Gavipuram Cave Temple is located in Bangalore, Karnataka at a distance of 3 km from the city market. Also called Gangadhareshwar, this temple is built inside the natural cave of Gavipuram. Gavi means “cave” in Kannada and Gavipuram refers to an area full of caves. The main temple has a Shivalingam that is guarded by a sculpture of Nandi in front. Nandi was the vehicle of Lord Shiva. There is also an image of Shakti Ganapathi, which is one of the 32 forms of the Lord Ganesha with 12 hands. There are smaller shrines of goddess Parvati and Goddess Durga to the right of the main shrine.

This temple also has idols of Lord Agni, which is very rare to find. The idol has two heads, seven hands and three legs. It is also believed that worshiping this deity can help one to get rid of eye-related problems. The Shivalingam inside the main shrine of this cave is tall and attractive. The interesting part is that the water of the pedestal of Shivalingam is to the right and a thin stream of water flows in this cave all the time. Ishwara adorns Ganga in the cave to become Gavi Gangadhareshwar. To the right of the main shrine are smaller shrines of Parvathi and Durga. There is a long path surrounding all these shrines with beautiful idols of Sapthamathrikas, Sridevi and Bhoodevi installed in this passage. Another cave path bifurcates it and it is believed that one goes to Kashi and the other to Shivaganga.

The Magic of Temple

Makarsakranti is a special occasion here when sunrays passes through two windows of the south facing temple and slide down through the horns of Nandi and disappear after touching Shivalingam. This is a perfect example of knowledge and architecture combined in a way that the rays of the sun pass via horns of the bull outside the temple and light up the Shivalingam in Gavipuram cave temple. This can be witnessed on this day from 5-6pm.

Mystic Caves

This temple is an example of Indian rock cut architecture. Sage Gautam and Sage Bhardwaj did penance in these caves. There are idols of these two sages inside the cave. The corridor has beautiful, unique and rare granite stone structures of Surya Pana (Sun disc) and Chandra Pana (Moon disc). A Trishul, a drum and 2 shikaras are also placed here, which are masterpieces.

Information for Tourists

Gangadhareshwar Cave Temple opens daily from 7 am to 12.30 pm in the morning and 5 pm to 8.30 pm in the evening. This temple attracts many devotees during Shivaratri each year. Tourists come in huge numbers to see the phenomenon of the Sun on 14th January (Makar Sakranti) each year.

How to Reach

By Road

It can be reached by road from Bangalore.

By Rail

Bangalore Railway station is the closest railway station.

By Air

The nearest airport is Bangalore.