This Mysterious Temple in Malleswaram had been under the ground for more than 3000 years until it was discovered 3 years ago
Malleswaram is filled with different temples, but there is no other temple that has attracted more controversy recently as the Nandeeshwara temple at Malleswaram 17th cross. Though it has been stated to stand for 7,000 years, the temple was only recently discovered 3 years ago. It was buried over the years, but the aura still remains and has been attracting crowds to it.
Ravi Shankar Bhatt, a local priest says, “Three years ago, a politician tried to sell this plot. But the people objected on the grounds that the land should first be dug through to see if they could find something.” Surprisingly, they found the temple completely buried under the flat land. More surprisingly, the temple was preserved by the thick layers of soil and was still in perfect condition.
A stone cut courtyard supported by ancient stone pillars had enclosed the temple and kept it protected. There is a black stone carving of Nandi with golden eyes at the far end of the courtyard, and from its mouth, a clear stream of water flowed toward Shivalinga at the lower level. One could also see the steps that led to the pool at the center, with a 15ft deep whirlpool.
Things haven’t changed a bit as it seems, though, and nobody can pinpoint where the origin of that water is and how the water passes from the mouth of Nandi to the Shivalinga. To add, nobody even knows how the whirlpool came into being. Everything is still a mystery.
A local says, “There has been no scientific explanation for the source of water till date. Some say it was built by Shivaji Maharaj. Some say it is older. But one thing is sure that the temple has remained untouched over the years and it must exactly be like this before people dug up.
Today, many holy people visit the temple, especially on the day of Shivaratri. They pour milk on the Shivalinga, while some visit to uncover the marvel of the temple that no one has an explanation for. There has been a hypothesis that the water source may be a Sankey tank because it is directly in the line off and at the higher level of the temple. But the hypothesis has not been proven yet.
This temple is under the constituency of Mla Sitaram. He says, “There was a court case initially. But since it was an ancient temple of great heritage and religious value, it was preserved and taken over by the government.”
However, there were few leakages and rotting that damaged the temple. Sitaram says, “Since it was so ancient, the walls had some kind of leakage and started rotting after a while. The leaks were filled up and the walls were whitewashed. But no one has really tampered with the original structure.”
To take care of the heritage, a committee has been formed at Malleswaram. There are 11 members of the committee and C Chandrashekhar is the president of the committee. He says that they are working to make further improvements to protect and beautify it. The next step, according to him, is to build a gopuram around the temple premises. However, he believes that fund has been a problem since it hasn’t gained as much attention as it should from the government.