Sai Temple in Vasantapura Village

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LOST VILLAGES OF BANGALOREVallabharaya's abode VasantapuraFrom a population of 112 to being a part of the Sprawling City today, Vasantapura has come a long way.By Krupa Rajangam 31 Aug 2009B L Rice, who was the director of Archeology in the Mysore state from 1884, described Vasantapura village in the 1887 Mysore Gazette as, “a village 5 miles south of Bangalore with population of 112. It is in no way remarkable but for an old temple of Vallabharaya Swami which is a favourite resort for native wedding parties from Bangaloreâ€.According to Sthalapurana, in ages past, when Bangalore was known as Kalyanpuri, Vasantapura was a forest where sages sat in meditation, but, the trees gradually gave way to fields and cultivated land when people would come to the shrine on bullock carts, crossing several tirthas (springs) on the way uphill. The muddy cart track has since been tarred and only two of the tirthas survive, even these

not true to their original expanse.After all the sacred spot is one of the few Hari Hara Kshethras of the region. Hari, as in Lord Vishnu and Hara as in Lord Shiva with the Vallabharaya temple dedicated to Vishnu and the Bhavani Shankar temple to Shiva.Historically the former is supposed to have been set up by the Cholas, while the latter situated to the north of Vallabharaya temple is said to have been established by Shivaji when he camped on the hill during the course of one of his military manoeuvres.(Bhavani Shankar is Shivaji’s family deity). However, sthalapurana states that a vision led Sage Mandavya, who was in meditation in the Guptagiri cave nearby, to this spot where he found a Svayambhu image of Vallabharaya.Guide MapThe tirthas, five in number, namely Devatirtha, Vasanthatirtha, Shankatirtha, Chakratirthaand Plavatitirtha, are important because legend states that Lord Vallabharaya came to this spot to bathe in them after his marriage to Goddess Lakshmi at Narayana Vana near Tirupathi. The two surviving ones are Devatirtha and Vasantatirtha; the others have been filled up and converted into real estate plot.The village of 112 has now appeared to have swelled to thousands and most of the mud huts with tiled

roofs, of my imagination, had been replaced by cement and concrete structures. Looking back, the original shrine to Vallabharaya also appeared to have been extensively altered and added to.Further shrines have come up nearby including a Shirdi Sai Temple to the southeast at the foot of the hill and an ISKCON temple to the south west within whose lands now lies the ‘Guptagiri’ cave described earlier on.The place may have transformed over time but the temple continues to be the heart of Vasantapura.Source - http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/1307-lost-villages-bengaluruSairam,rOhit beHaL

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