Kumaraswamy Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Jindal Vijayanagar Airport, 20 km from Sandur, has daily flights to Bengaluru and Hyderabad under the UDAN scheme.

• By train

  Toranagal is the nearest railway station, 30 km from Sandur.

• By road

  Buses run to all major Karnataka cities from Ballari, 60 km from Sandur, and Hosapete, 35 km from Sandur. The temple is approachable by road from Sandur.

Why devotees come here

Kumaraswamy Temple sits in a gap in the hills of the Swamimale forest range, near Sandur, in Bellary district of Karnataka. It is believed to be the first abode of Murugan in south India. Two ancient temples share its compound, and both are protected monuments.

Murugan, also called Kartikeya, is believed to have first made his home in south India here. Legend says Kartikeya pierced the mountain with his spear, the vel, in his battle with the demon Tharaka, to kill the demons hidden inside.

The temple now called Kumaraswamy was built under the Rashtrakuta rulers, in the 8th to 10th century, and it first had Shanmukha as its main deity. The Ghorpade rulers discovered it in the thickly wooded Swamimale hill in the 15th century. The Parvati Temple beside it, dated to the 7th to 8th century, is the more unusual of the two in Hindu temple architecture, according to art historians.

Women were not allowed inside the shrine until Murarirao Yeshwantrao Ghorpade lifted the ban in October 1996. The temple is in Krauncha Giri, a small settlement about 10 km from Sandur, and lies inside the Swamimale forest range. State Highway 40 now passes through the gap in the mountain, linking Sandur with the rest of Karnataka.

Tips for your visit

• The temple lies inside the Swamimale forest range, which is said to have venomous snakes such as the Russell viper and spectacled cobra.
• The Parvati Temple beside it is dated to the 7th to 8th century, so the compound holds two temples of different ages.

Questions people ask