsavamurthy is relaxed on the coracle and ta en on a blissful ride on the waters of Kapila riv er. This sight is beyond words. On the Shivratri night, arrangements had been made to entertain fol s in tending to do jaagarane(staying up whole night). Hari atha and bhajans. Next day we had early morning poojas which extended till 11AM andthere is annasantharpan e(serving food to all the devotees) in the temple. This was just a gist that I h ave provided here. One should experience and enjoy the above in person. Imagine sleeping on the ban s of Kapila river watching the sun change into its divine dawn color and the birds drifting right in front of the sun bidding it goodbye.Just the thought brings so much peace within us.I recently happened t o enjoy this peace in Kittur ( H.D Kote). This is a remote village in the Mysore district, Karnata a near Kabini dam. and you can also experiance the Wildlife Resorts Li e :- Orange County and The

Jungle Resorts. Any further details about the Temple, please feel free to Reac h Us. Route:BANGALORE (245 Kms) Mysore Highway Ramanagara Maddur Mandya Srirangapatna Before reaching Mysore City turn right on to ring road, continue till you meet Mysore * Mananthavaadi Road (Turn right towards Maananthavaadi) * Hand Post Circle (Continue straight towards Maananthavaadi) * 3 Kms after Hand Post Circle turn left towards Kabini Dam * Beechanahalli Village * Kittur Temple Contact Us:Ravi Rameshwara Temple (Kittur) H.D Kote, Mysore E-mail :- ravirameshwaratemple@gmail.com * * * * * *