Talakad Then... Raja Wadiyar, ruler of Mysore State, conquered Srirangapatna fort from Srirangaraya, then viceroy of Vijayanagar Empire, in 1610. The viceroy retired to Talakad and his wife, Alamelamma, is said to have fled with jewels of Adi Ranga temple in Srirangapatna to Talakad. Raja Wadiyar sent his soldiers to Talakad. Alamelamma assumed theking’s men had come to capture her and make her a slave. She tried to escape to T Narasipura. She found no way to escape from the solders but to jump into Malangi river. Legend says that when the king’ soldiers tried to get at the fleeing Alamelamma, they got her hair before she disappeared into the water. At that moment she cursed “Talakadu managali, Malangi madwagali, Mysooru arasarige makkalu aagadirali” which translates to “May Malangi become a whirlpool, Talakad turn into a desert and the Rajas of Wadiyar not beget male heir”. Till today whatever she has said stands true. Now... (2007)Nearly 400 years after the Mysore royal family was cursed by the Alamelamma, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar is making amends. He will construct a temple in Talakad near Mysore dedicated to Alamelamma. The deity of Alamelamma is now in a box and opened only on Navami (nith) day during Dasara. She is adorned with jewellery and finery, worshipped and replaced in the box. The cue to dedicate a temple came from a well-wisher of Wadiyar, who had a clairvoyance of Alamelamma. Wadiyar said “In April 2007, my friend dreamt of seeing the image of a woman trying to emerge from a watery grave. He is said to have asked her what she wanted and the soman sought to know why the king (Wadiyar) not treating her pitra or matra”. During clairvoyance, Alamelamma is supposed to have said that miracles will happen to him. Wadiyar said a curse uttered will stay for seven generations. The curse was uttered in 1610. Since 2003, Wadiyar had strange experiences. He use to get the smell of a cigar and perfume his father used. In 2006, he felt the woman was trying to tell him to light ghee lamps besides the oil ones before her portrait. Wadiyar has not visited the room where the woman’s idol is kept in a box along with her hair. Alamelamma’s presence in Mysore Palace was supposedly witnessed by the guards, when the place was taken over by the state government in 1976-77 and they informed Wadiyar. It is believed during Navami night, the guards heard the jingling of anklets starting from the bridge which connects the palace and its annexe. The jingle grew louder as it neared the throne, reached the durbar hall where the armory is kept, went up to the Ganapaathi temple before dying down at the room where the deity is kept. EssentialsGetting Here - By Road: 48 Kms from Mysore
- By Train: Mysore is the nearest railway station
Where To Stay Food |
