The distance from Mysore to Nanjangud was around 23 kms and we reached by 30 minutes. On the way we both admired the trial railway track where there was a dummy train (no seats) parked. Nanjangud is a temple town on the banks of the river Kapila and is also called as "Dakshina Kashi" (southern Kashi). Our motto was to visit the Sri Raghavendra swamy Mutt. We enquired a few for the route and reached the matt.
Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt which is called as Preteeka Sanidhi is situated on the road to the right of the Nanjundeswara temple. The uniqueness of this Mutt is one can find an idol of Sri Raghavendra Swamy instead of the usual Brindavana. We met the manager and the hospitality he provided was mind-blowing. He told about the story of the matt and how the idol of Sri Raghavendra Swamy was brought to the temple. He took us to the Moola Brindavanas (mortal remains) of 5 saints belonging to Raghavendra swamy mutt lineage known as Pancha Brindavana. He explained us about each one of the five saints and their uniqueness, we were amazed when he uttered that he himself belongs to that lineage!! We discussed in length about the aradhana preparations and future plans for developing the matt, he was keen to the statement that "never ever the development of the matt should destroy the rich old culture and its divinity".
We left Nanjangud without visiting the Nanjundeshwara temple, decided to come back to Nanjangud once again and visit. We drove back to Mysore and had lunch at a good restaurant. The food was of good quality and we enjoyed it. We were comparing the qulaity and price of the food we got in Mysore with that in Bangalore, its incomparable. We left Mysore by around 200PM to Melkote.
One should be careful in taking the correct left turn before Mandya in the Mysore-Mandya road to reach Melkote, otherwise unnecessary time wastage will happen inside the Mandya town. Melkote is 41 kms from the Mysore-Mandya road and the drive was awesome, sugarcane fields covered both sides of the road and it was lush green.
The Karnataka road direction board indicated that the same road can take us to Saravanabelagola. On the way I clicked this snap below, we felt very bad on seeing the mode of transport these kids take every day to their school. 
We reached a junction from where there were 3 roads splitting out, we enquired and got the way to Melkote, one another road led to Saravanabelagola. From there we were able to see a hill and a temple over it and assured ourself that this is the place where we are talking about. 
Actually, a trip to Melkote was in our minds for a long time, more than 2 years. It is said that it will not be easy to visit Melkote as per our wish, it needs the call from the Cheluvanarayanaswamy and we thought this saturday (Dec 20, 2008) was that day!!! Melkote is one of the sacred places in Karnataka, also known as Thirunarayanapuram, one of the four sacred places of Vaishnavism in Southern India. It is built on rocky hills known as Yadavagiri or Yadugiri overlooking the Cauvery valley. This is the place where Mani Ratnam shot his famous dance sequence for the song Rakkamma in the movie Thalapathi and the Barso Re(some parts) song in Guru, as well as the marriage approval sequences in rajini's Padayappa is also shot here. The main temples here are the Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple and Yoga Narasimha swami temple (above the hill).
There were so many tourists like us came to see this unfinished work, we discussed ourselves "if this place was not shown in the films, whether we all will be here to see this??". We also saw the Akka & Thangi Kola nearby and it was beautiful. Legend has it that the ponds were built by 2 sisters for the people of Melkote. But the elder seemed to have calculated her expenses. Henceforth the people do not make use of the Akka kulum and hence its water is salty whereas the water of thangi kola is sweet!!!
We reached Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple and came to know that the temple will be opened by 400PM, went to Mukya Dwara - Unfinished entrance pillars built by king Krishnadevaraya, we were interested to visit the place, as we have seen the place in many films. It was beautiful and neat. 
There were so many tourists like us came to see this unfinished work, we discussed ourselves "if this place was not shown in the films, whether we all will be here to see this??". We also saw the Akka & Thangi Kola nearby and it was beautiful. Legend has it that the ponds were built by 2 sisters for the people of Melkote. But the elder seemed to have calculated her expenses. Henceforth the people do not make use of the Akka kulum and hence its water is salty whereas the water of thangi kola is sweet!!! We then started to climb the hill of Yoga Narasimha swami temple and it was around 400 steps to reach the top. We reached the top at 430PM and came to know that the temple will be opened by 530PM, we both were tired and got a nice place to relax sometime enjoying the
cold breeze, without any noise and air pollution, it was a divine feeling altogether... it was a beautiful location, large landscape beow you and the horizon can be seen with a haze around it!!!
cold breeze, without any noise and air pollution, it was a divine feeling altogether... it was a beautiful location, large landscape beow you and the horizon can be seen with a haze around it!!!Srini had a quick nap and I was just admiring the temple and the surroundings. By 530PM the doors were opened and we had a nice darshan of Yoga Narasimha swami. The entire temple in top of the hill is constructed like a fort, may be thats why they call this place as Mel Kote (a kottai on top). We walked down the stairs and reached the land, it was getting dark and we started our travel back to Bangalore, back to pavillion, where the city life starts again...
