Information of Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy Temple (MM Hills Temple), Chamarajanagar, Karnataka

Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy Temple or the MM hills temple is a famous pilgrim center in Chamarajanagar District of Karnataka State in India. This is uniquely located at 914 meters above the sea level on the MM Hill's which is having many hill locks and beautiful valleys surrounded with forest covers. This is a historic temple and is nearly 700 years old. This temple was built by a well known Zamin named Kuruba Gowda. Previously this was a famous temple for the tribal peoples living around these hills. The main deity of this temple is Lord Shiva. This temple has got the ISO 2009 certification and is the first temple in Karnataka to do so. There are nearly thousands of pilgrims coming here from Tamil Nadu and Kerala State. This temple offers free food to all who comes to this temple. It is also well known for the Ladus (sweets) distributed free of cost to its devotees in the morning archana times.

Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy Temple Religious Significance

Basically this is the temple for the tribal peoples who were inspired by the Sage Mahadeshwara. Still these peoples believe that he is alive and is mediating in these forest areas. Presently it is a great worship place for the Shivates. Lord Shiva in the Linga form is worshiped here. There are daily archanas and rituals conducted here from morning 5:30 AM to the evening 8:30 PM.

Festival Significance

Ugadi is celebrated here grandly with cultural activities, since it is a harvest festival and farmers give offering to this temple of their first produce. The Shivarathri is the main festival of this temple where many special poojas are performed here and is witnessed by thousands of devotees. This temple is also filled by lot of devotees on all auspicious occasion of the Hindu festivals like Depavali and Navarathri etc.

Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy Temple Mythology & History

Once a Sage lived here and meditated for a longer period of time. He was very much trusted by the tribal peoples living here. He also did many wonders and helped these villagers. There are many stories still spoken today that this Sage is alive in this mountain ranges. Many tribal's still believe that he was a devotee Lord Shiva and dedicated his life to him in the forest. The place where he mediated is the temple built here in his name and placing his favorite god's deity lord Shiva in this temple.

Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy Temple Architectural Significance

Sri Male Mahadeshwara Swamy Temple is well known for its high raised two Gopura (Tower). These are built in the Dravidian style. It has 9 stories built in a tiered tower structure. There are many miniature works carved on these towers. There are doors in the center of each stories of this tower. There are many frieze and motifs seen on this tower. These towers are the main attraction of this temple. This temple is fenced from all sides. This is found in a square shape where the two minarets are built inside this temple and few modern complexes are also built here to meet the needs of the devotees. It has got a curved arch entrance at its main walls. There is also a welcome arch built in the foot hills of this temple. Inside this temple there are large mandapas for serving food for thousand devotees at a time. The main deity of this temple is placed under the main Gopura's. The main deity is very unique one. The Shiva Linga has the face of Lord Shiva on the front side of this Linga. This is also seen with a silver metal finishing on this sculpture. There are four temple chariots built out of woods found here. These are looking very cute and beautiful.