Ambegaalu Krishna beckons you

I am blessed to write about Lord Aprameya and Ambegaalu Krishna /Navaneetha Krishna on this auspicious day of Gokulashtami / Srikrishna Jayanthi.

Dodda Mallur or Mallur is a village near Channapatna in Karnataka It is situated on the banks of the river Kanva. The village is famous for its temples of SRIAprameya Swamy and Ambegalu Krishna (crawling Krishna). It is approximately 60 km from Bengaluru and three km from Channapatna. Aprameya temple houses the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Aprameya, Goddess Aravindavalli Thayar and Navaneetha Krishna.

 The word Aprameya finds a mention in Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam -the thousand names of Lord Vishnu

Aprameyo hrushikeshah padmanabhomaraprabhuhu |

vishvakarmaa manusthvashtaa sthavishtah sthavirodhruvaha

Aprameya means the one who is immeasurable, indescribable or who cannot be understood fully. He is beyond the ken of human perception. It is said that even Brahma who is seated on the lotus from His navel cannot describe him fully. In the words of a siddha கண்டவர் விண்டிலார், விண்டவர் கண்டிலார்/ Those who have seen cannot describe and those who describe have not seen Him. Such is the indescribable beauty of God and the one named Aprameya here.

The temple was built in 11^th century by a Chola king and has its annual Brahmotsavam in April/May. One unique feature in the construction of the temple is that for this part of the year the sunrays at sunrise fall directly on the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Aprameya Swamy.

The utsavar is a replica of the moolavar Aprameya and is accompanied by his consorts Sreedevi and Bhoodevi. They are taken out on procession on important festival days.

Childless women come here and pray with much devotion to Krishna to bless them with children.  Numerous stories abound of such miracles happening reinforcing such a faith.

 It is believed that Lord Sri Rama stayed here and worshipped Lord Aprameya. Hence he is also called as Ramaprameya. He is seen in a standing position with Sankhu and chakram in two hands, gadha in another and Abhaya hastha blessing the devotees with the fourth hand.

As you come out after having his darshan and go around clockwise you come to the sanctum of goddess Aravindavalli Thayar. While She is seen sitting majestically, what strikes you instantly is her powerful eyes that are at once riveting. I have seen similar eyes in the idol of Sri Ramanuja.

As we proceed further we come across the sanctum of the famous Ambegaalu Krishna. We have been wanting to see for a long time, whenever we listened to Purandara dasa’s song Jagadhodharana Adisila yashodha, this Ambegaalu Krishna otherwise called as thavazhara Krishna in crawling position. This is the only temple where Krishna is seen in this posture. It is said that Dasa was so mesmerised seeing Krishna in this form he went into raptures and composed this song spontaneously then and there. If that was the emotional experience of Sri Purandaradasa, you can well imagine our ecstatic reaction on seeing this beautiful Krishna.

One look at this Krishna and your eyes remain transfixed on his eyes and the only words that I could think of to describe them is “COMPELLINGLY ATTRACTIVE AND CUTE”. Anyone who sees him will have the motherly instincts kindled in them unknowingly.

Krishna here is seen in a crawling position, as his name ambegaalu Krishna would signify, and with butter on one hand raised above the ground, he is rightly called as Navaneetha Krishna. He is carved out of black stone with all the jewels sculpted precisely and beautifully. You cannot miss to see the beautiful carved anklets. Most of the days he is covered fully with jasmine flowers. One particular ornament which you must see is the tiger claw pendant dangling in a chain from his neck. There is a belief that people who come to see him may cast an evil eye(drishti). To keep him away from any harm this pendant is put around his neck! This shows that everyone despite his divinity treats him like his/her own son and not just an idol of god.

We had some time to explore the temple and see the different vahanas on which the deities are taken on procession and as usual I was attracted towards Sri Garuda. 

Then we saw the mantapa called as Purandara mantapa from where he sang the famous Jagadhodharana.

Purandara Mantapa

As you come out, you can see small shops nearby selling Channapatna wooden dolls and artefacts. Bargain well and you can get them dirt cheap.

 I must tell that the spiritual influence this darshan of Krishna here was something so personal and intimate that I had not experienced for long time and his captivating vision lingered in me long after I left the place. With bliss written on our faces and a heart full of gratitude towards the almighty we proceeded with our journey to Mysore.

Rest in the next.

Hope all my readers would also have a chance to see this Krishna and have his blessings!!!