Mysuru: ‘Kanakana Kindi’ in Udupi Sri Krishna Temple stands as a testimony to the devotion that Kanaka Dasa had on his God. But, here in Mahadevapura, which is about 18 kms from Mysuru, stands a temple dedicated to Kanaka Dasa himself. Kanaka is the God and not Dasa here!

Kanaka Dasa was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. A poet and composer of several Keerthanas, Kanaka Dasa is believed to have come to Udupi Sri Krishna Temple, where he was denied entry into the temple due to his caste. It is believed that it was power of Kanaka Dasa’s devotion due to which even statue of Lord Krishna inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple turned in his direction to give him glimpses.

The legend has it that after a visit to Sri Krishna Mutt in Udupi, Kanakadasa continues his tour and proceeds to Sosale, the birth place of his spiritual Guru Sosale Vysaraya. In a bid to reach Sosale, Kanaka is believed to have reached Mahadevapura to cross river Cauvery.

Even here he faces discrimination at the hands of the upper caste members, who refuse him an opportunity to board the coracle to cross the river. Disheartened Kanaka Dasa goes to a plantation nearby and urges the plantation owner to give him a banana leaf, which again was denied. However, yet another plantation owner gives him the leaf only out of curiosity to know what Kanaka Dasa does out of it.

Kanaka Dasa uses the same leaf as a boat and reaches the other side of the river before the coracle. On reaching the other side of the bank, Kanaka dasa mounts on a rock and sits kneeling down.

Legend has it that on this rock, Kanaka Dasa tears open his stomach, pulls out his intestine, cleans it in flowing water, puts it back into his stomach and questions the ‘upper class’ members who reach the bank of the river in the coracle, if he was pure enough now to travel with them!

Shocked by the scenes, the upper class members kneel before Kanaka Dasa seeking his forgiveness.

The Gangamastha community members who become witness to this miracle call Kanaka to be an incarnation of God and start offering prayers to the rock where Kanaka sat. The prayers have never stopped since then. The temple was built only in 2003. Prior to this the devotees used to offer prayers everyday in the open.

What is surprising about this temple is that the temple has not been built by the Kuruba community (the caste that Kanaka Dasa belonged to), while it is built by the Gangamastha community members.

As per locals, there are several happenings occurring in the village which is linked to Kanaka Dasa. They feel that his wrath still haunts certain families here.

It is said that family of Khajani Gowda had denied plantain leaf to Kanaka and even to this day the land of Khajani Gowda fails to grow plantains! However, the land of Thamme Gowda, who had offered plantain leaf to Kanaka Dasa grows best plantains in the region.