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DevarayanaDurga Narasimha temples - Tumkur tourist attractions

In this article we cover our visit experience to famous Narasimha temples of Devarayanadurga , a hill station near Tumkuru about 70 kms from Bengaluru city. 

Highlights of temples at Devarayanadurga

  • Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha temple at base of Devarayanadurga Hill
  • Yoga Narasimha temple at hill top of 1200 mts
  • Constructed during 16th century by Mysore wodeyars following Dravidian structure
  • Following renovations done during Chikka Devaraya Wodeyar , place named after him as 'Devarayana' and Durga meaning Fort. 
  • Sanjeevaraya - Hanuman temple at hill base.
  • Dasoha - free lunch programme for devotees

Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple

Our team visited this spot on a Sunday noon on their way back covering Goravanahalli Mahalakshmi temple at Tumkur. The drive way to this spot is really awesome covering the stretch highway roads , hill station scenic curvy roads surrounded with lush green. There is an entrance fee for vehicles to enter the area - we paid around Rs.30.  It was about 12.30 PM - both temples were luckily open for Darshan till 5.00 PM being a weekend. 

Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple pillars

We first visited Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple at the temple base which had 3 sanctums. Very soon we got the darshan of Narasimha & Lakshmi Idols unique of its kind with Narasimha in standing position. Behind the temple is a not to miss Pond / Kalyani from where one can get a good view of surrounding village hilly area. There were tracks to reach the rock faces nearby


Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple pond

Bhoga Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple sanctum

It was around 1.30 PM and time for lunch - there were no hotels at this spot  except few snack shops - luckily we had the Dasoha open serving free lunch for devotees till 2 PM , we managed to get in in herd of devotees and fill our stomachs enough to carry out our rest of journey !! 

There is another Sanjeevaraya swamy temple which seemed to attract less visitors and noticed. Sanjeevaraya is believed to be another form of Hanuman.

Sanjeevaraya swamy temple
We then started to ascend towards Yoga narasimha temple situated on hill top , the 2 km drive from hill base was mesmerizing passing through S shaped curves with Monkey friends all around.  There is good parking facility at Hill top , however due to narrow roads - traffic management was needed to allow one path to flow followed by other. We managed to park our car at an awesome location where at both ends was filled with breezy hilly region. 

Yoga Narasimha swamy temple hill - Hanuman carving
There are two ways to reach this temple , one is by taking stairs from hill base which may be having some more than 1000 steps , else from this parking spot which covers around 200 steps.  There are hawker shops selling snacks , beverages for visitors . At the entrance we noticed a hanuman idol carved on the hill rocks , we sipped in some fresh juice at this spot & moved further . Old remains of fort can be noticed while climbing the stairs. Soon we reached on top , took darshan of Yoga Narasimha temple - Idol look alike the one we noticed at Bhoga Narasimha temple . While outside the temple we enjoyed the cool breeze , inside the temple we had to sweat out !!

Yoga Narasimha swamy temple hill
There is a small pond / Kalyani in front of temple which serves for Idol abhishekams & pooja - this spots attracts visitors to take selfies an relax in the midst of nature. After covering these spots we descended back covering other spots of Devaranaya durga which we shall cover separately in another article.

Yoga Narasimha swamy temple hilltop pond

Overall an awesome must spot for Nature lovers combined with Pilgrimage visit.  Do visit this spot and share with us your experience.

Goravanahalli Maha Lakshmi temple , Tumkur tourist attractions

In this post we share our visit experience to one of infamous temples of Tumkuru , the Mahalakshmi temple at Goravanahalli which is about 80 kms from Bengaluru city and 30 kms from Tumkuru.

Highlights of this spot

  • Temple believed to be existing since 18th century with timely renovations.
  • Maha Lakshmi goddess is presiding deity worshiped here.
  • Anna Dasoha Free lunch programme for all devotees


Goravanahalli Maha Lakshmi temple


It was a Sunday morning when our team left to Tumkuru via Bangalore Tumkur national highway to reach this spot.  Drive was comfortable with good highway roads connecting to this spot. There is ample space for parking , we had to pay an entrance fee of Rs.30 for our car.  

It is believed at this spot one of the local person Abbaya who was poor was blessed with Goddess Lakshmi after which he became rich & started charity works towards development . His family members then continued his works . Devotees have felt to fulfill their wishes after performing poojas / offering prayers here and popularity of this spot gradually raised through word of mouth.


Shopping near temple


Long queue was awaiting us for dharma darshan. As we had to cover another spot , we took the special entry ticket at Rs.50 per person. temple follows cholas structure , Gopuram has carvings on different avatars of Lakshmi. Devotees offering prayers with Jaggery ghee deepams , lemon garlands were noticed . We could enter into girbha griha (sanctum) within 20 minutes. Lakshmi Idol fully decorated with ornaments , flowers was a pleasure to watch , after taking darshan we visited Ranganathaswamy temple next to this sanctum , moved on with some shopping at the hawker shop stalls selling pooja items , books , toys etc.  

Dasoha , free lunch was arranged between 12 to 3 PM for devotees. Temple is usually crowded and the environment keeps it bit noisy.  There is a dam nearby at 200m from temple where water collected in a big lake is stored & used for irrigation purposes. We took a stroll & enjoyed the cool breeze at this spot .


Goravanahalli dam




Overall a good spot to visit with family and friends once during a weekend. Do visit this spot and share with us your experience.

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