Ghati - The Holy Place of Lord Subramanya, Narasimha and Snake Gods

On a Sunday morning around 8 AM we left to Ghati with my brother and sister in law. Ghati is a place on the outskirts of Bengaluru, near Doddaballapura where Lord Subramanya temple is situated. It is identifiably called as Ghati Subramanya temple. It is a popular pilgrimage centre located at a distance of 60 Kms from Bengaluru. It is one of the ancient temples and more than 600 years old. We reached the temple around 10.30 AM. Drive was smooth. We enjoyed the nature and the scenic valleys on the way to the temple. There is a big parking place surrounded by many shops which sell pooja items, flowers, coconuts etc.

Temple entrance has a big Rajagopura which attracts everyone. As it was Sunday temple was crowded. We had to stand in the queue for almost one and half hour for Darshan. This is the painful part of temple visits. A family of monkeys on the roof gave us company during this time. Baby monkeys kept us entertained with their naughty fun plays for one and half hour. Otherwise it was really difficult to kill the time standing in the queue. Finally we had a glimpse of of Lord Subramanya and Narasimha just for a second.

RajaGopura

While we were standing in the queue, these monkeys gave us company

Here in this temple Lord Subramanya is accompanied by Lord Narasimha. The distinctive feature of the temple is Lord Subramanya is facing East and Lord Narasimha is exactly at his back facing the west. We can see Lord Narasimha through a mirror which has been placed in the shrine. These two idols are said to be Swayambhu which means they are self originated. They are not man made or sculpted by anyone.

Where there is Lord Subramanya there should be Snake Gods. In Ghati too we can see images of Snake Gods like Adishesha and Vasuki. People who have Naga Dosha, Kala Sarpa Dosha come here and offer pooja, Homa, Havana etc to seek solution for those doshas. Childless couple often visit the temple to seek the blessings and boon of a child from Lord Subramanya.

Behind the temple there is a big Naga Bana where many Nagara Kallu (Snake carved out of the stone) have been installed under a big peepal tree. There are more than hundred snake idols installed by devotees whose wish has come true. We can see women offering kumkum, haldi and pouring milk on those snake idols.

Champa Shashti (Skanda Shashti), Lord Subramanya Jayanthi, Narasimha Jayanthi, Naga Panchami are the big festivals in this temple. Thousands of devotees flock in this temple on all special days. Even devotees from Tamil Nadu come here to offer pooja to their favorite God Murugan (Lord Subramanya).

Temple offers free lunch (Prasad Bhojana) to devotees everyday. As we had already brought our lunch packed from home we had it on the way back to Bengaluru, sitting on the lush green field roadside.