Temples of Talakadu, Karnataka: Sri Keerthi Narayana temple, dedicated to the Lord Vishnu Raghavan Given its architectural beauty, ASI has taken over possession of the temple. Every morning, much before the priest makes his way to the temple, an ASI staffer cleans the entire temple complex. In the 2nd half of the previous century, full time pooja had been closed at the temple for 2-3 decades with excavation work by the ASI. Only this decade, the Moolasthanam was fully renovated and devotees are now able to have darshan of the standing Moolavar Lord flanked by Sri and Bhoo Devi Thayar. Recently, the temple has been attached to the nearby Vaidhanathan temple, a Saivite temple that is quite popular in the region and whose finances are much better. With this recent development, the Bhattachar is hoping that a reasonable salary in line with the current cost of living will be paid to him. The madapalli and the utsava vahana mandapam need some improvement. There are also no toilets around the temple complex. This too has to be built. The priest is hoping that these can be undertaken with support from devotees. Vedanta Desikar is also said to have visited this temple during his trip to Karnataka. Festivals: Mesha Chitrai – Theerthavari Mesha Uthiram – Brahmma Ratham Ratha Saptami, Karthigai are celebrated in a grand way at this temple. There are festivals all through the year. Temple is open from 10am till 530pm ( till 630pm/7pm on the weekend). Contact Srinivasan Bhattar @ 99006 31011 How to reach: For long, there had been very little connectivity to this historic temple. Over the last decade, public bus services have seen an improvement in Karnataka. Almost all the historic temples are well connected by road. While the road from Mysore via T. Narasingapur was the more popular route to Talakadu, the Karnataka Government has developed the highway from Maddur to Malavalli into a top road and increased the frequency of buses. From Malavalli, there are share autos/taxis at frequent intervals to Talakadu as well as buses starting 7am. Talakadu is 50kms from Maddur via Malavalli. First bus from Maddur at 6am to Malavalli (will reach in 30mts). Bus service to Talakadu from Malavalli starts at 7am, reaches Talakadu at 730am. From Mysore, Talakadu is 50kms via T. Narasingapur. Buses ply every 15mts from Mysore to T Narasingapur. From there, one can take share auto or a town bus to Talakadu (10kms). A TO Z INDIA AUGUST 2022 PAGE 12