Nimishambha

Coordinates: 12°25′7.63″N 76°42′38.42″E / 12.4187861°N 76.7106722°E / 12.4187861; 76.7106722 Nimishambha is the name of a temple on the banks of the Cauvery river, located about 2 km from Srirangapattana on the road leading to Sangam in the south Indian state of Karnataka.

History

Sri Nimishamba is considered as the incarnation of Goddess Parvathi, the wife of Lord Shiva. This place Ganjam is considered as a holy place. Mutharasa of Surya Vamsha performed penance at Nimishamba Temple. Definitely this Temple has great relevance to the Mutharayas (Mudiraj / Muthuraj )!

shrichakra is carved on a stone in front of Sri Nimishamba and pooja is performed. There is a belief that Sri Nimishamba is going to remove all the problems and troubles of her devotees within a minute. That is why she is called Nimishamba. Nimisha means a minute. Suryavamsha Mutharasa king Muktaraja was blessed with the boon that Sri Nimishamba will come to his aid in his fight against the demons in a minute. That is why there is a deity Lord Shiva by the name of Moukthikeshwara. This temple was installed at the time of Mummadi Krishnaraja Odeyar about 300 to 400 years ago.

The temple of Nimishamba lies at a distance of two kilometres from Srirangapatna bus stand in the eastern direction beyond Tippu's summer palace on the road leading to Sangam.. The temple is at a higher elevation on the bank of the Cauvery, and faces east. The river flows by at a lower level, and steps have been neatly cut on stone slabs to reach it. It is a small shrine with a seven-tiered rajagopuram. Goddess Nimishamba's sannadhi is to the right as one enters the shrine. It is a fine piece of icon, and on the day of our visit, She was beautifully bedecked with jewellery and garlands of red roses. In front of the Goddess is placed the Sri Chakra to which puja is done with kumkum by the priest. The devotees were in rapt attention till deeparathanai was shown to the deity.

Adjoining the sannadhi of the Goddess is that of Siva, whose appellation is Aksheeswara. The icon is a small sized linga. The Nandi is proportionately small sized, and is diagonally facing Siva. Only after showing `deeparathanai' to Siva, it is shown to the Goddess. Adjoining this sannadhi is that of Lakshminarayana. All the three sannadhis are in a row. There are no suka nasi and Navaranga. There is only a muka mantapa.

There is a big brass bell hanging from the ceiling, which is rung by the priest himself after placing the `bali bhojanam' on the bali peetam for the crows to eat. Once the bell is rung, the crows come down to the bali peetam in an orderly way to partake it! It is indeed unique to this temple. There is a prakaram(closed precincts of a temple) for circumambulation. The Nimishamba temple has shot to fame recently for its instant granting of boons to those who pray here.

It would be of interest to note that marriage proposals which have been dragging on for years, get clicked immediately after visiting this shrine. It is probable that the temple might have been built during the reign of Raja Wadiyar I (1610-38 A.D.) who ascended the Mysore throne at Srirangapatna. Regular puja has been done for the last 50 years. The temple falls under the HR&CE of Karnataka State.

Ceremonies

There is a festival on "Nimishamba jayanthi" by Somavamsha Arya Kshtriyas, which is also celebrated as "Vasavamba jayanthi" by arya vsyas. On every full moon day there are special poojas. Every day from 6am to 8:30pm, one can have the "darshan" of goddess.

There is river "Cauvery" with shallow waters adjoining the temple. This river attracts a lot of travellers to mysore from bangalore who stop by for a refreshing bath and lunch by the riverside.

Transportation

There is a bus service from the Mysore city to here. Commuters can also take an auto from Srirangapattana.

Other Nimishamba Temples

Shri Nimishamba Devi Temple is also located at Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore. This beautiful shrine is built in the traditional Parashurama Kshetra Architectural Style that does not exist anywhere else in Bangalore or its surrounding. This temple was built with the tremendous help of the devotees of Shri Nimishamba Devi. The Temple has shrines of Devi Nimishamba, Moukthikeswara (siva), Siddhi Vinayaka, Saraswathi and Lakshmi Narayana. Chandika Homa is performed everyday in a specially designed Yagna Shala. The temple has two meditation halls. The kitchen and dining hall have all the facilities required for Nitya Annadana. Location # 93, 12th Cross, Ideal Homes Circle, Ideal Homes Township, Raja Rajeshwari Nagar, Bengalooru 560 098. Ph: 9341259083