Vaikuntha Ekadashi Experience 2025

Dec 29, 2025

I casually browse through a blog that has details of ancient temples in and around Bengaluru. One temple catches my eye. I read up about it from multiple sources and find the phone number of the archakar serving there. I call him and confirm that indeed, the temple will be open for Vaikuntha Ekadashi from 5.30 am to 7.30 pm.

Hubby is enthusiastic about exploring this new kshetra, and surprisingly, son is also more than willing to come!

Dec 30, 2025

We leave home by 6.45 am and reached the Sugganahalli Sri Lakshmi Narasimha and Garuda temple by 8.10 am.

 

The temple is more than 1,000 years old, built by the Cholas, and later expanded by the Hoysala and Vijayanagara dynasties. The special feature is that Sri Lakshmi Narasimha in this temple is in a standing posture (unlike most temples where He is seated) and faces west (unlike most temples where He faces east).

This temple is also renowned for the powerful Garuda, vahana of the Lord, who is offered daily worship, and revered by devotees who wish to get rid of sarpa dosha or health ailments.

(To know more about this temple, please check this link…https://myadhyatm.com/sugganahalli-garuda-temple-ramanagarakarnataka/ )

The temple is in a serene, rural area.

A steady trickle of devotees arrives to take darshan. They say their prayers, then pass through the Vaikuntha Dwara, accept prasadam, sit for a few minutes, and take leave of the Lord. None of the crowd and clamour that is so common in the well-known, bigger temples of our city.

                           

We take our time, too. We stand in front of the Lord’s Sannidhi, reciting stotras and shlokas, our hungry eyes drinking in His glorious form. We walk slowly through the Vaikuntha dwara, praying for an equally easy journey to Srivaikuntha when our time comes. We offer our contribution, and receive teertha and prasadam. We offer unhurried prayers at all the other smaller sannidhis in the temple complex. 

We climb to the terrace and get to see the vigrahas that form part of the gopurams. We soak in the silence, get a beautiful view of the temple surroundings and finally, take a few photographs to capture memories of this divine visit.

                            

As we are about to leave, I notice one lady devotee who seems to be in some kind of pain. She begs Garuda, loudly saying, “Make my hand recover, Garuda, and I’ll arrange an utsava for you!”

One little boy walks in, stands with eyes closed, hands folded in namaskar mudra, and chants a few shlokas. I compliment him on his recitation, and ask who taught him the chants, and shyly, he says “My father, and my Sir.”

Next, we travel about 1.5 kms away to the Kambada Narasimha temple, which houses the udbhava murthy of Lord Narasimha emanating from the pillar. The main door is locked, but we get darshan through a window thoughtfully left open. One or two local devotees come there, light karpoora, offer their prayers and leave.

                            

What happens after this is one of those peculiar events that one cannot explain with worldly logic.

While coming to Sugganahalli, we have seen a temple a little far from the highway, which seems to beckon us to come there. Google Maps says it is the Madgondanahalli Ranganatha Swamy temple, and we decide to visit it on our way back home.

We put in that temple as our destination, and Google Maps takes us to a temple. But not the one that we saw and wanted to visit. Later, my son discovers that there are about 3 to 4 Ranganatha Swamy temples in the area.

We walk in to offer prayers at the temple to which we have been brought. There is a goushala there, and we offer respects to goumata, too. The priest is away, but his mother opens the door and allows us to have darshan. There are only two pillars in the sanctum, and the lady says one of them is Ranganatha, and the other is Narasimha. We hand over the coconut, flowers, and dakshina we have brought along.

As we walk out from this temple, wondering over how we landed up here without ever planning to, hubby remarks, “Probably, we have some past janma account that had to be settled with this place, and so, the Lord Himself brought us here for that!”

That sets me thinking.

When we try to make it a habit to surrender to the Lord’s will, His grace flows abundantly and effortlessly in our life. He takes care of everything for us. Embarking on this journey then leads us to the most amazing destinations.

On this auspicious day of Vaikuntha Ekadashi, I feel humbled by immense gratitude for the grace of Srimannarayana that weaves through our life, creating a beautiful tapestry of moving and meaningful experiences that draw us closer to His lotus feet!