Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple on 11th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bangalore was constructed in 1902 in accordance with the Pancharatragama and Vedic practices.
Speaking about the history of this temple, the chief priest says that the residents of Malleshwaram wanted to establish a Vishnu temple and they approached the then government of Mysore headed by the Maharaja, who willingly granted this site for the purpose, which measures 140' East to West and 250' North to South. The Mysore royal government contributed 3,750 varahas (the then rupees of the Maharaja regime) as seed contribution which was followed by the residents who contributed 11,794 varahas to the budget. The establishment of the main shrine along with the consecration (pratishtapane) of all deities was done on 22nd August 1902 i.e., on the auspicious day of Bahula Tritiya of Shravana Maasa (Simha maasa) of Shubha Kritha naama samvatsara, uttarabhadra nakshatra. As a coincidence the crowning (pattabhisheka) of Maharaja Nalvadi Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar was also carried out on the same day.
The consecration rituals were carried out in compliance with the custom prevalent in Sri Cheluvaraya Swamy temple in Melkote. A lot of effort went into the quest of beautiful deities for pratishtapane in the temple. Several raja-samsthanas were approached. Originally this temple was planned with Nambi Narayana as the main deity. During the final stages of the construction of the temple Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy appeared in the dream of the main person instrumental in the movement to establish this temple and directed him to consecrate him as the main deity of the temple stating that he is not receiving the aaradhane regularly. Astonished the concerned people started to search for the murti of Lord Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy. The Mysore kingdom once again extended support.
The main deity of (Mulavaru) is the divine deity with flute held in both palms was being worshiped in Tirukadalur popularly known as Rajarajendra Chaturvedi Mangala in Tamilnadu and was receiving aradhane since 997 AD (the year on consecration). In the course of time this temple fell into ruins and there was huge irregularity in the offering of the pooja.
Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy, Sridevi, Bhudevi inclusive of ubhayanaachiar Utsava-murti. Mudhre: Chaturbhuja holds Gadha (Mace) and Padma (lotus) in the udbhavahastas and Shanka in the dakshina-hasta (left) and Chakra in vama-hasta (right) of the adhohsthas. Sridevi and Bhudevi donning Padma accompanying him on either side.
These deities were earlier located in the Hura kingdom receiving regular pooja offerings for long and later this temple fell into ruins. So, after the deities received the pooja offerings for a few centuries from the ancestors of the officer of the Hampi kingdom Sri Mallarajaiah Arasu, the officers decided to donate these deities to one of the temples of Mysore. As this effort did not materialize, these deities were housed in the Mysore palace. The then Maharani donated these deities to this temple.
The Ammanavara mula vigraha (periya tayar) deity with chaturbhuja, abhayahasta and padmahasta was receiving regular pooja at an age-old temple in Terukanambi in Gundlupet. In 1829 this deity reached the Mysore kingdom. With the help of an officer of the palace, Sri Srikantharaje Urs, the Maharani accorded her approval and the deity was transferred to this temple.
Sri Nambinarayanaru (Mulavaru) also reached the temple as that of the main deity of Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy. The smaller deity (the snapana/abhisheka murti) was brought to this temple from Mavalur located near Rajarajendra Chaturvedi Mangala. The deities of Sri Vishwaksena and Sri Garudalvar were brought here from one of the ancient sannidhis in Sri Tirunarayanapura (Melkote).
The deity of Sri Veera Anjaneyaswamy was brought from a small shrine in Narayana Katte (Sanyasi Katte). This deity was being worshiped for over two hundred years before it reached this temple as the small shrine in Narayana Katte was ruined.
The Sri Shathari of Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy was brought from Tirunarayanapura where it was consecrated. The deities of the Alvars and Acharyas reached this temple from a temple in Terukanambi. The utsava-murti of Ramanujacharya arrived here from an ancient temple in one of the divyadeshams at Srirangam. The utsava-murti of Sri Nammalvar was earlier in a temple in a village in Chaturvedi Mangala. That temple got ruined and the deity gradually reached Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy temple as a result of the efforts of the people associated with this temple. The deity of Chikka Tayar (Chaturbhuja Tayar) also arrived at this temple from the Mysore palace.
Andal Tayar’s mula murti and utsava-murti were consecrated in 1946, the utsava-murtis of Tirumangai Alwar, Sri Vedanta Deshikar, Manavala Mamuni were consecrated in 1968 and mula murtis of Sri Sita, Lakshmana, Anjaneya sameta Kodandaramaswamy were consecrated in 1980. The deity of Sudarshana Alwar was consecrated in the late eighties and that of Navaneeta Krishna also known as Ambegalu Krishna or Laddu Gopal was consecrated in 2005.
Speaking about the festivals, the chief priest says that Brahmotsava is a grand ten-day long festival held during the month of March which culminates in a grand Ratha yatra. Other important festivals celebrated here are Rama Navami, Vaikuntha Ekadashi, Oonjal Utsava (Jhulan Utsava), Krishna Janmashtami, Garuda Utsava, etc. There are about 250 major and minor festivals celebrated every year at this temple. During Janmashtami about one lakh devotees come here for darshana and about 50,000 for Vaikuntha Ekadashi. Interestingly this temple celebrates two Hanuman Jayantis coinciding with the dates in South India and of North India.
Cultural programmes are held during Janmashtami where children also participate in competitions and prizes are given away to the best performers. When asked about the special sevas that this temple is famous for, he says many people perform Santana-prapti Sankalpa and they tie a crib (thottilu) to Sri Krishna in the hope of begetting a child.
On a typical day at 7.00 a.m. there is Suprabhata followed by Mahabhisheka at 9 a.m. and at 12 noon there is Mahamangalarati followed by prasadam distribution. About 300 people partake this every day. At 6 p.m. there is Vishnusahasranama in which about 100 people participate. This is followed by Thiruvaradhanam and at 8.30 is Sandhya arati, distribution of prasadam and finally at 9 p.m. it is Ekanta Seva.
