It was a long wish to this temple. Initially, I
couldn’t locate this Dattatreya Temple. Ms. Srividhya’s article helped me reach
the temple at Baby Nagar, a part of Velachery and near the Vijayanagar bus Stop.
Main Deity :
Sri Dattatreyar
Consort :
Sri Anagha Devi
Some of the salient features of this
temple are…
The temple faces east. Stucco
images of Dattatreya with his consort, Dogs, and Rishabam are on the top of the
entrance. Stucco Elephants are on both sides of the temple entrance.
Dattatreya, Vishveshwara, and Rajarajeswari Sannidhis are in a row -South to North
facing east.
In Dattatreya’s sannidhi, Dattatreya is
with his consort Sri Anagha Devi. Dattatreya is in standing posture with 3 heads
and 6 arms. The center head is Maha Vishnu, the right is Brahma and the Left is Shiva.
The lower hands are holding accamala and kendy/kamandalam. The Middle hands
are holding Damaru (in some cases Trishul with Damaru or without Damaru) and lotus flower (in some cases a gatha) and the Upper hands are holding Chakra and Sankha. His consort Anaka Devi is with
abhaya varada hastam.
Sri Rajarajeswari is in a separate
sannidhi facing east. Vinayagar and Balamurugan are at the entrance of the
sanctum sanctorum. In koshtam Varahi, Durgai and Gayatri.
In Praharam Kariya Siddhi Hanuman, Vishveshwara,
Dakshinamurthy, Danvantri, Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevar, and Navagrahas.
Dattatreya with his consort Sri Anagha Devi - PC Website
Vishveshwara, PC Website
Danvantri, PC Website
ARCHITECTURE
The complete temple was built with bricks and
cement concrete. All three temples have only with sanctum sanctorum. The
Sanctum Sanctorum is built with upana ( about 3 feet ), padabandha adhistanam
and pattika. The Bhitti starts with vedika. The prastaram is with valapi and
kapotam. Eka tala dravida vimanas are on the sanctum sanctorum.
Vimanas
HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS
This Dattatreya temple was established by the Mysore
Datta Peetadhipati Parama Poojya Sri Sri Sri Ganapathi Sachidhanantha Swamiji in
1987. Kariya Siddhi Anjaneya sannidhi was established in 1999 and
Rajarajeswari was established in the year 2004.
The temple was badly damaged during the 2015 flood and the 2016 Vardha cyclone. The total temple structure was pulled down and temples were
constructed in the same place. Dakshinamurthy, Danvanthiri, Lakshmi
Hayagreevar, and Vishveshwara sannidhis are added during the reconstruction. The
reconstructed temple’s maha Kumbhabhishekam was initiated on 28th February
2018, with Dattatreya Homam, Chandi Homam, Anjaneyar Homam, Rudra Homam, etc,… Maha
Kumbhabhishekam was conducted by Datta
Peetadhipathi Parama Poojya Sri Sri Sri Ganapathi Sachidhanantha Swamiji and Ilaya Peetadhipathi poojya Sri Swamiji
Vijayanantha Theertha Swamiji, on 4th March 2018.
LEGENDS
As per the legend, Dattatreya is believed to be a combined incarnation of Maha Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. He is considered an exceptional Rishi with
extraordinary insights and knowledge. In Puranas, he is considered a Guru and
avatar of Maha Vishnu. As per Puranas, Dattatreya renounced this worldly life
and left home at an early age to attain gnana. Dattatreya is shown with 3 heads,
in which the center is Vishnu’s head, and Brahma and Shiva’s heads are on the right and
left side. He is shown with 6 hands. The upper hand holds the sankha &
chakra, the middle hand holds Trishul
with Damaru & Lotus / gatha and the Lower hand holds acca mala and Kamandala, portraying Maha Vishnu, Brahma, and
Shiva.
Dattatreya was the son of Atri Maharishi and
Anusuya. Atri was born from Brahma and his wife Anusuya was the daughter of the
sage Kardama and Devahuti. He did penance on Brahma to attain Brahma Gnana. Anusuya
devoted her life sincerely to her husband Atri, as Chastity & Sacred, and followed the path of Dharma.
Maha Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva want to show Anusuya’s supremacy and Chastity to
this to this world, through testing her. All three came to the ashram in
the form of 3 saints, when Atri was away. All three told her, they would
have their food, only if Anusuya served food naked since they practiced
different austerity. Anusuya readily accepted the saint’s request. Since She
followed Dharma and was superior in chastity, She turned all three saints into
newborn infants. She fed all three with milk from her breasts. In the meantime, Atri Maharishi returned home and found his wife feeding the three children.
Through his third Vision, he came to know that all three babies were none
other than Maha Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva, those came in the form of saints.
When Maha Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Parvati came to
know that their husbands were in Atri’s ashram as Children, they pleaded with Atri and Anusuya to change back to their original form. All three offered Anusuya a boon, whatever
she wanted. Anusuya asked a boon of, Trimurtis should born to her as her
Children. All three granted the boon to Anusuya. Hence Dattatreya was born
to Anusuya with three heads and 6 hands, to signify Maha Vishnu, Brahma, and
Shiva.
The 24 Gurus that Dattatreya found in nature and
society have become famous and a part of Puranas and scriptures. Some of them
are earth, wind, fire, sky, water, moon, sun, pigeons, pythons, snakes, dogs,
Cows, and a few more. He is closely
associated with many legends and puranas, like Kartavirya Arjuna with 1000
hands, Bhakta Prahlada, etc. One such legend goes like this…
As per the legend, the Demon Jamba defeated the Devas
and Chased them away from three worlds. He started ruling all three worlds and
gave frequent troubles to Devas. Unbearable Devas sought the help of Dattatreya,
as advised by Brihaspati. At that time Maha Lakshmi was in the ashram with
Dattatreya. When Jamba came to know that the Devas went to Dattatreya’s ashram
for help, he came to the ashram along with his army, to fight with Devas and
Dattatreya. On seeing the beauty of Maha Lakshmi, Jamba, falls in love and wants
Maha Lakshmi to take with him. The demon Jamba and his army lost their strength
and power after seeing the beauty of Maha Lakshmi. The Devas immediately
attacked Jamba, their army, and chased away from three lokas/worlds.
POOJAS AND CELEBRATIONS
Apart from regular poojas special poojas are also
conducted. The Ashtami day in Margazhi month is observed as Anaghashtami
Vratham. This signifies the worship of Anaka Dattar who gained the ashtama
siddhis as children. Dattatreya Utsavam is also celebrated in a grand
manner.
One of the special prayers is offered to Sri Anjaneyar in this temple. Those who have some wishes have to tie a coconut at this Anjaneyar sannidhi. It is believed that their wishes will be fulfilled within a month.
Hanuman with Coconuts are tied as a part of prayer.
TEMPLE TIMINGS
The temple will be kept open between 07.00 hrs to
11.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs to 20.30 hrs.
CONTACT DETAILS
The landline numbers +9144 2233879 and mobile
numbers +919600003651 and +9198840277369 may be contacted for further details.
HOW TO REACH
This Dattatreya Temple is at Sachchidananda
Nagar, near Baby Nagar, Seshadripuram
Main Road a part of Velachery.
The Temple is about 500 meters from the baby Nagar bus
stop and about a KM from the Vijayanagar Bus Stand.
The nearest MRTS railway station is Velachery.
LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---
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