Bangara Tirupathi and Kotilingeshwara Temple

6:30pm 9, March 2009

What better way to spend a leave of Holi on a trip nearby Kolar Gold Field?

On a visit to my relatives place at KGF, I had the opportunity to visit few places namely koTi Lingeshwara and Bangara Tirupathi.
I caught the evening train to KGF from Byappanahally at 6:30pm, directly from office. Surprisingly ticket price is still only Rs.13! bit more than a plat of bhelpuri outside!! The train was full with people returning from their work to KGF. It seems more than 10,000 people commute between Kolar, KGF daily on these trains. I alighted the train at Oorgaum station, which is inside the KGF at 8:45pm. The small town, which was once the gold capital of British empire has three station. Electricity(Shimsha) and train were first came to here before it reached other parts of Modern India. But now after the mining stopped the town looks silent.

My visit co-insided with the KGF Jaathre, the annual rath festival of the Venkateshwara temple. The town was decorated with all kinds of light to welcome the God. After having our dinner we went for a stroll around to see the festivities on a lightly drizzling night.

4:30pm 10th March 2009
Evening we went on bike ride to Bangaru thirupathi(also called Guttally) (via Kotilinga, Betha Mangala on Mulbagalu-V.Kota route. 16km from KGF). Mythologically, God Venkateshwara gave darshan to Rishabha Muni at this place. It is a replica of original Thirupathi and since it is near to Kolar Gold Field, they named it Bangara Thirupathi. A temple dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara is present on top of the hill.The granite temple has small window to see the main deity. A nearby temple is dedicated to Goddess Padmavathi. We could see the papanaashanam just like the one in Tirumala. After spending few time, we started our jorney back.

We could see the Kotilinga on the main road. As we had already visited the place earlier, horage kai mugidu continued our journey. It has many lingas placed across a large area. The main Linga is visible from outside. They have placed the lingas on both sides of the road to make the count to 1 Crore :)

Evening 6.30pm we were back in KGF. The outskirt is lined with mud piles of mines. The remainig sledge from the ore is piled up across the town, after the gold is extracted. It is so well planned that it looks like a fort across the town. Next day morning I caught the bus to B'lore at 6:30am reached at 8:30am.

We : Myself and Prasanna
Bike : Bajaj CT100
Distance : 32km