180 Year Celebrations of Sitaram Bagh Temple Hyderabad

Surrounded by gnarled, but majestic Tamarind and Mango trees in  Mangalghat  a busy suburb in Hyderabad I discovered the 180 year old Sitaram Bagh Temple, founded by Ganeriwal family  180 years ago.  I visited the temple as part of a HWS team to click pictures of the celebrations of 180 years of establishing the temple in Hyderabad, which was ruled by Nizams during those days.  I think their cannot be a better example of secular traditions of Hyderabad that the temple was given a Jagir (land ) by the Nizam to take care of its expenses.

Today the temple and the garden surrounding it are a stark pleasant contrast to the spreading concrete all around it. You pass through a beautiful path arriving at its majestic gate, that will give a tough competition to the gate of Golconda Fort. Unlike any other old temple in Hyderabad like the Chilkur Balaji and Ranganath Temple, which are built in traditional south Indian Style, Sitaram Bagh temple Mangalghat is unique in its design. The entrance is built like a South Indian temple, the followed by huge multiple courtyards, with Chettinad style pillars.  You have to pass through 3 courtyards to reach the last one where the sanctum sanctorum is situated, build like a Spanish villa with  facade that is a blend  Mughal, Rajput and Chettinad style.

But all these style have been blended aesthetically and there lays the beauty of the Sitaram Bagh temple. The green doors of the main temple are bordered by saffron pillars, on a white building; you feel you are looking at the tricolor of India, under boundary less azure. Each courtyard has many small and big shrines dedicated to different deities, the courtyard also have a treasure of various items like chariots, drums, old cupboards and idols used during various festivals.

When I reached the temple in the morning with Missus in tow, there priests were still preparing for the mahaabhishekam and puja. There were a hundred things going on in the temple, preparation of yagna, decoration and shringar (makeup) of the deities, announcements by priests and melodious live music was floating in the air.  A beautiful Rangoli depicting the worship of Lord Shiva by Ram, Luxman and Hanuman was made in one of the courtyards.

But I was looking for somebody to explain me about the happenings in the temple and its history in detail. This is when lady luck smiled on me and I started chatting with elderly gentlemen whom I thought was a priest. He kindly agreed to speak to me on camera and to my delight he turned out to be more than a priest. Please check the video below to find out who he is.

I hope you liked the video, and will forgive me for my amateur attempt, but I hope it is better than the Telia Tiger cub video. What do you say?  The Ganeriwal family that founded the temple is one of  of the most respected and oldest Marwari family in India. As the temple completed 180 years, today a special puja was performed and the main courtyard was used to conduct a yagna (fire worship) with many priests following complete ancient Hindu rituals as per the Vedas.

 

 

Timings To Visit Sitaram Bagh Temple : 5:30 am to 11 30 am and 5 pm to 8  pm every day.

How To Reach Sitaram Bagh Temple Mangalghat : The temple is easily approachable from Mehdipattnam as well as from Nampally.  Below is the map to reach Sitaram Bagh Temple in Hyderabad.

I must say I was very fortunate to have witnessed this historic occasion and meet Shri Anant Prasad L. Ganeriwal in person who is the trustee of temple for more than half a century.  He very kindly explained to me the history of the temple and the existence of another temple built by the same ancestor Shri Puranmal Ganeriwala in Pushkar, a holy town in Rajasthan. I am looking forward to visit that temple also one of these days. Keep watching this place.  I must also thank Mr. Rajesh Pamnani and Mr. Kishore Nagarigari for inviting me to visit the Sitaram Bagh Temple and  to be part of its 180 year celebrations.

Other posts about temples

• Sacred Center of Hampi
• Birla Temple Naubat Pahad
• Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple Vikarabad
• Shore Temple Mahabalipuram
• Birthplace of Hanuman

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