Temples of Bangalore – Tulasi Thota
The Dharmaraya temple and its Karaga festival is explained in every history book’s chapter on Bengaluru’s culture or heritage. However the city being a mix of many cultures performs many other lesser known and very old temples & festivals. My next few posts will be an attempt to unravel them.
I will start the series with this post on Tulasi Thota, behind Chikka Lalbagh in Balepet-Akkipet area.
The temple’s two main deities are Lord Krishna and Rama. During March April every year the area sees a ‘Brahma Rathothsavam’ for Lord Krishna and Ramothsavam for Lord Rama.
The main deity of this temple is Lord Krishna, in the classic picture, as a child with a cup of butter. The age of this temple is a mystery. While one source says the temple was built in 1844 by Sri Chamaraja Wodeyar, the ruler of Mysore, another source mentions its age to be much older.
However what is known is that the temple was maintained and expanded during the time of Rao Bahadur B K Garudachar, one of Bangalore’s earliest mayors. Garudachar was known as a man of action and minimum speech. Every morning he would walk through the streets and by lanes of the city to personally check on the things that required immediate repair or action. When there was work to be done, he would personally visit the field worker whether it was a plumber or a clerk or a sweeper. Later in the day, he would solve around 20 to 25 action items in an hour. Needless to say, many a grievance was solved before its discussion came to the table.
The name of the temple – Tulasi Thota (Basil Grove) - has an interesting story behind it. In 1908, the famous Saint Tulasi Ramdas came to Bangalore with an intention of setting up a Ram temple and perform Ramothsavams every year. Impressed by Garudachar’s hospitality and the temple upkeep, he decided to consecrate the idol of Lord Ram in a small temple next to the Krishna deity. From then on, the area was known as Tulasi Thota(Basil Grove) or Tulasi Vanam(Basil Forest). However there’s also a disputed theory that there might have been a tulasi grove in this area.
The temple and its courtyard is maintained by the successors of the Late Rao Bahadur Garudachar. There are a few houses for the people who work in the temple premises.
The area has also had its share of illegal encroachment.
Still it is one of a few lung spaces in the otherwise congested Majestic area.
The prosperity also came from the location. It was next to the old tank that was drained to create bus station.
Which main? what Cross?
April 30, 2009 at 1:51 pm
This temple prospered due to the support & aid from Garudachar, the then mayor and his forethought of setting up a trust to take care of its funds. But of course, in general the old Bangalore area’s (Majestic) main source of water was Dharmambudhi, which you mention.
Poornima
May 1, 2009 at 4:36 am
can u get the pics of lord krishna of tulasi thota? pls
Abhi
August 7, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I usually dont take any pictures inside the ‘garbagriha’ of any temple. Dont know why you need it, I would recommend you a visit to the temple.
Poornima
August 11, 2009 at 5:08 am
Garbhagriha hmmm nice to hear abt it …you know y ?? the garbha griha is nothing but garbha …just imagine when a baby is in GARBHA of a mother ..it is protected from all negativities…any impact on mother also impacts on the baby and it gets disturbed..that s the reason why we are not allowed to take pictures inside the girbhagriha,when the mother is disturbed then the child is also disturbed and when the child is disturbed..then we are also disturbed ..i hope u got the concept..thanks
sorry if i am changing the topic ..
Karthik
September 2, 2009 at 8:47 am
maybe that’s why they call it that way. Interesting train of thought:)
Poornima
September 11, 2009 at 10:48 am
Hi Poornima,
I think you have contacted d wrong person, Am a resident of Tulasi Thotta from past 25 years, and to be more specific we are living from our ancestral period, as to my knowledge there is nothing called illegal encroachment !!
Please do consult me if required [:)]
Karthik
October 11, 2009 at 11:41 am
I was given this information from the Tulasi Thota trust member. The period he referred to was from the time of Wodeyars donating the land towards the temple to now – so I do believe his statement only because there has been much unplanned and haphazard construction in the area. In case you have proof/documents that prove otherwise, please do reply.
Poornima
October 24, 2009 at 10:44 am