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Shri Krauncha Giri Temple
Krauncha Giri is believed to be the first abode of Lord Subramanya in the South India. It is located 10kms from Sandur in Bellary district of Karnataka.
The unique feature of the mountain is its elliptical shape with a diametric narrow pass.According to the legends, this gap in the mountain is made by Lord Subramanya, when he cut the mountain in the battle with the demon Taraka from his sphere weapon,Vel, to kill the demon who was hidden in the mountain. This mountain is also associated with legends of the sages Agastya and Parasurama. Kalidasa in the work Megha Sandesa describes the gap in the mountain.
The temple is located in the south west corner of India. The complex houses temples of Parvathi and Kumaraswami. The idol of Lord Ganesha is very famous in this temple.
According to the legends, the Parvathi temple was bulit by the Badami Chalukyas and the temple has Goddess Parvathi as the main deity. Currently, the temple is called Kumaraswamy temple and was consercated by the rulers of the Rashtrakutas (8th-10th century). The presiding deity of the temple is the Lord Subramanya. The temple is now a protected monument. It was discovered by the local rulers, the Ghorpades, in the thickly-wooded Swamimalai hill in the 15th century.
In the beginning, the women were strictly not allowed to enter the shrine. After October 1996, Murarirao Yeshwantrao Ghorpade removed the ban on women. The Ghorpades, loved and respected by the locals, had declared the temple open to Harijans as early as the 1930s.
After learning this, on his visit to Sandur in 1934, Mahatma Gandhi said, "A small state in South India has opened the temple to the Harijans, and the heavens have not fallen."
