The Ganga is considered as the holiest of the rivers in North India. It is said that you need to take but one dip in the river to cleanse away all the sins done in the lifetime. In the southern part of the country, the Kaveri enjoys same importance. There is one very interesting legend about this 765 Km long river. It is said that in the months of October-November Kaveri and Ganga meet underground so that Ganga, which is tainted with peoples' sins can cleanse herself with the help of Kaveri. :-)
Kaveri is one of the most ancient rivers of South India. More than 100 tributaries join her at various points of her journey. The river has 3 islands - the most important of them is Shrirangapattanam - the very place where Tipu Sultan and his father HaiderAli fought 4 battles. Tipu had conquered this region from the Wodiyar dynasty of Mysore. The Wodiyars had been ruling since 14th century. When the British defeated Tipu they handed Mysore's control back to the Wodiyars.
Throughout the centuries, the ShriRanganathSwami temple of Shrirangapattanam has been conducting Pooja of RanganathSwami who is considered to be the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Wodiyar dynasty has donated generously to this temple. There is a fascinating legend associated with this temple and the Wodiyar dynasty. It is said that this legend explains the 3 events which have been occurring to this very day:
The Wodiyar dynasty kings are not blessed with any child since past 19 generations.
A nearby village called Malangi is being slowly destroyed by Kavery.
The village of Talakkad, about 45 Kms away, has been buried under layers of sand.
And it is believed that a 400-year old curse is behind all this. So what is the story?
Talakkad is probably the only Sand Dune in Kaveri. It is made of sand flying through air. As per a book written by a historian in 1951, in a year about 12 feet of sand collected in this place. People believe that if any excavation is carried out here, it is possible that an ancient civilization like the Indus valley may emerge. The 4-5 temples that can be seen here today have been excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India. Those in the know say that there might be more such temples buried beneath all this sand. Based on the excavation done so far it can be said that the civilization here was spread in an area of 3-4 Kms. Along with Hindu and Jain religion, Budhhism was also being followed. It can be deduced that more than 1500 families used to call it a home.
There is one temple here - Vaidyeshwar temple. Anyone looking at this temple would know that there was no sand here when it was constructed. This huge stone structure could only have been constructed on solid earth, not on sand. Then where did all this sand come from? Especially when there is no ocean about. A person called Rachaiya, who stays in a nearby village, told the program anchor the story of the curse which is said to be the cause of all this mayhem.
A woman called Aalamelamma, who used to be a queen once, is responsible for this curse. And an event of immense historical significance is behind this legend. This event was responsible for annexing Talakkas and Mysore to the Wodiyar empire. As mentioned before, Wodiyars had been ruling over Mysore since the 14th century. At that time Mysore was but a small kingdom that was part of the Vijayanagar empire. The adjoining kingdom of Shrirangapattanam was much bigger than Mysore. In 1565, Vijayanagar was destroyed and the region's political scene underwent a major shift. Shrirangapattanam was then ruled by King Rangarai (who was also called as Tirumalarai). He was paranoid about the other kingdoms attacking him. So he started calling these kings for Navaratri Pooja and killing them. Mysore's Wodiyar king caught wind of it and made sure that he didn't fall into the trap. Then he attacked Shrirangapattanam and conquered it. King Rangarai was killed in this battle. His wife, Aalamelamma, shifted to the nearby village of Malangi. She was an ardent fan of the deity that was considered to be the consort of Lord ShriRanganathSwami. The temple of this deity, AadirangaMandir, is still considered among one of the most important temples of South India. In those days, every Tuesday and Friday, an Aarti of the deity used to be performed. And the idol used to be decked in the finest of the jewelries. After the ceremony was over these jewellery used to be handed over to Aalamelamma for safe-keeping. When she shifted to Malangi she took all this jewellery with her. After the battle was over, the temple priests went to the Wodiyar king and requested to get this jewellery back. The king sent his people to Malangi but Aalamelamma handed over only one nose-ring made of pearls but refused to give anything else back.The king was enraged at this blatant disregard of his diktat. He ordered his men not to come back without taking all the jewellery into custody. When the king's men came for her for the second time she was in Talakkad, which was her birthplace. She jumped into the river along with all jewellery and committed suicide, but not before uttering terrible curses:
May the Wodiyar dynasty never be blessed with children.
May Malangi be swallowed by Kaveri.
May Talakkad be buried under sand.
It is said that since then Talakkas began to be covered by sand. Malangi began to be slowly destroyed by the fast current and whirlpools in Kaveri and since past 400 years every second generation Wodiyar king is childless.
So what do the scientists and historians have to say about this?
History says that at the beginning of the 17th century there was a great famine in India. The water level went down considerably in Kaveri and whatever was left was obstructed by the dam that was constructed in the 14th century. Because of this the fine sand in the riverbed started getting blowe by the wind. Since the wind was moving from the south, the sand started getting deposited in Talakkad, slowly burying it.
Now as far as Malangi goes, the Kaveri river has an elbow bend near it. The fast-flowing water is eroding the riverbank and the village situated on it. Th whirlpools originate because of the huge boulders in the riverbed.
Okay, so did the legend of the curse came into being because the people at that time couldn't have known about the scientific reasons behind these 2 events? Or were the scientific explanations were given later in a bid to check the superstitious ideas? What then is the explanation behind the Wodiyar dynasty being childless? After all it is also said that the Wodiyar king had kept an idol of Aalamelamma in his Mysore palace and even in this day and age a pooja is conducted in the hope that her soul will find peace and the curse will be lifted.
Wait a minute! Didn't the curse say that none of the Wodiyar Kings will be blessed with a child? Then what is this about every 2nd generation king being childless? If you think again, you will realize that when a king adopts a child, the curse doesn't apply to the child because he wasn't originally a king. But the son of this adopted king is a prince and hence subject to the curse. Sounds rather silly to believe this but it has really been happening since past 400 years. Even when the last Wodiyar king, Shrikant Datt, died in 2013, he didn't have a child to succeed him. So what does science have to say about this?
Some people do have a theory about this as well. They say that since the kings get married in their own families, they suffer from a biological defect called Inbreeding Depression. And that's the reason for their childlessness. Some people also say that when the British started applying their Doctrine of Lapse in India, the Wodiyars themselves spread rumors about this curse in an attempt to save their kingdom from falling into the British hands.
Whatever the reasons, this story about Talakkad, Malangi and the Wodiyar kings is indeed fascinating!
Kaveri is one of the most ancient rivers of South India. More than 100 tributaries join her at various points of her journey. The river has 3 islands - the most important of them is Shrirangapattanam - the very place where Tipu Sultan and his father HaiderAli fought 4 battles. Tipu had conquered this region from the Wodiyar dynasty of Mysore. The Wodiyars had been ruling since 14th century. When the British defeated Tipu they handed Mysore's control back to the Wodiyars.
Throughout the centuries, the ShriRanganathSwami temple of Shrirangapattanam has been conducting Pooja of RanganathSwami who is considered to be the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Wodiyar dynasty has donated generously to this temple. There is a fascinating legend associated with this temple and the Wodiyar dynasty. It is said that this legend explains the 3 events which have been occurring to this very day:
The Wodiyar dynasty kings are not blessed with any child since past 19 generations.
A nearby village called Malangi is being slowly destroyed by Kavery.
The village of Talakkad, about 45 Kms away, has been buried under layers of sand.
And it is believed that a 400-year old curse is behind all this. So what is the story?
Talakkad is probably the only Sand Dune in Kaveri. It is made of sand flying through air. As per a book written by a historian in 1951, in a year about 12 feet of sand collected in this place. People believe that if any excavation is carried out here, it is possible that an ancient civilization like the Indus valley may emerge. The 4-5 temples that can be seen here today have been excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India. Those in the know say that there might be more such temples buried beneath all this sand. Based on the excavation done so far it can be said that the civilization here was spread in an area of 3-4 Kms. Along with Hindu and Jain religion, Budhhism was also being followed. It can be deduced that more than 1500 families used to call it a home.
There is one temple here - Vaidyeshwar temple. Anyone looking at this temple would know that there was no sand here when it was constructed. This huge stone structure could only have been constructed on solid earth, not on sand. Then where did all this sand come from? Especially when there is no ocean about. A person called Rachaiya, who stays in a nearby village, told the program anchor the story of the curse which is said to be the cause of all this mayhem.
A woman called Aalamelamma, who used to be a queen once, is responsible for this curse. And an event of immense historical significance is behind this legend. This event was responsible for annexing Talakkas and Mysore to the Wodiyar empire. As mentioned before, Wodiyars had been ruling over Mysore since the 14th century. At that time Mysore was but a small kingdom that was part of the Vijayanagar empire. The adjoining kingdom of Shrirangapattanam was much bigger than Mysore. In 1565, Vijayanagar was destroyed and the region's political scene underwent a major shift. Shrirangapattanam was then ruled by King Rangarai (who was also called as Tirumalarai). He was paranoid about the other kingdoms attacking him. So he started calling these kings for Navaratri Pooja and killing them. Mysore's Wodiyar king caught wind of it and made sure that he didn't fall into the trap. Then he attacked Shrirangapattanam and conquered it. King Rangarai was killed in this battle. His wife, Aalamelamma, shifted to the nearby village of Malangi. She was an ardent fan of the deity that was considered to be the consort of Lord ShriRanganathSwami. The temple of this deity, AadirangaMandir, is still considered among one of the most important temples of South India. In those days, every Tuesday and Friday, an Aarti of the deity used to be performed. And the idol used to be decked in the finest of the jewelries. After the ceremony was over these jewellery used to be handed over to Aalamelamma for safe-keeping. When she shifted to Malangi she took all this jewellery with her. After the battle was over, the temple priests went to the Wodiyar king and requested to get this jewellery back. The king sent his people to Malangi but Aalamelamma handed over only one nose-ring made of pearls but refused to give anything else back.The king was enraged at this blatant disregard of his diktat. He ordered his men not to come back without taking all the jewellery into custody. When the king's men came for her for the second time she was in Talakkad, which was her birthplace. She jumped into the river along with all jewellery and committed suicide, but not before uttering terrible curses:
May the Wodiyar dynasty never be blessed with children.
May Malangi be swallowed by Kaveri.
May Talakkad be buried under sand.
It is said that since then Talakkas began to be covered by sand. Malangi began to be slowly destroyed by the fast current and whirlpools in Kaveri and since past 400 years every second generation Wodiyar king is childless.
So what do the scientists and historians have to say about this?
History says that at the beginning of the 17th century there was a great famine in India. The water level went down considerably in Kaveri and whatever was left was obstructed by the dam that was constructed in the 14th century. Because of this the fine sand in the riverbed started getting blowe by the wind. Since the wind was moving from the south, the sand started getting deposited in Talakkad, slowly burying it.
Now as far as Malangi goes, the Kaveri river has an elbow bend near it. The fast-flowing water is eroding the riverbank and the village situated on it. Th whirlpools originate because of the huge boulders in the riverbed.
Okay, so did the legend of the curse came into being because the people at that time couldn't have known about the scientific reasons behind these 2 events? Or were the scientific explanations were given later in a bid to check the superstitious ideas? What then is the explanation behind the Wodiyar dynasty being childless? After all it is also said that the Wodiyar king had kept an idol of Aalamelamma in his Mysore palace and even in this day and age a pooja is conducted in the hope that her soul will find peace and the curse will be lifted.
Wait a minute! Didn't the curse say that none of the Wodiyar Kings will be blessed with a child? Then what is this about every 2nd generation king being childless? If you think again, you will realize that when a king adopts a child, the curse doesn't apply to the child because he wasn't originally a king. But the son of this adopted king is a prince and hence subject to the curse. Sounds rather silly to believe this but it has really been happening since past 400 years. Even when the last Wodiyar king, Shrikant Datt, died in 2013, he didn't have a child to succeed him. So what does science have to say about this?
Some people do have a theory about this as well. They say that since the kings get married in their own families, they suffer from a biological defect called Inbreeding Depression. And that's the reason for their childlessness. Some people also say that when the British started applying their Doctrine of Lapse in India, the Wodiyars themselves spread rumors about this curse in an attempt to save their kingdom from falling into the British hands.
Whatever the reasons, this story about Talakkad, Malangi and the Wodiyar kings is indeed fascinating!
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