Shri Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple also known as Tirunarayanpura is a temple located in Melukote in Mandya district of Karnataka state. The temple is built on rocky hills overlooking the Kaveri valley. This temple is classified as one of the 108 Abhimana Kshetras of the Vaishnava tradition. Dedicated to Yoga Narasimha, Melukote Narasimha Temple stands on a hill with about 400 steps at an altitude of 1777 meters above sea level.
Cheluvanarayan Swamy Temple is about 136 km from Bangalore and 52 km from Mysore. Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple is about 38 km from Mandya Nagar and 32 km from Sri Rangapatnam and 22 km from Pandavapur.
The main temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu is called Tirunarayana or Cheluvaraya and was built by Wodeyar of the Mysore royal family and is patronized by the kings.
Melukote is the site of the Cheluvanarayan Swamy Temple, a collection of crowns and jewels brought to the temple for the annual ritual. At the top of the hill there is a temple of Yoganarasimha. Many more temples and ponds are located in this town.
The temple is open from 7:30am–1pm, 4–6 pm and 7–8:30 pm.
History
Sriman Narayana wearing a diamond crown (Vairamudi) was stolen by Virochana while he was sleeping in his abode in the ocean of milk. Virochana was the son of a demon and a devotee Prahlada. The Lord’s devotees asked Garuda to bring back the crown, so this Garuda would accompany Sri as a vehicle. The presiding deity here is Cheluvanarayana Swamy, also known as Thirunarayana or Cheluvapille Raya. It is a form of Vishnu. Inscriptions indicate that this deity was also known as Ramapriya.
