Kolaramma is the presiding

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

of the town of Kolar in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The Kolaramma temple is thousand years old and built by the

Cholas The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...

in the South Indian style. Goddess

Parvathi Parvati (, , IPA: / pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: / gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, d ...

is worshipped as Kolaramma by the people of Kolar. The erstwhile maharajas of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

frequently visited this temple to get the blessings of Kolaramma. The temple itself has beautifully carved statues and designs all done using the abundantly available

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

stones. Another deity of this temple is Chelamma or the

scorpion goddess A scorpion goddess is a goddess associated with a scorpion theme. Examples include: * Chelamma, a Hindu goddess of the Southern Karnataka region of India * Hedetet, an Egyptian scorpion goddess *Išḫara, an Eblaite, Hurrian, Mesopotamian, and Ug ...

. People believe that by praying at the Chelamma shrine a person will be guarded from

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

stings by the deity. Another interesting thing about the temple is the

hundi A hundi or hundee is a financial instrument that was developed in Medieval India for use in trade and credit transactions. Hundis are used as a form of remittance instrument to transfer money from place to place, as a form of credit instrument ...

or the well which is used to collect money offerings from the people, and it is a tradition to at least put one coin into the small opening on the floor of the temple, which apparently is a large hole dug into the earth, one can still hear the clicking sounds of coins accumulated over hundreds of years. File:View of open entrance mantapa in the Kolarmma Temple at Kolar.jpg, Kolarmma Temple, Kolar File:Profile of the Kolaramma Temple complex at Kolar.jpg, Kolarmma Temple, Kolar - Full View File:Inscriptions on Kolaramma Temple (KL 112 109).jpg, Chola Inscriptions on Kolaramma Temple (KL 112 109) File:Rajendra Chola in Battle, Kolaramma Temple - Edited.jpg ,

Rajendra Chola I Rajendra I (26 July 971 – 1044), often referred to as Rajendra the Great, was a Chola Empire, Chola Emperor who reigned from 1014 to 1044. He was born in Thanjavur to Rajaraja I. His queen was Vanavan Mahadevi and he assumed royal power as ...

in Battle, Kolaramma Temple

References

{{HinduMythology Hindu goddesses Forms of Parvati Chola architecture