The Smashanakali Temple in the Burial Ground
When you type in
“places of interest in Bangalore” or “Tourist attractions in Bangalore”, I bet
that this temple will never pop up in Google search. Even I do not want to
brand this place as tourist attractions as not many would like it. If you are a
person who would like to explore and want to know some of the less heard
traditions of Hinduism, you may think of giving a visit to Smashanakali Temple
that is in the middle of burial ground in Lakshmipuram area of Bengaluru.
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| Smashanakali Temple Lakshmipuram Burial Ground Bengaluru |
During my first
visit to this temple, I got surprised when I entered the cemetery even though somebody
told me that the Smashanakali Temple is in the midst of the burial ground in
Bengaluru, supposedly one of the biggest Hindu burial ground in the city.
Car parking wasn't an issue. As I got down, the first thing I noticed was a tall statue of a fierce full Goddess Kali. Adjacent to it was a small temple dedicated to the same god. Inside the temple was a face of the goddess decorated with silk saree.
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| Lakshmipuram Burial Ground Bangalore |
The
priest performing the rituals inside the temple was woman. She told the
devotees to go round the sanctum Santorum three times and so we did. Just a
step ahead and there I saw a statue of Goddess in the sleeping posture.
I
heard it from somebody that in this temple evil-eye is warded off. I am not
sure how true it is and a discussion about it is out of the scope of my
imagination. You will couple of third-genders here who sell flowers and do
other types of temple rituals, which is very interesting to observe.
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| Another view of Kali temple in the burial ground |
I
have seen a small temple structure in many Hindu burial grounds but not a full-fledged
Kali temple like this one. However, the temple is not crowded like the one in
the city centres. Nevertheless, I should say, for the temple in the burial
ground, the amount of devotees I saw was comparatively more.
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