Karnataka: Two places of worship

Srirangapatna (Srirangapattana) is about 13kms from Mysore City. In modern history the town is mostly known as the former capital of Hyder Ali and and his son Tippu Sultan. Tippu was killed there during the Forth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799.

Sriranganathaswamy Temple

The place is named after the Sriranganathaswamy (Lord Vishnu) temple which is believed to have been built by the Ganga Dynasty in the 9th century CE. Subsequently the Hoysala and Vijayanagara rulers made improvements to this famous Vaishnavite shrine.

Carvings on the temple rath.

Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar had built a church for his Catholic subjects in 1843. As the congregation grew with the passage of time the need for a larger building was felt. Therefore, it was decided to construct a new church at the same location.



The foundation stone for the present St. Philomena’s Church was laid by the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, on October 28th, 1933. The church was consecrated in 1936.

St. Philomena's Church

This shrine is believed to be the only one in the world which has the relic of St. Philomena. It was obtained for the church by Thambu Chetty, Secretary to the Maharaja of Mysore.



The photographs were taken by Binita Kuruvilla last month. Copyright reserved.



An addenda:

The image below is Temple near Bangalore (Mysore), with Savandrug in the distance. – a pencil, wash, and water-colour drawing by Thomas (1749-1840) and William (1769-1837) Daniell. Source: The British Library, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, reproduced from Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

All the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.



Also see:



Vedas, Syrian Christians

In the news today

Karnataka Kabadi

There is so much to write about what is going on in Karnataka but due to a personal reason I am keeping quiet. The circus, however, goes on.

Cricket: ‘Colonel’ takes on the ‘army’?

‘Colonel’ Dilip Vengsarkar, Chairman of the BCCI selection committee has defied the Board’s ban on the selectors writing columns. He has also reportedly protested against the guidelines issued by the Board to the selectors and is trying to gather support for his stand from the other selectors.

In a way, this is understandable. The directive from the BCCI also proscribes the selectors talking to the media, traveling abroad to watch matches, appearing as experts on TV and spending time with the players in the dressing room. Which selector would like such restrictions?

A report by Sunit Kaul and Shamik Chakrabarty in tday’s Deccan Chronicle quotes a selector saying, “It is the prerogative of the BCCI to issue guidelines. But we are opposed to the manner in which things have been done.” Like the dumping of Rahul Dravid from the ODI team?

Inconvenient Judiciary

‘People’s Democracies’ do not need the kind of judiciary that the ordinary democracies like India have. It is an inconvenience and stand in the way of peace and progress because the judges do not understand the needs of the poor and the downtrodden. This is the gist of what the leaders of the Communist Marxist Party (CPM) in West Bengal and Kerala are saying.

Yesterday the Kerala High Court made scathing comments against the Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan. The background is a case relating to the import of palm oil which could adversely affect the prospects of the coconut farmers. What drew the ire of the High court was the Chief Minister’s public statement against the judge hearing the case. This could lead to contempt of court charge.

But who cares? In the great march towards the worker’s (meaning organized labor) paradise, these are minor irritants. And, for company the CPM has Gen. Musharraf who declared emergency to save Pakistan from the judges.

Nandigram in Parliament

The BJP had a point when it raised the shameful Nandigram issue in the Parliament. But the party overlooked one small matter. When there was a move to discuss the Gujarat riots in the House, it had vehemently argued that law and order was a State subject.

The Congress kept quite about Nandigram in Parliament. Well, 123 Agreement is still alive, so don’t rub the Left. The silence of the lambs!

Ends.

Also see:

Cricket: Rahul Dravid’s ‘colonel’ bogey

123 Nuclear Agreement – should the PM resign?

Kerala: Of monkeys and nuts

Contempt of Court - express your views