Bangalore/Mysore: As Chief Minister Siddaramaiah became the first of some three lakh devotees who descended on the ancient temple at Talakkad to offer prayers to Lord Vaidyanatheswara and for Panchalinga Darshan, on Monday, the curse of Talakkad, former capital of the Ganga dynasty when it was submerged in the sands was never far away.
“... Talakkad maralagi, Malangi maduvagi, Mysooru arasarige makkalagadirali.” Or “May Talakkad be deluged in sand, May Malangi become a whirlpool, and may the Mysore kings never beget children.”
Beware a woman scorned, they say. In the case of Alamelamma, the story dates back to 1610, when, depending on which version of the story you subscribe to, the newly widowed queen chose death, plunging into the Cauvery, rather than be parted from her jewels, or raped by the maharaja, cursed the Mysore kings with inability to produce heirs.
