Plan your weekend: Melukote in Karnataka is not just a temple town

It is said that the saint Ramanujacharya lived in Melukote for 12 years. Thus, Melukote became a centre of Sri Vaishnava tradition. Melukote is known for Sri Cheluva Narayana Temple which is located on a hilltop.

According to the legend, this town had different names like Yadavadri, Tirunarayanapura, Narayanadri and Vedadri. Melukote is also the birthplace of Jayalalithaa, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

The famous temples at Melukote are Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple, Yoga Narasimha Swamy Temple, Raya Gopura and ISCKON Temple.Wildlife Sanctuary, Raya Gopura, Pushkarani and Thondanur Lake are other main tourist attractions.

Raya Gopura is an incomplete structure of a temple that was built during the reign of Vijayanagara empire. Believed to have been built overnight, the temple has 4 intricate carvings, with no temple tower. The place has been shot in several South Indian and Bollywood films as well.

The town is also home to the Academy of Sanskrit Research, an institution that was founded in 1977, by the Government of Karnataka. The Academy has kept 83 employees with 25 research scholars working on Sanskrit Research

The city is around 150 km from Bengaluru. By road, tourists have to take Bengaluru-Mysore State Highway to reach Melukote. KSRTC buses are available from Bengaluru to Melukote but they are not frequent. So, it is better to take buses to Mandya and then go to Melukote from there. Melukote is 40 km from Mandya.

Location: Mandya district, Karnataka

Distance from Chennai: 470 km

Interesting fact: The Rayagopura of the Melukote Temple in Karnataka has also seen many movie shootings. There’s one sequence from the film Thiruda Thiruda and the song Rakkamma from Thalapthi was also shot here. The song Nannare from Guru was filmed here.