Trinesvaraswamy Temple – Mysore

Trinesvaraswamy temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This is located in the north-east of the fort that faces the Palace in Mysore. This temple ws built adapting the Dravidian style. The old temple existed before Raja Wodeyar’s reign between 1578 and 1617. This temple was on the Devaraya Sagar banks, originally. This was also called Doddakere. During Kanthiraya Narasaraja Wodeyar’s reign between 1638 and 1659 the fort was enlarged. The temple came within the enclosure of the fort.

The temple was renovated and expanded by the Mysore Maharajas. Kanthiraya Narasaraja Wodeyar managed to construct a verandah and also consecrated around 5 Lingas along with a number of deities. This included Dakshinamurthy Kshetrapala Kumara and also Surya. There is an image of stone of King with folded hands. There is a statue of Wodeyar next to him in the similar pose. There is a Prakara in the temple with Mahadwara (main entrance). There was a large Gopura at the Mahadwara.

In the 18th century this Gopura was destroyed. There are statues of Bhairava and Ganapathi inside the 2 niches.

Under a Peepal tree, in the north-west of Prakara, there are numerous Naga stones. There are many Lingas around the Prakara. This also has shrines of Chamundeshwari, Parvathi, Sankaracharya and Suryanarayana. The statue made in marble of Shankaracharya was added later. There are two entrances to the Navaranga. One is in the South and the other one to the West. There is a statue to the Sukhanasi’s entrance. This is one meter in height. To the Sukhanasi’s left entrance the statue is only half meter in height. This is Trinabindu’s statue.

According to the local legend, Sthala Purana, penance was performed to Lord Shiva here by the sage.Lord Shiva appeared here to the sage and consecrated a Lingam on this spot. Thus, this is Trineswara, the 3-eyed Shiva. This is in a cell facing the entrance to the south where you find a metallic statue of Shiva. There are statues of Ganapathi on both the sides in the 2 niches. There are 2 niches on the Navaranga’s outer wall on the South. These enshrine the figure of Dakshinamurthy and Virabhadra. This Dakshinamurty’s statue is under a tree, seated in the meditating posture.

This statue has 4 hands, one hand holding a Rudra Veena, the other holding a rosary, one of the hands as a book and the fourth in the Chinmudra. That is the pose of teaching.

Seven sage’s figures are sculpted on the pedestal. In the Prakara’s niche that faces the entrance of the South you have Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar and Kantiraya Narasarala Wodeyar’s statues. During Shivratri you find a number of devotees thronging this temple. Every three hours special prayers are offered on the Shivratri night. This continues till dawn.