Nanjangud, officially known as Nanjanagudu, is a town in the Mysuru district of the Indian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

. Nanjangud lies on the banks of the river Kapila (also called

Kabini The Kabini River is one of the major tributaries of the river Cauvery in southern India, It originates in Wayanad district of Kerala state by the confluence of the Panamaram River and the Mananthavady River. It flows eastward through Wayanad ...

), 23 km from the city 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 ...

. Nanjangud is famous for the Srikanteshwara Temple located here. Nanjangud is also called Dakshina Kashi (southern Kashi). This town is also famous for a type of

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

grown in the region called the ''Nanjanagoodu rasabale''. Nanjangud's local administrative unit was designated as a Municipal Committee in 2015 by including Devirammanahalli and Kallahalli village.

Origin of the name

The Srikanteshwara Temple at Nanjangud is dedicated to the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

deity

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, also called Sri Nanjundeshwara (the Lord who drank

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

). Nanjanagud means "the place where Nanja (Nanjundeshwara) resides" in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

History

Nanjangud has been a major

Shaiva Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

centre for nearly a thousand years.

Western Ganga dynasty Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 999 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Eastern Gangas who in later centuries r ...

Kings in the 09th – 10th century are considered to have built this temple with significant additions by the Hoysalas, cholas and the Vijayanagara kings. This temple was later renovated by the

Hoysala The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries Common Era, CE. The c ...

kings. The

Wodeyar The Wadiyar dynasty,() also referred to as the Wadiyars of Mysore (also spelt Wodeyer, Odeyer, and Wadeyar), is a late-medieval Indian royal family of former maharajas of Mysore from the Urs clan originally based in Mysore city. The Wadiya ...

kings of

made various grants to renovate the temple.

Geography

Upstream Kabini Southbound Bridge Nanjangud Sep24 A7CR 02974

Nanjangud is located at . It has an average elevation of 657 metres (2155 ft). The taluk borders

taluk of

district to the north, T Narsipur taluk of

district to the east,

H D Kote Heggadadevanakote or H.D.Kote is a town and a taluk headquarters in Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification o ...

taluk of

district to the west and

Gundlupet Gundlupet (''Gundlupētē'' in Kannada) is a municipal town situated in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka, India. It is also known as "''The flower pot of India''". It is situated on NH 766, 60 km away from Mysuru and approximately ...

and

Chamarajanagar Chamarajanagara is a city and headquarter of eponymous Chamarajanagar district in the Karnataka state of India. It is named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile Raja of Mysore, Chamarajanagara was previously known as 'Arikottara'. Hist ...

taluks of

district to the south.

Getting there

Nanjanagud is 24 km from Mysuru and 165 km from Bengaluru Via NH766. Buses are available from

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, Mysuru city by city bus and

. The nearest airport is Mysore Airport situated at Mandakalli at a distance of 16 km from Nanjangud and 10 km from Mysuru. Nanjangud has two railway stations - the Nanjangud Town railway station and the Sujathapuram railway station. Usually only slow trains stop here, except the

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

express train.

Notable locations

Nanjundeshwara Temple

This temple is the most famous attraction of the town. It is believed that sage Gauthama stayed here for some time and installed a

Linga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

, the idol form of

Parashurama Kshetra

Near Nanjangud is the confluence of the Kapila and Kaundinya rivers. This place is termed as Parashurama Kshetra where the sage

Parashurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Virarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. Hindu tradition holds him to be the destroyer of the evil on Earth. According t ...

is said to have cleansed himself from the sin of beheading his mother.

Oldest rail/road bridge in India

The bridge across the Kabini river has been declared as the oldest bridge with both a railway line and a road by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. It is located at the entrance of temple town here. The bridge, built in 1735, is now 283 years old and is declared a Heritage Monument by the Government of India.

Guru Dataatreya Swamy Temple

The Dattaatreya Temple is located near the Chamundeshwari Temple on the banks of River Kapila. The idols of Sri Maha Sharabheshwara and Sri Pratyangira Devi are also installed in this temple.

Hemmaragala Santhana Gopala Swamy Temple

This temple is also known as Hemmaragala Huchu Gopala Santhana Venugopala Swamy or Koundinya Maharshi Kshetra. It is located 13.3 km from the main Nanjangud Srikanteshwara temple. The main idol is called Tribhangi Kolalu Gopala. It is believed to be around 1800 years old and believed to grant children to childless couples. In the temple there are columns and pillars depicting the architecture of Vijayanagara era.

Other attractions

Scenic places within a 100 km radius of Nanjangud include

Bandipur National Park Bandipur National Park is a national park covering in Chamarajnagar district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It was established as a tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1973. It is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve since 1986. Histor ...

, Shivsamudra Falls and the Kabini Reservoir.

Economy

Nanjangud is home to many industries which are mainly located in the Nanjangud Industrial Area which is spread across . It all started with the now closed Sujatha Textile Mills (STM) which at its peak used to employ about 3000 people. Since then, STM has closed down. However, there are other industries which thrived. There are 36 major industries, 12 medium industries and 35 small-scale units at Nanjangud. According to NIA, Nanjangud is the second highest tax-paying (sales tax of over Rs 400 crore a year) taluk in the State after Bangalore.

Sports

Football player N.S.Manju is originally from Nanjangud.

Nanjanagudu Banana

Nanjangud Rasabaale is a popular variety of the banana fruit, originating from the Devarasanahalli Village. The Nanjanagudu banana has been accorded

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

tag(GI), number 29.

List of Geographical Indications in India A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the ...

Kayyar Kinhanna Rai has authored a famous Kannada poem on the banana titled "Hannu Maruvavana Haadu".

Image gallery

File:Temple Road, Nanjangud.jpg, Ambedkar Circle File:Vivekananda Park Nanjangud.jpg, Vivekananda Park File:Mahadeshwara Temple.jpg, Mahadeshara Temple File:Nanjangud town.jpg, Nanjangud Ground File:Post office Nanjangud.jpg, Court File:Sathyanaratana Temple, Nanjangud.jpg, Sri Sathyanarayana Temple File:Paddy fields at Nanjangud.jpg, Paddy fields at Nanjangud File:Nanjangud Shiva statue.jpg, Statue of Lord Shiva, near Srikanteshwara Temple

Location

References

External links

{{Hindu temples in Karnataka Cities and towns in Mysore district Tourist attractions in Mysore district