Tourism
Festivals Of Mandya
Vairamudi or Vajramukuta Festival
The
Vairamudi festival, is the chief annual celebration at the
Cheluva Narayana Swamy Temple at Melukote, attended by more
than half a lakh of people. This
temple is richly endowed, having been under the
special patronage of the Mysore Rajas, and has a most valuable collection of
jewels. Among them are the three crowns - the Raja Mudi, Krishna Raja Mudi
and the Vairmudi. All these three crowns are kept in safe custody in the
palace at Mysore and each is brought to the temple in the presence of the Deputy
Commissioner of Mandya on a specific annual occasion for adorning the image of
Cheluvarayaswami.
As
early as 1614, the Mysore king Raja Wodeyar (1578-1617), who first acquired
Srirangapatna and adopted the Srivaishnava faith, made over to the temple and
the Brahmins at Melkote, the estate granted to him by the Vijayanagar king
Venkatapati Raya. On one of the
pillars of the navaranga of the Narayanaswami temple is a bas-relief, about
one-and-a-half feet high, of Raja
Wodeyar, standing with folded hands, with the
name high, of Raja Wodeyar, standing with the name inscribed on the base.
He is said to have been a great devotee of the presiding deity and a
constant visitor to the temple. A
gold crown set with precious jewels was presented by him to the temple.
This crown is known as Raja-mudi after his name.
A tradition says that on the day of his death, he was observed entering
the sanctum and was seen no more afterwards.
From the inscriptions on some of the gold jewels and on gold and silver
vessels in the temple, it is learnt that they were presents from Tipu,
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and his queens. There
is also an inscription of 1785, showing that Tipu Sultan gave some elephants to
the temple. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III
also presented to the temple a crown set with precious jewels; it is known after
him as krishnaraja-mudi. Vairamudi
or Vajramukuta, another crown of great value, seems to be older than the Raja-mudi
and Krishnaraja-mudi and it is not known as to who gave it to the temple.
Sriranganatha, Srirangapatna
Sri Ramanujacharya, Melkote. Pushpa Brindavanotsava
Ratha Sapthami
Garudotsava Suryamandalotsava
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