Bettadapura

Bettadapura
town
Bettadapura Location in Karnataka, India
Coordinates: 12.486°N 76.102°E / 12.486; 76.102
Country	India
State	Karnataka
Named for	Sidlu Mallikarjuna Swamy Betta(Temple)
Area
• Total	2 km2 (0.8 sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)

Bettadapura is a town located in Mysore district, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The name is derived from two Kannada words, "Betta" and "pura". Betta means "hill" and pura means "town".

Most of the population is from Gowda community, People cultivate / farm Tobacco extensively here. The main crop is Tobacco, and the place is known for farming India's best quality tobacco which is exported to foreign countries extensively.

Temple

Bettadapura has a Chola era (ChOLa Dynasty - 300s BCE–1279 CE) temple on top of the hill after which the name of the town is derived or named. On the summit of the hill, there is a temple dedicated to one of the Hindu trinity deities, Lord Shiva, in the form of MallikArjuna.

Here, Shiva is worshiped in the form of a murti (statue) and is referred to as SiDilu MallikArjuna. Sidlu is a Kannada word meaning lightning, while Mallikarjuna is another name for Lord Shiva. Legend has it that a couple had a cow which was not tied and left free to roam. All of a sudden, the cow started giving less and less milk to its owner. The owner got suspicious of this and followed the cow wherever it goes. To his astonishment, the cow started climbing the hill. He too followed without getting noticed. It reached the summit and was pouring its milk as aBHIshEka on a ligam. This ligam was replaced by a human-like figure later.

One legend says that if at all a lighting strikes the temple, the bolt circles the Shiva murti for few seconds. Another legend says that a lighting struck through a hole in the back of the temple to the completed statue of MallikArjuna and made a dent on the scalp's occipital portion, which can be seen on statue. Large cooking utensils carried up the hill a long time ago can still be seen, and the base of the hill has some Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments.

Unexplained Mysteries:

Many mysteries surround this place and lacks experts and explanation to many questions. The local people and also few experts are not sure of many questions like why the temple was built at such a height (3000+ steps to the summit); how did ancient people even manage to build such a temple which has been fully made with hard granite blocks weighing many tonnes each; from where the granite stones were quarried; were they quarried atop hill itself and if so, how did they manage to quarry and also build on such a small place; how did they manage to erect, lift, and place 100s of blocks of hard granite; where is the original ligam on which a cow used to pour milk; why a hole was made behind the temple; what is the mythological background of this, I mean, why did the Hindu god of lightening, Indra, hit the statue which is none other than one of the most powerful gods in Hinduism, Lord Shiva; Note: Statues are seen as a living entity itself by many Hindus in Hinduism); how could Indra, being a demi-god, manage to do this.

There are few large utensils lying over there inside the temple which weigh 100s of kilos, including a very large bell; how these were made and what were their purposes? Were they made below and carried up the hill? If so, how? How the bell, which weighs many tonnes, was carried atop (since it is impossible to make it on summit); who stole it and why; where is it now; [Note: Some say it is in another MallikArjuna temple situated at ground level nearby the hill].

There is a granite Nandi (bull) on top of a pillar made of granite pillar weighing many tonnes on a very small and steep granite mound lying directly opposite to the main deity, MallikArjuna. Almost all Lord Shiva's temple will have a Nandi in front of it. Here too, amazingly, the Nandi sits just directly opposite to the main temple which is at least 200 mts in distance. According to a legend, the Nandi was chased by a tiger and the Nandi reached the summit and was near this mound. It jumped on the pillar and sat on the pillar to save its life. We can see the carved hooves etched on the granite stone below the mound and also near the pillar atop of this mound. How did ancient people managed to transfer both pillar and Nandi above this small, windy, & steep mound; how did the ancients manage to balance the height of Nandi by placing the pillar, which is more than 8 feet, to sync exactly at 180 degrees or directly opposite to the main deity of the temple that is at least 200 mts far away on highest (main) granite mound.

There are few carvings and inscriptions on few stairs/steps and many are not sure of their significance.

There is a huge granite slab weighing at least 200-300 kilos in the main temple with ancient Kannada inscriptions on it. Unfortunately, this is not so clear.

There is some ancient Kannada inscription below the pillar and the Nandi; this is also not so clear.

There is a manTapa built using granite slabs just around few 100s of steps from below wherein the deity is missing. Locals are not sure if that was a temple (of which deity?) and the deity was destroyed (if so, by whom?) or the statue was stolen (if so, by whom?).

There are 4 elephant statues, two on front and back, built at the base of the gOpuram (sanctum) near the beginning of the stairs or steps to the temple which is said to be made recently by one of Yadhu-clan kings Yadu (some unknown WoDeyAr) of Mysore or Wadiyar dynasty because the first elephant that lifted the Ambaari (a 700 kg gold item that is displayed and took on procession on the occasion of world-famous 9-day Navaratri Dasara festival that is celebrated across Karnataka, grandly in cultural city, Mysore) was taken from this area (BeTTadha Pura).

There are 2 huge granite obelisks at the beginning of the stairs which easily weighs around 2000-3000 kilos that are placed in a pi-symbol like format using a granite slab on these two obelisks. Many are not sure who made this and why.

For further info, please also read the below articles: http://asibengalurucircle.in/sidilu-mallikarjuna-temple-bettadapura https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/columns/others/triptease-lost-in-legend/articleshow/46125085.cms https://kannada.oneindia.com/news/mysore/tibetans-are-devotees-sidlu-mallikarjuna-temple-bettadapura-105804.html (This is in Kannada language and you need to translate to your preferred language or use an interpreter)