Famous Temples in India

Religious Significance

Karighatta is referred to in Varaha Purana as Nilachala which means Blue Mountain. It is said that when Sri Mahavishnu took the form of a boar during Varaha Avathara, he shook off some of his hair here. The hair grew into Dharbha grass around the temple. There are two legends associated with the temple. One says that an elephant called Kari killed four maidens who were bathing in a lake here and Sage Kutsamuni undertook a penance to bring the girls back to life. Lord Srinivasa granted his wish. The legend goes back to Treta-yuga, during the reign of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Ramachandra was constructing a bridge to Lanka in order to save mother Sita. To build the bridge, the entire monkey army was searching for stones and boulders. The powerful monkeys were bringing hills for the construction. Sugriva, the king of monkeys was also in search of such a hill. While searching, he came across the seven sacred hills of Tirumala and uprooted the Nilachala hill of Sheshachala mountain range. While carrying this sacred hill, he passed over the holy confluence of the Kaveri River. The devotees of Lord Vishnu who were performing penances at this place, saw that he was carrying Nilachala. They immediately stopped him and requested him not to take the Mountain for the purpose of construction. They narrated to him the greatness of this sacred hill. Hearing the glories of Sheshachala, Sugriva left the Hill at this place itself and continued to search for the other hill. This same hill is now known as Karighatta. ‘Kari’ meaning blackish. According to Padma Purana, Chandra – the son Atri, was Sage Brihaspati’s disciple. He fell in love with Brihaspati’s wife Tara. According to the Vedic scriptures, the guru’s wife is considered as one’s mother. Hence to get rid of this sin, Chandra performed severe penances on the banks of Paschimavahini River and would have darshana of the Lord daily at Nilachala. Sage Bodhaya performed severe penances here and achieved qualification to author the Bodhaya dharma-sutras.

Once there was a fierce battle between devatas and the rakshasas. Due to fear of their life rakshasas flew from the battlefield and took the shelter of Khyati, the wife of Bhrigu Muni. Being merciful by nature, she gave them shelter in her ashram. Devatas requested her to send them out but Khyati refused. Devatas complained to Lord Vishnu, who killed her by separating her head from her body using Sudarshana chakra. Feeling separation from his wife, the great sage cursed Lord Vishnu to take birth in bhuloka and suffer separation from his wife. The Supreme Lord graciously accepted this curse. The Lord was feeling sad that he had to kill a woman, especially the wife of a Brahmana and his devotee. Hence to atone himself from this sin, the Lord performed penances under the Ashwattha tree on this Nilachala Mountain. Lord Narasimha advised Bhrigu Muni to atone for a sin he had committed by cursing Lord Vishnu. As advised, Bhrigu Muni started performing penances on the banks of Manikarnika River to please Lord Vishnu. Lord was thus satisfied by his penances and blessed him. Bhrigu Muni requested the Lord to stay on this Mountain and bless devotees.