01Annapoorna in the hills
Horanadu lies deep in the Malnad, the rain-forest country of the Western Ghats, on the Bhadra river. The kshetra holds that Maharshi Agastya installed Annapoorneshwari here, and the katha of the Devi is that of Kashi: when Shiva, as a mendicant, came to beg, it was Annapoorna who filled his bowl. The standing murti is of gold, four-armed, holding the shankha, chakra, Sri Chakra and Gayatri. The temple was rebuilt in the 20th century, and the murti was reinstalled in a new shrine by the hereditary dharmakartas.
02No one leaves hungry
The rule at Horanadu is that whoever comes, of whatever faith, is fed: breakfast, lunch and dinner are served free in the dining hall, and free lodging is given too. Men enter the sanctum bare-chested and wearing a dhoti or veshti; women wear saree or salwar. Akshaya Tritiya, held to be the Devi’s appearance day, and Navaratri are the main festivals.
About 100 km south-west of Chikkamagaluru through Kalasa; the road winds through coffee and forest country.
