Yellur Vishweshwara Temple
According to the Puranas, a shudra king, Kunda Raja, known for his integrity, requested Bhargava Muni to stay for a while in his kingdom. The invitation was refused on the basis that there were no temples, sacred rivers, brahmins or Tulsi. The King felt dejected and set off to the banks of the sacred river Ganga where he did penance to please Shiva, the Hindu god. Pleased with the King’s devotion, Shiva appears and granted him a wish.
The King requested Shiva to stay in his kingdom. The wish was granted to the King and Shiva also said that this place would be free from hatred and enmity and thus Yellur became one of his favorite abodes.
Meanwhile, a poor woman, who recently buried her son, was hunting food in the jungle. She accidentally lands upon a tuber which she tried to remove. In the effort, she had cut the tuber from which blood started oozing out. She thought that was her son ‘Yellu’ and started screaming. Shiva appeared to her there in the form of Linga. That’s how the place got its name Yellu-Ur.
Legend also says that when King Kunda Raja and his men poured coconut water on the tuber it stopped bleeding. The famous Vishweshwara temple was built in this place. The devotees visiting this temple offer tender coconuts to be blessed by Lord Shiva. Oil from tender coconuts is also being offered regularly to ensure that the lamps in the temple never go out and to invoke blessings.
The Lord Vishveshwara is believed to have emerged from underground respecting the devotion of a Samanta Raja of Kuthyar Dynasty. The linga of the Lord Shiva thus emerged and was first understood to have been found by a Koraga community (Scheduled Tribe) mother while she was collecting firewood and leaves in the forest where her son “Yellu” was buried after his untimely death. While cutting the bush she hit the ground and the earth is said to have started bleeding. Scared by the flow of blood she screamed “Oh, Maga Yellu, yei Moolu Ullana?” (meaning ‘Oh, my son Yellu, are you here?’) in Tulu. In fact it was the “Linga” itself, and it is said that the mark of the wound is still on it. And the village was thereafter known from Yelluna Ooru to gradually Yellur.