Temples of Talakadu - Karnataka
Vaidhyanatheshwara temple being located at Talakad has an interesting history that is situated in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. The temple is a famous pilgrimage in South India and is one among the panchalinga sthalas (places). Lord Shiva is worshiped here. It is believed that one who takes the darshan of five Lingas will be forgiven from all their sins.
The Vaidyanatheshwara temple was constructed in 14th century during the reign of Chola kings. The temple was built in Dravidian style and have two huge beautifully structured dwarapalakas standing on the either sides of the entrance to the main shrine. The doorways of the temple are intricately carved and the outer walls are engraved with magnificent sculptures. There is a figure of Lord Ganesh riding on his vehicle, the mouse towards the right direction and also a statue of Nandi installed at the entrance. In the inner mandapa there are idols of Lord Nataraja, Goddess Durga, Goddess Badhrakaali, Goddess Kaali and Goddess Sharada. The walls are decorated by the depictions of various forms of Lord Shiva and Vishnu. On the either side of the main sanctum are the idols of Lord Ganesh and Lord Subramanya. And the main goddess worshipped here is Manonmani. On one end of the outer roof a beautiful chain of granite rings are sculpted and are hanged from the roof with no joints. These are an outstanding example of magnificent workmanship of artisans who has created such wonders using only chisel and hammer.
Mythology of Vaidyanatheshwara Temple:
As the legendary narrates, a puritan named Somadatta with his disciples was killed by a herd of elephants while they were doing their penance when they were on the pilgrimage to this temple. In the turn of rebirth they were born as elephants in the same region/forest and continued to worship Lord Shiva in the form of a tree in the forest. This tree is supposed to be a silk cotton tree. Once the two hunters named Tala and Kadu watched these elephants performing the rituals to this silk-cotton tree and attempted to cut down this tree out of curiosity. But immediately found the tree bleeding and heard a divine voice proclaiming that the tree was the form of Lord hence the hunters were advised to stop cutting. Thus the hunters stopped cutting and covered the wound with fruits and leaves to heal. Later the blood miraculously turned into milk and got healed completely. The hunters Tala and Kadu attained salvation here, from then the place was known as Talakadu. As the Lord in the form of tree healed himself, he got to be known as Vaidyanatha or Vaideeshwara. The word vaidya in Sanskrit means doctor and the Lord Vaidyanatha became the lord of doctors!
