Hill Temples Of Bangalore -2 : Omkar Hills - Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Temple and Matsya Narayana Temple

Previous Posts :-
1.Hill Temples Of Bangalore -1 : Shrungagiri Hill- Shanmukha Temple

Do you want to see Orissa (Odisha) style temple in namma Bengaluru? Do you want to visit all 12 jyotirlingas under one roof in Bengaluru? Then visit Dwadasha Jyotirlinga temple which is situated on Omkar Hills. Omkar hills is the highest peak in Bangalore. Omkar hills houses an Ashram called Omkara Ashram and many temples namely Omkareshwar Temple which has Dwadasha Jyotirlingas,  Matsya Narayana Temple, Nagadevata Temple, Vana Durga Temple, Ganapathi Temple and  Munishwara Temple - and a giant tower clock which is one of the biggest clock in the world. Apart from the temples, the ashrama campus is having a Vishwamitra Veda Vidyalaya and a Goshala. SRI SHIVAPURI MAHASWAMIJI founded Omkara Ashrama Mahasamsthana in 1992 on Omkar Hills.

Omkareshwara Temple, Dwadasha (12) Jyotirlingas and Temple Gopuram :

This temple is unique and beautiful in many ways: -

1. The Temple Gopuram : The Gopuram of Jyotirlinga temple attracts with Orissa style and North Indian architecture. Tall white colored gopuram complex shines with golden colored mukuta. There are 12 gopuras each representing a Jyotirlinga.

Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Temple

Temple Gopuram

2. In this temple the Twelve Representative Jyotirlingas of the original Pauranik Twelve Jyotirlingas, which are in different parts of our country are under one roof, each with an individual Garbhagriha and Vimanagopuram.

3. Inside the main temple, these 12 Jyotirlingas are seen along with Sri Vidyaganapathi, Sri Subrahmanya, Sri Kalabhairava, Sri Chandikeshwara, Ekadasha (11) Rudradevatas, Panchaloha Nataraja weighing around 1000 Kgs and the Divine Mother Shakti in the form of Sri Yantra.

Above photos are of following Jyotirlingas :

-> Omkareshwar

-> Vaidyanatha

-> Vishwanatha

-> Bhimashankara

-> Triyambakeshwara

-> Ghushmeshara

Above photos are of following Jyotirlingas :

• Nageshwara
• Mallikarjuna
• Mahakaleshwara
• Chandikeshwara
• Triyambakeshwara
• Kalabhairava

4. Of these Twelve Jyotirlingas, the Omkareshwara Jyotirlinga measuring around 6 Feet in height, occupies the place of pride with Spatika Shree Yantra, at the centre of the temple, encircled by the other Eleven Jyotirlingas. This is the Main Jyotirlinga of this temple.

Omkareshwar....Main Jyotirlinga Of The Temple

5. The Vimana Gopurams of Sri Shaila Mallikarjuna and Sri Rameshwara Jyotirlingas which are in South India are in the Southern style, and the Vimana Gopurams of the remaining Ten Jyotirlingas which are in North India are in the Northern Style. Hence, this temple is a harmony of South Indian and North Indian Sculptures. The height of the Vimana Gopuram of the main Jyotirlinga, Sri Omkareshwara is around 100 Feet from the ground level and is the highest among all the Vimana Gopurams.

6. All the 12 Jyotirlingas are Narmadeshwara Lingas (also known as Baana Lingas), and are made from the Stones of the River Narmada, which is very auspicious for Shivalinga.

7. Below each and every Jyotirlinga, 1000 Small Narmadeshwara Lingas measuring around 1 inch in length are placed. But beneath the Sri Omkareshwara linga, 2000 Small Narmada Lingas are placed.So in total the temple consists of visible 12 main Jyotirlingas and 13000(thirteen thousand) invisible Narmadeshwara Lingas.

8. Beneath each and every Jyotirlinga, Saligramas, many Rare Herbs, precious Stones (Navarathna), Metals, Grains, good quantity of Mercury and Specially worshipped Yantras are also placed along with Small Narmadeshwara Lingas.

Matsya Narayana Temple :

Matsyanarayana Temple in Omkara Ashrama is the only temple of its kind in Karnataka of Bhagavan Sri Matsyanarayana Swamy.Matsya Avatar was the first Avatar of Lord Vishnu, among the Dashavatara of Mahavishnu. Matsya means ‘fish’ in Sanskrit and Matsya Avatar is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the form of Fish.

Mathsya Avatar was taken by Lord Vishnu at the end of the first epoch (Satyuga), when the world was destroyed by a great flood. Lord Vishnu saved humanity and the Vedas from the deluge. Matsya Avatara is generally represented as a four-armed deity with the upper part of MahaVishnu and the lower of a Matsya. The Matsya Narayana Moorthy has four arms:two arms hold shankam (conch shell) and chakram (divine discus) and the other two arms are in abhaya-hastam (divine protection) and varam (boon).

Matsya Narayana Temple

We were happy to see the only temple in India which is dedicated to Matsya Narayana.

Religious Harmony :

Infront of Matsya Narayana Temple, there is a big banyan tree under which we can see statues of religious leaders. Statues of Goutam Buddha, Ramanujacharya, Mahaveera, Jesus, Guru Granth Sahib etc are present under the banyan tree surrounding it in a circular shape. This area is also called "Sarva Dharma Samanvaya Peetha".  This says Omkar Ashram promotes religious harmony in the society.

Clock Tower :

One of The attractions of the Omkar Hills is a big Clock Tower near the entrance of Matsya Narayana Temple.

 Significant features of this clock tower are :

1. This is the biggest clock tower in India.

2. It is bigger than the reputed Big Ben Clock tower in London,

3. This Tower clock is installed by HMT.

4. At the commencement of every hour, the clock chimes the sound of couch (Shankanada) followed by “Om” five times. This can be heard hear fro far away distance.
5.Height of the clock tower is 40ft.
6.Weight of the clock is 500kgs.
7.Hour hands and minute hands weighs around 40kgs.

Vishwamitra Veda Vidyalaya :

Vishwamitra Veda Vidyalaya present on Omkar hills is the Veda learning centre.  Students are educated in Sanskrit and General Knowledge by well qualified Acharyas at the gurukul.
The Vidyalaya is providing free accommodation, Food, Clothing and study materials for the students during their entire course which normally will be 6 years.

Vishwamitra Veda Vidyalaya

If you are in Bangalore then please visit Omkar Hills.  It is an easy opportunity to even a common man to have the satisfaction of visiting these Sacred Temples of Jyotirlinga spread all across the country – a rich treasure of our religion.

How to Reach Omkar Hills :

Omkar Hills is located on Kengeri Uttarahalli Main Road 2.3 km OFF Mysore Road. It is very near to JSS institute of Technology.

(Few information are taken from omkar hills website).