Hill Temples Of Bangalore -1: Shrungagiri Hill - Shanmukha Temple

Every street of Namma Bengaluru has temples which are beautiful in their own way. Shanmukha temple which is in Rajarajeshwari Nagar and situated on top of the hillock called "Shrungagiri", is unique, modern and first of its kind. The temple is situated 240ft. height from the ground level. This temple belongs to Shri Sharada Peetham, Shringeri. We visited this temple recently and bowled over by the beauty of the temple. It is an absolute delight to watch and the architecture of the temple is really enchanting.  

The reasons why this temple stands out from other temples are:-

1. "Shanmuka" means Six face. Lord Shanukha has six faces. He is also known as Subramanya, Karthikeya, Murugan, Skanda....The main attraction of the temple is the gopuram which contains six faces of Lord Shanmukha. The six faces of Lord Shanmukha are thick concrete moulded structures.This gopuram is visible from far away distance.

2.A crystal dome has been placed above six faces. This crystal dome is embedded with 2500  crystals. During day time, when direct Sun Light falls on the crystals, the same is converted into a beautiful “Rainbow” pattern. In the evening the crystals are illuminated LED lights,each crystal disseminating 16 colour combination lights. Watching this gopuram in the evening is really a feast to eyes.

3. The design of the whole Temple is based on ‘Star” ( ) concept. The Sanctum (Garbha Gudi) and its outer circle (Prakara), devotees’ hall, outer walls, roof design – all are ‘Star’

 ( ) shape constructions.

4.Sanctum has three beautiful idols - Lord Shanmukha and his two wives - Valli and Devayanai standing on both the sides of Shanmukha.

 5. Temple Prakara displays more than 1000 Lord Ganesha idols. These Ganesha idols differ in shape, size, color and appearance. These idols are collections of Dr.Aruchalam, who designed the entire temple structure.

6. In addition to the Shanmukha Temple, a Panchamukhi Vinayaka Temple is also present at the foot-hill of “Shrungagiri”. This temple is also unique. Panchamukhi Vinayaka is “Simhavaahanaroodha” (riding a lion). Walls surrounding the  Panchamukhi Vinayaka temple has small holes through which we can see each face of Lord Ganesha. 

Panchamukhi Vinayaka Temple Gopuran

7.After getting darshana of Panchamukhi Vinayaka one has to climb more than 100 wide steps to reach Shanmukha temple. While climbing the steps you can enjoy the view from the top. The view of nice road from the top is beautiful.



8. You are welcomed to the temple by two huge, beautiful peacock statues.

 Shrungagiri temple is calm and serene. Temple management is plannig to build a Shiva Temple and Navagraha Prathishtapana – both of which again would be unique in nature. Construction is in full swing. Once completed, the Temple is bound to be a land mark tourist spot of Bangalore.

 How to reach Shrungagiri :

Shrungagiri is  in BEML Layout just 5 kms from RajaRajeshwari Arch - one of the popular landmarks in Bangalore. Rajarajeshwari arch is near Gopalan mall on Kengeri -  Mysore Road. Temple Gopuram is visible from far away distance.

Nearby attractions -

On the way to temple you can also visit Rajarajeshwari Temple - one of the oldest temples in Bangalore and Gopalan Mall.

 Before concluding I would like to mention a hymn which describes the importance of Six faces written by Swami Sivananda in his book "Lord Shanmukha and His Worship".

"Six are the sparks of light from Siva’s Trikuti flashed,
Six are your faces to remind the world of your Omnipresence,
Six are your attributes and functions as Bhagavan of all,
Six are the letters of your Mantra ‘Saravanabhava’ for all,
Six are the Devis that nursed you from the Karttik Star,
Six are the days in the Vrata of Skanda Shashthi to glorify your Avatara!"