Hullukaddi Betta Veerabhadra Swamy Temple

Sri Veerabhadraswamy temple is located on Hullukaddi Betta which is around 80 kms from Bangalore, near Doddaballapur town in Karnataka. Sri Veerabhadra Swamy temple is on top of the hill inside a cave.The idol of Sri Veerabhadra swamy is around 4 feet in height and is very beautiful.It is supposed to be thousands of years old.Hullukaddi means grass and twigs in Kannada.

Veerabhadra, also called as Veerabhadra Swamy, is a deity regarded as an aspect of Lord Shiva. He is believed to be Shiva himself in a ferocious form and is also held as a Shiva Gana, the commander of Shiva. Generally, a valiant hero is referred to as ‘Veera,’ while ‘Bhadra’ means a friend. Shiva is said to have taken this fearful form to destroy the fire sacrifice of Daksha Prajapati and quell his arrogance.

Legend
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Veerabhadra and Lord Narasimha fought to stay at this place. Later Lord Veerabhadra took this place and Lord Narsimha took another place in Andhra Pradesh. Since then Lord Veerabhadra is worshiped in these hills. Its said that every year during festival in February, a giant snake comes to this temple and circles itself around the legs of Lord Veerabhadra’s idol.

The Chola Kings of those days found a natural Shiva Linga in this place along with a Nandi. They then formed two temples on the hill, one for Swami Veerabhadra and another for Shiva. During 11th to 13th century Cholas built fort walls and watch towers on several spots in the hill that can be seen even till today.