Standing in chest deep muddy water in the narrow cave surrounded by 1000s of people, I wonder do I go back home or will I be in next day’s newspaper as a victim of stampede! I was inside the Narasimha Jharani temple in Bidar.
For me, Bidar was an unexciting place with unbearable heat. Bidar is a district located in northern part of Karnataka with Bidar city as its headquarters. I wouldn’t have visited Bidar but for my colleague's wedding.Sometimes few things happen for good.Once I entered Bidar, it didn’t take much time to realize that I was wrong about my opinion on Bidar.
Bidar has got so much to offer to a wandering soul.Forts,Tombs, Domes,Temples and more. Narasimha Jharani temple is an interesting unique place. Jharani means stream of water. I was told that it is a temple inside the cave. That is not something new in India.
The world itself is a dark cave resting in the womb of the lord, is an old Hindu mythological saying.It is called deva garbha. But again the creative human mind made its own concept of deva and devis to give many manifestations with different stories. Similarly, the temple structures have many architectural manifestations and wonderful legends.
Narasimha Jharani is joust not a temple inside the cave but you need to wade through the water for little over 300-350 meters to get darshana of Narasimhaswamy. He is accompanied by Shiva Linga.
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| Starting point of the cave. Crowd started after few steps |
As expected there is a legend behind this. Narasimha is an avatara of Lord Vishnu. He killed Hiranyakashipu, to fulfill the purpose of his avatara. After killing Hiranyakashipu, he had another duty to complete to kill demon Jalasura. Jalasura was a devotee of Shiva and he went inside the cave where he was killed by Narasimha. Jalasura took the form of jala(water) and started flowing out of the cave. Just before taking his last breath Jalasura requested Narasimha to stay inside the cave. Narasimha agreed. Hence you find both the deities here. The water originates from the unknown spring and flows throughout the year.
It is a symbolic story.Where there is godliness there can’t be asuric forces.So jalasura the asuric energy has to go out is what I interpret.
Along with the wedding ceremony to attend, we had kept one day for sightseeing. When we heard about this place we were enthusiastic to see the cave.
When we reached there by 11 am, it was crowded. That was a special day of chaitrapoornima ( Special full moon day in spring). It was supposed to be very auspicious day to visit this temple. There was a big queue before entering the cave. We were wondering whether to get in or go back. Finally, decided to enter as we were curious to see the cave.
It was a hot midday.Least we knew what was waiting for us inside. It took a while to get in. Cave starts here. Width of the cave is about 1.8mt. Height is also less. Bats were hanging in the roof.. Very few tube lights to throw some light. There were ducts laid to bring fresh air in. Within few seconds we were walking in chest deep water. It was a brown muddy water. As we waded through water for few steps it was chaotic. That 1.8 mt path was the only way to come in and go out of the cave.
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| Bats hanging to the roof of the cave |
We were trapped. Couldn’t go back nor could go inside. After few minutes we started moving inch by inch for couple of hours standing in the queue. There was no network to call anyone. There was tension in the air.We could see mob psychology which could burst any time.As always it is clueless. I realized how stampede happens in religious places. Most of us were not carrying our cell phones and camera. Hence all the pictures posted here were taken by my colleague Vittal. He managed to carry his camera.
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| Devotees...Look at the width of the tunnel cave . |
We finally reached the end of the cave where the swayambhu idol of lord Narasimha is worshipped. It is believed to be not a creation of an artist. But self manifested one. We find such deities all over India.People believe that such places have positive vibrations and are more powerful than man made temples. It took 2.5 hours to reach 300-350 mts. We just got a glimpse of the deity and started to go back as there was no space even to stand and people from behind were pushing. Crowd towards the exit was thinning down. Hence, while coming back it was not so difficult to walk through the tunnel cave.
I was told that in normal days hardly any people come to Narasimha Jharani.
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| Outside the temple..Shelters for devotees |
Overall, it was a good adventurous and awesome experience. I would have missed important slice of experience in life if I had not visited this place. Thanks to Narasimha :-) !!!!
Travel Tips –
1.Avoid visiting during festival days and summer. You can relaxingly enjoy the nature around the temple on normal days
2. You can reach Bidar by Train or by bus from Bangalore. It is just 145 kms from Hyderabad
3.There are few hide outs for changing. But not so hygienic. We can just manage.