Saturn temple awaits Yeddyurappa

Matter of faith

The ancient Dharbaranyeswara Temple of Lord Shiva, famed for its unique shrine of Lord Shanieeshwara (Saturn) in Thirunallar, where lakhs of pilgrims throng to wash off the planet’s ‘malefic effects’, seems another turf for Yeddyurappa for binding his ties with the gods.

About six months ago during a visit to the Thirunallar shrine in Karaikal, part of neighbouring Puducherry, Yeddyurappa, on a request from the temple authorities, agreed to donate Rs 40 lakh for building a new golden ‘Rishabha Vahanam’ (Shiva’s bull mount vehicle) for the principal deity that will ferry the ‘utsava murtis’ on festive occasions in the town.

 Oozing with religiosity, Yeddyurappa promptly had the demand draft dispatched to the temple after he reached Bangalore.

Tenders were then quickly floated to commission the building of the ‘Rishabha Vahanam’ for Lord Shiva by enlisting the services of traditional ‘sthapathis’,  sources said.

The wooden silhouette of lord Shiva’s majestic bull-mount was first carved. Then, the divine vehicle was exquisitely clothed with a copper shield. Gold along with silver was used to goldplate the Rishabha Vahanam, sources said.

However, with the skyrocketing prices of gold and silver in the market, the project cost escalated to Rs 63 lakh.  Several other devotees made up for the shortfall by chipping in with their contributions.

Ironically, the ‘Shaneeshwara’ shrine inside the temple complex has a ‘golden crow mount’ for lord Saturn. But for long years the principal deity of lord Shiva did not have a similar vehicle for festive occasions. “We wanted to have a new ‘Rishbha Vahanam’ for lord Dharbaranyeswara and so we appealed to the Karnataka CM for assistance when he was here,” temple authorities said.