Sri Yoginareyana(Kaiwaradha thata) Temple - Kaiwara ...

Kaivara is a small town in Chickballapur district of Karnataka state.The town was known as Ekachakrapura in Dwaparayuga. The Pandavas of India's greatest epic lived here during their vanavasa (period to be spent in forest). Bheema, the brother of Dharmaraja, has established a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva ( Bheemalingeswara temple).

This town is famous for the saint called Narayanappa or popularly known as Kaivara Thatayya in Kannada & Telugu.He lived here during the last half of eighteenth century and first half of nineteenth century. Thatayya was a bilingual poet. Narayanappa has written number of prophecies about forthcoming events Kaala Jnana.He has also written Keertanas (poems in praise of the Lord in different forms) in praise of Amara Narayanaswamy, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, both in Kannada and Telugu languages. The Keertanas are comparable to those of famous Keertanakaras of Karnataka like Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa. He also appears to have influenced by the Vemana Kavi and VeeraBramhendra swamy of present Andhra pradesh and also Sarvajna of the present Karnataka.

One of his valuable writings is Bramhanandpuri Shataka in which he has explained all the nuances of Yoga in depth and detail.

There is one unique poem in which half of the each line is in Kannada and the other half in Telugu language. (The same has been sung by Sri Balamurali krishna, one of the famous and versatile musicians of the present times. The music cassettes sung by the renowned musician was the result of the great efforts put by the Late Sri M S Ramaiah, Educationist and philanthropist of Bangalore.)

There is an Ashram dedicated to the Thatayya. Kaivara has become a pilgrimage and a tourist place because of the cave in which Thatayya meditated and attained the supreme spiritual enlightenment. The Ashram, the cave, Amara Narayanaswamy temple, Vaikunta (temple) by the side of the cave and the hillock (on which Bheema supposed to have killed the Bakasura) are the places worth visiting.

The bonus point is the beautiful park maintained by the forest department of Karnataka.

Kaivara is an ideal place to visit during the weekend as it is very near to Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. Free boarding (prasada)and well maintained low cost accommodation are available at Ashram.

The other places of must see very near to Kaivara are Ambaji durga (cave temples) and the temple of Lord Venkateswara in Alamgiri.

Chintamani Town is the nearest taluk centre and also a business hub of this part of Karnataka.

How to Reach Kaiwara

The route map to Kaiwara is shown below. One can take old Madras road from Bangalore and reach Kaiwara. It is almost 1 hour 30 minutes journey by Car. Alternatively, Kaiwara can be reached from Devanahalli (Where Bengaluru international Airport is located).