nellitheertha.com Blog

|| Om Somanatheshwaraaya Namah ||

Dear All,

Following are the important events in the Nellitheertha temple happening over July - October.

• Sunday, July 13th 2008 - Anniversary of the installation of the Jabali Maharshi Sannidhana. Kalashabhisheka Seve will be held for Sri Somanatha, Sri Mahaganapati and Sri Jabali Maharshi. A special Yakshagana presentation (Andhakasura Moksha) will be held in the evening after 6PM.
• Wednesday, August 6th 2008 - Nagara Panchami celebrations.
• Wednesday, September 3rd 2008 - Ganesha Chathurthi celebrations.
• Tuesday, September 30th 2008 - Beginning of Navaratri celebrations.
• Thursday, October 9th 2008 - Conclusion of Navaratri celebrations.
• Friday, October 17th 2008 - Tula Sankramana and re-opening of cave.
• Friday, November 28th 2008 - Deepavali celebrations.

Do come back and check for updates on details of the individual events.

|| Om Somanatheshwaraaya Namah ||
As per tradition, the cave at the temple will close on Mesha Sankranti - April 14th 2008. It will re-open only on Tula Sankranti - Oct 17th 2008.

Note that the temple though will be open throughout the year. You can continue to visit Nellitheertha and pray at the temple. It is also an excellent place for meditation, especially during the monsoons (June till September).

Email: contact at nellitheertha dot com

|| Om Somanatheshwaraaya Namah ||
This year’s Dompada Bali to Pilichamundi Bhuta will take place on the 16th of March. The rituals start in the evening around 7PM and will continue till early morning. The Bali is being held at the nearby Amblattapadavu Hill.

Today’s edition (10th January 2008) of the Kannada daily Vijaya Karnataka has an article on the Nellitheertha temple. The article appears in the magazine section and is quite informative. It has a few photographs as well.

This is also the first time that an article on Nellitheertha has appeared in the Bangalore edition of a newspaper. We hope that this article continues to build the momentum that the recent television program on TV-9 started and increases awareness of Nellitheertha amongst devotees all over India.

Yes, there will be a special program on Nellitheertha and its cave temple on TV tonight (6 Jan 2008). Watch “TV-9 Kannada” channel and the program “Higu Unte?” at 10:30PM. The TV-9 channel crew shot extensive footage of the temple last week and the same will be telecast tonight. The program will also be re-telecast a few times over this week.

Dear devotees,

This year’s Jaatre was a spectacular success. Close to 2000 people attended the festivities on each day. We managed to capture a lot of photos and videos during this year’s Jaatre. You can view the photos at the gallery. The videos are being uploaded to Youtube. Click on this link and you will get a list of the videos.

Dear All,

The annual Jaatre at Nellitheertha will be conducted between the 23rd and 27th of December 2007. Numerous religious and cultural programs will mark the ocassion. The program schedule is as below.

Sunday, 23rd December:

• Mahaganapathi Homa - 8:30AM
• Dhwajarohana (flag hoisting) - noon
• Utsava Bali - 8:00PM

Monday, 24th December:

• Utsava Bali - 4:30AM
• Poornima theertha snana (special cave visit) - 6:00AM
• Shatha Rudrabhisheka - 10:00AM
• Utsava Bali - 8:00PM

Tuesday, 25th December:

• Shatha Rudrabhisheka - noon
• Rathothsava (chariot procession) - 1:00PM
• Utsava Bali, Bhoota Bali, Shayana, Kavaata Bhandana -  10:00PM onwards

Wednesday, 26th December:

• Kavatodgatana - 8:00AM
• Tulabhara Seve - 9:00AM
• Choornotsava, Special lunch - noon onwards
• Utsava Bali, Maharathothsava (chariot procession), Avabhrita snana - 10:00PM onwards
• Dhwajavarohana (flag lowering) - 04:30AM

Thursday, 27th December:

• Shatha Rudrabhisheka - noon
• Durga Homa - noon
• Ranga pooje - 7:00PM
• Vyaghra Chamundi Kola - 9:00PM onwards

Further, there will be  pravachana (discourse) on “Jaimini  Bharata” on each of the festival days at 6:00PM by Sri Haridasa Narayana A Bangera.

On the 23rd of December, there will be a “Yakshagana Taala Maddale” program on “Sharasetu Bandhana” starting 2:30PM.

On the 26th of December, there will be a musical concert by “Bansuri, Kateel” starting 8:00PM.

For more information on Nellitheertha and on how to reach there, refer to the temple website.

If you have specific queries, feel free to email me - contact at nellitheertha dot com.

Tomorrow is Tula Sankramana, a very special day for us at Nellitheertha. It’s the day when the cave is re-opened for the public. There is a grand ceremony planned for tomorrow which includes a Shatha Rudrabhisheka as well. The cave will be opened at 9:30AM. From tomorrow, the cave can be entered everyday after sunrise till Mahapuje at noon up until Mesha Sankramana in April 2008.

In other news, the new office room construction is almost done. We are also planning to computerize the temple accounts for ease of maintenance and administration. This should be ready by December.

Here is a small list of upcoming festivities at Nellitheertha

• Navarathri Celebrations: October 12th to October 21st. During this time, there will be Durga Namaskara Puje done every evening and special Puje to Lord Somanatha is also performed.
• Tula Sankramana: October 17th. The cave reopens on this day.
• Ganesha Chathurthi: September 15th. A special Ganapathi Homa will be performed and “Bhoga” is offered to the Bhootas.

Of course, on every Purnima day, Sri Satyanarayana Puje is done at the temple.

The Nellitheertha cave is currently closed for public. It will re-open two months from now on the ocassion of Tula Sankramana (the transition from Simha to Tula) on the 17th of October 2007.

Of course, currently, due to the good rains this season, Nellitheertha is lush with greenery. It would be a very good idea to visit the temple if you want a couple of days of quiet and tranquility. The feedback we have received from multiple first time visitors is that it is an amazing place for meditation. Can’t agree more with that….