Venkataramana Temple, Mangalore: Of Great Religious Value!

The Venkataramana temple, Mangalore, established in the Carstreet, is a famous temple of the Gowd Saraswat Brahmin (G.S.B) community. Many people throng the temple to obtain the grace of the charming Lord Sri Veera Venkatesha Swamy, who is enshrined there. It is of great religious significance.

Venkataramana Temple, Mangalore history (Story one)

According to sources, two seemingly fascinating accounts are marked in history regarding the enshrinement of Lord Sri Veera Venkatesha Swamy in the Venkataramana temple, Mangalore. The first is the charm of the Lord, and the second, the most popular one, is his divine power.

Venkataramana Temple, Mangalore. Source SVT Mangalore

Some believe that Bairagi, an ascetic, lived in a temporary shelter in Carstreet and started worshipping the charming idol of Lord Sri Veera Venkatesha Swamy in 1804 A.D. Soon, people began to flock to the place for worship and Bairagi to avoid the thronging crowd, moved to lower Carstreet. However, the people, who were the majority of the G.S.B community, in solidarity, were bent on procuring the beautiful idol to be kept in their temple. So they approached the esteemed family of Sowkar Thimmappa Pai and succeeded in their mission.

Venkataramana Temple history (Story two)

The second and the most famous account of the Venkataramana temple, Mangalore, is that Bairagi left the idol covered with cloth in a sack at Sowkar Thimmappa Pai’s shop for a certain sum of money IN 1804 A.D. The deal was that if the ascetic failed to return the borrowed money, the bag’s contents would become Sowkar’s belongings. One day, people noticed fumes from the shop’s storey where the Sowkar kept the sack with the idol. The shop guard informed the Sowkar, who rushed to the spot. To everyone’s astonishment, there was no fire but only fumes emerging from the sack. On opening the sack, the matchless beauty of the Lord spellbound them carved in the idol. The Sowkar thus temporarily kept the idol in his family temple (Opp: Sri Gokarna Math, Carstreet). He also requested his fellowmen to look for Bairagi, but they returned in vain.

The Sowkar and the people then decided to present the idol for further instructions before H.H. Shrimad Vibhudhendra Thirtha Swamiji of Sri Kashi Math Samsthan, who were camping at Manjeshwar. Swamiji instructed that they enshrine the idol in the G.S.B community temple alongside the presiding deity, Sri Veera Vittala. On the auspicious day of Jyeshta Shuddha Trayodashi of Rakatakshi Samvatsara, the idol was consecrated and enshrined under the guidance and instructions of Swamiji in the Venkataramana Temple.

In 1816, the temple came to be addressed as Kodial Sri Venkataramana Temple.

About the Venkataramana temple, Mangalore

In the sanctum sanctorum, along with Sri Veera Venkatesha Swamy, there are also idols of Sri Veera Vittala, Sri Moola Venkataramana, Sri Utsava Srinivasa, Sri Gopalakrishna, Sri Hayagriva and Sri Naga. The Lord in the Venkataramana temple has been offered a Navaratna crown, a golden crown, a diamond crown, a golden palanquin, and a silver lalki over a period of time. Consequently, the Ganapati idol, Sri Lakshmi Devi’s idol and the Garuda were also installed in the temple for worship. There are many ceremonies and festivals celebrated in the temple. The Venkataramana temple follows the Madhwa Vaishnava tradition advocated by Sri Madhwacharya.