Recollection: Datta Venkata

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A brief history of the Venkateswara Temple complex

at Avadhoota Datta Peetham, Mysore

Introduction

1988: Manginapodi, A tiny beachside hamlet near Masulipatnam. His

Holiness was bathing in the sea along with a large group of devotees.

Suddenly a black object was lifted by His Holiness. It was a two feet high

black granite statue of Lord Venkateswara. Sri Swamiji then exclaimed !

Lord venkateswara is entereing Datta Peetham. In Manginapodi, Datta

Peetham has a branch, wherein is built an ancient Shiva temple and a Datta

temple recently consecrated by His Holiness. The Manginapodi is

popularly known as’ Datta Rameswaram"due to the consecration of 9 wells to

bath, as in Rameswaram.

 

In 1995: His Holiness announced that a Temple dedicated to Lord

Venkateswara would be built in the Mysore Datta Peetham premises. His

Holiness further announced that the facility , when completed, should serve

as an institute for training priests in the formal and proper way of

offering services to the deity. Various rituals that have to be performed

from dawn to dusk in a temple. "This is urgently needed in our country"

declared His Holiness. As the temple building involved several

departments of skilled artisans, a committee called "Sri Venkateswara Agama

Shikshana Kendra" was constituted . This commiittee is in overall incharge

of the development of the temple complex. Devotees took this

announcement as a Blessing. His Holiness envisaged a temple complex consisting of

the Maha Sannidhanam of Lord Venkateswara along with separate shrines

fo Goddess Padmavathy Devi, Ganapati, Dhanvanthari (the God of Ayurveda,

God of health), Navagraha ( full sized Navagraha idols with

each planet god having separate Pradakshina Marga), These temples

would be accessable from a huge Sabha Mantapa. The complex would also

contain Yaga Shala, Asthana Mantapa (to conduct temple ceremonies), kitchen

to prepare prasadam, quarters for the priest, cook and manager.

With this master plan in hand, we approached Vidwan Sri. Ananta

Padmanabha Acharya, an octegenerian pundit, reknowned for his mastery in

Vaikhanasa Agama ( the Agama scripture, that deals in the science of

building, maintaining and services for a Vishnu or Vishnu related temple). An

ardent devotee of His Holiness for over a decade, he readily accepted

and prepared the dimension, selected the appropriate site for the temple

complex in Mysore Peetham.

As instructed by His Holiness, two sets of Venkateswara and Padmavathy

idols were ordered. One set has been sculpted and supplied by Allagadda

Sthapathy of Andhra Pradesh . The sthapathy has won President’s award

for art. The second set has been sculpted by Kanakarathinam Sthapathy of

Thiru Murugan Poondi. His Holiness decided that a Ganapati idol

presented by a devotee from Orissa state in 1993, be used for the Ganapati

temple. A well known Ayurvedic doctor from Mysore had gifted to the

Peetham, a Dhanvantari idol a few years ago. That will be used for the

Dhanvanthari temple.

Sri. Muttu Kannan, a venerated stone sculptor from Shiva Ganga region

in Tamil Nadu state was appointed as the chief stone sculptor. He

visited several stone quarries in Karnataka state to check the quality and

the sculpt worthiness of the stone. He selected a quarry in Avala Halli,

a tiny village near Kanakapura.

As the stone supply commenced, Sri. Muttu Kannan brought a band of

stone sculptors from his native village, Shiva Ganga. Numbering about

forty, they have constructed their working shed, their own smeltry to

prepare the chisels, hammers, etc. (Mind that a sharp chisel lasts only sixty

sconds of sculpting).

The plans of architectural features of the temple , as designed by Sri.

Padmanabhacharya, were effected in brick and mortar by renowned

Sthapathy, Sri. John Babu of Andhra Pradesh. His task also involved the

construction of Gopurams of the temples and the Raja Gopuram towering sixty

feet in the air.

The Dhwaja Sthambham, needed a teak wood tree, measuring not less then

sixty feet in length and not less than 100 cms in circumference at the

base. A tree was located in a remote forest in Kerala and was shifted

to the temple premises. A band of carpenters seasoned the tree and

shaped it in to a Dhwaja Sthambham.

All the constructions have been professionally designed and executed by

a reputed civil construction company under the watchful supervision of

devotee engineers.

The temple is slated to be ready for Prana Pratishthapanam and

Kumbhabhishekan 23rd June, 1999.

 

 

Lakshmi Prasad.Peesapati

CQA Department

Hetero Drugs Limited

Hetero House, Hyderabad

Mailto: plp (AT) heterodrugs (DOT) com

Website: http://www.heterodrugs.com

 

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