Today we went to yet another temple in Malleswaram- the Nandishwara Teertha temple. We'd saved it to go to when Alex was visiting, so today was the day!
The old woman guarding the shoes outside the temple was quite delighted with us. She smiled, blessed kids, and smiled some more. I took it as a good sign.
This temple is dedicated to Shiva and Nandi (his cow mount) and was discovered in 1999 according to the few online sources I've found. It was buried, and when the plot of land was excavated the central pool and steps surrounding it were discovered. The source of water that feeds the pool is considered to be a miracle. Here it is, as you enter the main shrine (the temple complex is much bigger than just this shrine).
And a close up:
What you can't see is that the stream of water that feeds the pool is issuing from the mouth of the black cow, Nandi, in the center of the picture. This pic is a little better, but not a lot. But hey, we're not photographers here ;)
You also can't see the turtles that live in the pool.
But now you can!
The kids love, love, loved the turtles. They sat in the sun and watched the them for quite a while, and were delighted when, right before we left, one they'd been watching struggle to leave the pool and sun itself finally gained the bank.
There weren't a lot of other people at the temple. It was so quite and peaceful and the atmosphere was...really religious. I mean, I'm sure that sounds kind of obvious (it's a temple, right?), but this space seemed to have more divine energy to me than other temples we've been in. It felt pretty amazing to be there.
After we'd been there for a little while two women in their early 20s approached Liel and said hi to her. They were so sweet, and really excited about her, which is a rather common occurrence here in India. Liel attracts admirers wherever she goes. At any rate these two chatted her up, asking her name, where she was from etc, then left to be blessed by the priest and drink some of the holy water. Then, to my surprised and delight, they returned bringing a small leaf bowl of sweet rice, which they gave to Liel. We all shared it and it was delicious!
On the way out the shoe minding lady beamed at us all again and shook all of our hands.
We all loved the temple, and plan to go back at least one more time before we leave Bangalore!
The old woman guarding the shoes outside the temple was quite delighted with us. She smiled, blessed kids, and smiled some more. I took it as a good sign.
This temple is dedicated to Shiva and Nandi (his cow mount) and was discovered in 1999 according to the few online sources I've found. It was buried, and when the plot of land was excavated the central pool and steps surrounding it were discovered. The source of water that feeds the pool is considered to be a miracle. Here it is, as you enter the main shrine (the temple complex is much bigger than just this shrine).
And a close up:
What you can't see is that the stream of water that feeds the pool is issuing from the mouth of the black cow, Nandi, in the center of the picture. This pic is a little better, but not a lot. But hey, we're not photographers here ;)
You also can't see the turtles that live in the pool.
But now you can!
The kids love, love, loved the turtles. They sat in the sun and watched the them for quite a while, and were delighted when, right before we left, one they'd been watching struggle to leave the pool and sun itself finally gained the bank.
There weren't a lot of other people at the temple. It was so quite and peaceful and the atmosphere was...really religious. I mean, I'm sure that sounds kind of obvious (it's a temple, right?), but this space seemed to have more divine energy to me than other temples we've been in. It felt pretty amazing to be there.
After we'd been there for a little while two women in their early 20s approached Liel and said hi to her. They were so sweet, and really excited about her, which is a rather common occurrence here in India. Liel attracts admirers wherever she goes. At any rate these two chatted her up, asking her name, where she was from etc, then left to be blessed by the priest and drink some of the holy water. Then, to my surprised and delight, they returned bringing a small leaf bowl of sweet rice, which they gave to Liel. We all shared it and it was delicious!
On the way out the shoe minding lady beamed at us all again and shook all of our hands.
We all loved the temple, and plan to go back at least one more time before we leave Bangalore!
1 comment:
I am touched to read how the temple affected you. To hear how the old lady at the door responded to you all was lovely.
I am happy to learn that people are attracted to Liel. That must feel good to Liel and you too!
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