Kolaramma Temple

The Kolaramma Temple in Kolar is dedicated to Kolaramma, the presiding goddess of the town. It is about a thousand years old, built by the Talakadu Gangas in the South Indian style and later developed by the Cholas. The Maharajas of Mysore often came here to seek the goddess's blessing.

The temple is built of granite, which is plentiful in the area, and is filled with carved figures and designs. A second deity, Chelamma, the scorpion goddess, is believed to protect those who pray at her shrine from scorpion stings. Devotees follow the custom of dropping at least one coin through a small opening in the floor into a deep pit used as the temple's hundi, where coins have gathered for centuries and can still be heard clinking as they fall.