Kolaramma Temple, Kolar – The Temple

Kolaramma Temple, Kolar – The Temple

Kolaramma Temple was built in the Southern Style of architecture by Cholas. The temple has a Dravida Vimana Style of architecture and it has inscriptions from the period of 1012 A.D. There are intricate carvings and designs inside the granite stones of the temple. The temple is in L-shape housing two shrines; one for Kolaramma and the other for Sapthamadhas. A common vestibule is shared by both the shrines, although the main temple faces east and the other shrine faces north.

The treatment of walls with slender pilasters of the main shrine and a large image of Chamunda flanked by Virabhadra and Ganapati are noteworthy. The garbhagriha, adhisthana mouldings and the pilastered wall are covered with numerous inscriptions in Tamil characters. Facing east, the temple has an austere Mahadwara ornamented with Gajalakshmi in green stone on the lintel while its pillars inside have sculptured figures on all sides.

The inner Mahadwara is connected to a prakara. In the prakara, are several shrines in addition to a large pillared mandapa. The garbhagriha has stone images of Saptamatrikas with Dhakshinamoorthi to the right and Vinayaka to the left. The main image of Chamunda / Mahishasuramardhini faces south and is worshipped as the chief deity Kolaramma. 

Kolaramma is the presiding deity of the town of Kolar in Karnataka. She is an eight-armed Goddess Durga. The devotees worship her by looking at the mirror which is placed opposite the idol. There is a special pooja conducted on Tuesdays and Fridays, which is when devotees visit the temple. In the southern cell are the stucco colossi of the Saptamatrikas and the utsavamurti of Kolaramma.

Another popular deity of this temple is Chelamma or the scorpion goddess. People believe that by praying at the Chelamma shrine, a person will be guarded from scorpion bites by the deity. There is a small pit near the shrine which is said to contain scorpions. During April and May at certain days a scorpion is said to come from this pit and sit near the deity.

Another interesting thing about the temple is the hundi or the well which is used to collect money offerings from the people, and it is a tradition to at least put one coin into the small opening on the floor of the temple, which apparently is a large hole dug into the earth, one can still hear the clicking sounds of coins accumulated over hundreds of years.

The temple was a prominent Shakti worship site and a tantric temple. The proof for this lies in the stone slabs inside the temple. These stone slabs are memorial stones with pictures depicting sacrifices taking place in the temple. You can also view the depiction of tantric goddess with a bow on the temple walls.

There is a slab which depicts a battle scene is now found on the front platform of the entrance to the temple. The heroic stone ‘Viragal’ which is around four and a half feet tall belonging to the Ganga period is covered with relief work of horses, soldiers, elephants, celestial cars and celestial nymphs. It has been noticed that there are more than 30 inscriptions found inside the temple, in Kannada and Tamil.