Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple, Melukote

The Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple, also called Thirunarayanapuram, stands at the foot of the hills of Melukote in Mandya district, Karnataka, about 48 km from Mysore, with the Yoga Narasimha temple on the rocky hill above. Its deity, Cheluvanarayana Swamy or Tirunarayana, is a form of Vishnu, and it is counted among the 108 Abhimana Kshethrams of the Vaishnava tradition. Tradition says Ramanuja, guided by a dream, came here in search of sacred namam clay, found the image and installed it in 1099; the temple, funded by Vishnuvardhana, was finished in 1104. The Mysore kings later endowed it, and it is now run by the state religious endowments department.

The square complex has carved pillars and halls holding images of Ramanuja, the Azhwars and Yadugiriamma. A well-known legend tells how Ramanuja recovered the processional image from a Delhi Sultan's palace, where a princess played with it as a doll; she followed it to Melukote and is honoured as Bibi Nachiyar, though historians note the story does not fit the dates.