The Lakshmiramana Swamy temple in Mysore is one of
the oldest temples in the city. In an inscription found at the Banni
Mantapa in Mysore there is a mention of a grant for God Lakshminarayana
in 1499 by the Vijayanagara King Narasa Nayaka, the father of the famous
Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadevaraya. There is an inscription in the
temple dated November 30, 1851, recording that Krishnaraja Wodeyar III
renovated the tower built over the Mahaswara (the main entrance) Raja
Wodeyar built the original tower.
There is a statue of Raja Wodeyar to the right side in the Prakara that
is about 2 feet in height. The main deity of the temple is
Nambinarayana, a form of Vishnu, the sanctum sanctorum has a statue of
Him holding the discus and the conch. There is a cell to the right that
has a statue of his consort, the Goddess Lakshmi. There is a beautiful
statue of Lord Venugopala that is about 4 feet. Kantirava Narasaraja
Wodeyar (1638-1659) built the magnificent mantapa in the rear of the
temple.
The temple was the venue for the coronation of the five-year-old-child
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. As there was no other place that was suitable
enough for the coronation, the British placed the child King on the
throne of Mysore in this temple on June 30, 1799, after the death of
Tippu Sultan. The temple is located on the western part of the fort
inside the Palace near the Residential Museum.
Thee are two interesting incidents associated with this famous temple.
According to legend, a chieftain of Karugahalli was defeated at the
hands of Raja Wodeya and wanted revenge. Therefore he bribed the priest
of the temple to offer the King poison mixed with holy water (thirtha),
when he came to the temple to offer daily prayers. While doing so the
priest's hands trembled. And on being questioned by the King the priest
confessed that he had poisoned the holy water. Raja Wodeyar drank that
water and it had no effect on him as a result of his faith in Lord
Lakshminarayana.
The priest was transferred to a different temple and the Karugahalli
chief was defeated, his fort destroyed and all his wealth was used as an
offering to Goddess Chamundeshwari. Raja Wodeyar built the Mahadwara
with a tall gopura and decorated it with golden finials, as an offering
to the Lord for saving his life. In the second incident a half-blind
Brahmin was cured of his blindness around 1599 at the interposition of
Raja Wodeyar. To commemorate this miracle the Maharaja installed a two
feet statue of himself standing with folded hands in the temple.
