Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud
ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ, ನಂಜನಗೂಡು
Why this temple matters
On the banks of the Kapila, Shiva is worshipped as Srikanteshwara — Nanjundeshwara, who drank the world's poison — in one of Karnataka's largest temples, long honoured as its Dakshina Kashi.
History
Nanjangud stands on the Kapila (Kabini) river south of Mysuru, its great temple grown across centuries from Ganga and Chola foundations through Hoysala and Wadiyar patronage. Here Shiva is Srikanteshwara, also called Nanjundeshwara, 'the god who consumed the poison', recalling the churning of the ocean when Shiva swallowed the halahala to save the worlds.
Architecture
One of the largest temples in Karnataka, it spreads through pillared halls and many shrines beneath a tall Dravidian gopura, the whole enlarged by the Wadiyar kings of Mysuru. Its long corridors and subsidiary sanctums make it a temple-town in itself.
Legends
The name Nanjundeshwara — from nanju, poison — recalls how Shiva held the world-destroying poison in his throat at the churning of the milk-ocean. Tradition tells too that the Mysuru ruler and later Tipu Sultan made offerings here, Tipu gifting an emerald linga in gratitude when the god was said to have cured his ailing elephant.
Festivals
The car festivals (rathotsava), when the great temple cars are drawn through the town, are the grandest occasions, alongside Maha Shivaratri. The Kapila's banks fill with pilgrims through the year.
The Experience
Nanjangud rewards the pilgrim with the sense of a whole sacred town — vast halls, a riverside setting, and the presence of the god who took poison for the world's sake.