Ragigudda Anjaneya Temple

About Ragigudda Anjaneya Temple

The Ragigudda Sri Prasanna Anjaneyaswamy Temple stands on a rocky hillock in Jayanagar 9th Block, South Bengaluru, on a campus of about five acres. Its presiding deity is Lord Hanuman as Prasanna Anjaneya, and the hill also houses shrines to Shiva, Rama with Sita and Lakshmana, and — at the foot of the hill — Ganesha, the Navagrahas and Goddess Rajarajeshwari. A special Trimurti shrine shows Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva on engraved rocks. The temple is built in the Dravidian style and has a pushkarini (temple tank).

The name comes from a local legend: 'gudda' means hill and 'ragi' is finger millet. A devout woman named Sudharma is said to have offered ragi as alms to three visiting sages — the Trimurti in disguise — and the heap of grain became the hillock, where the divine visitors chose to remain as engraved stones.

Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated over twelve days in December and draws over 35,000 pilgrims; Rama Navami is also a major festival. The temple trust runs schools up to the 10th standard in Kannada and English, a health centre, yoga classes, free tuition, a marriage hall and a goshala. The Ragigudda station on the Namma Metro Yellow Line is a few hundred metres away.

History

The temple grew from the efforts of a group of young devotees in 1969 and was registered as a trust in 1972 — the Ragiguddada Sri Prasanna Anjaneyaswamy Bhaktha Mandali Trust, which manages it today.