Talakadu

Talakadu also Known as 'Talakad' is on the banks of the river Cauvery. Talakadu is situated 45 km from Mysore and 185 km from Bangalore, is known for its sand dunes. Tradition says that two hunters by name Tala and Kada attained moksha by offering worship to the deity Vaidyanatheswara and the place came to be called after them. The place was also known as Gajaranyakshetra.

It is a historically important place, as it was the capital of the Gangas for a long time. The Cholas called the place Rajarajapura as it fell into the hands of the Cholas from the Gangas and later when the Hoysalas conquered it. Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana assumed the title ‘Talakadugonda’. After 12th century Vijayanagar Kings and the Maharajas of Mysore patronized this place.

A historic site, Talakadu as number of temples that are buried under the sand dunes. The most imposing temples here are Viadyeshvara, Pataleshvara, Maruleshvara, Kritinarayana, Gourishankara and the Anandeshvara.The Pataleshwara Shivalingam is said to change colors during the day (red in the morning, black in afternoon and white in the evening). The Kirtinarayana temple (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) is known to have been built by the Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana to commemorate his victory over the Cholas in 1117 A.D. The deity is 8 ft. in height flanked by Sridevi and Bhudevi.

The temples buried in the sand are opened up for ceremonial worship on the occasion when there will be five Mondays in the month of Karthika and a large number of devotees visit the place to have panchalinga darshan. It comes once in 12 years, for the first time in this millennium it had come in just three years 2006 and 2009. The Vaidyeswara, the Arkeshvara, the Pataleshvara and the Maruleshvara temples and the Mallikarjuna at Mudukuthore are together called as Panchalingas.

Curse of Talakadu:
Talakad is also tagged with the curse called “Curse of Talakad” by Alamelamma on the Wodeyars of Mysore.

Raja Wadiyar, 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 Talakadu. Alamelamma assumed the king’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 soldiers 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 turn into an unfathomed whirlpool, Talakad turn into a barren expanse of sand and the Rajas of Wadiyar not beget male heir”. Till today whatever she has said stands true.

The Talakadu curse has established itself in the folklore as a miracle since the early part of 16th century because of two strange events visible even to date: (i) Thalakaadu, a historically vibrant city, is now submerged under sand dunes several meters deep, and (ii) the Mysore royal family have faced problem in having a rightful heir to the throne since 1610s. Both these events linked to an apparent curse by a pious lady (Alamelamma) have defied logic.