Please Download Our Android App to Continue Editing

The Gunja Narasimha Swamy Temple is a Hindu temple in Tirumakudal Narasipura, a town in the Mysore district, Karnataka state, India. The town is located 20 miles southeast of the historically important city of Mysore. The temple dates back to about the 16th rule of the Vijayanagara empire and is built in typical Dravidian style with an imposing gopura (tower) over the entrance gate (mahadwara) and a four-pillared mantapa ("hall") in front of the sanctum. The temple is located at the confluence of the Kaveri river and the Kabini river and is considered sacred by Hindus.

Legend says that Lord Narasimha appeared in the dream of a washer man told him that his idol lays beneath the stone on which he washes clothes every day. The Lord told him to build a temple for him and asked him to look for gold coins beneath the stone that could be used for construction of the temple.

 The temple gets its name from the Gunja(Gulaganji in Kannada) tree (Abrus precatorius) that grows in the front of the main entrance; a boastful local claim is that the temple is more sacred than Varanasi (Kashi) by the weight of a gunja plant. Sculptures in the temple include those of the Hindu god Narasimha (holding a gunja berry and stalk) and the demon King Hiranyakashipu.