Orion Mall & ISKCON

I know I know I have been away from blogging for quite sometime now. Though there have been many instances which did inspire me to scribble, my thought process dint let me complete any of them. I would come back to them eventually but for now to that one topic which inspired me to get back here.

Being born and brought up in Bangalore, finding a place to visit on a weekend is a challenge by itself. However when we decided to take up this challenge, it was the new “Orion Mall” which came to our rescue.

Orion is the name of a new Mall which has sprung up between Yeshwanthpur and RajajiNagar and comes as part of the Brigade Gateway Lifestyle Enclave. It is one of its kind as it opens out to a courtyard rather than to a busy street. The open courtyard overlooks the premium luxury brigade apartments, World Trade Center Bangalore and the best of them all is a man made lake.

The makers of the mall have put in enough effort to ensure that the mall provides a nice surreal feeling than exhaustion which is very common in other malls. There are premium restaurants like Mai-Tai, Mainland China which line the lake and makes one feel out of Bangalore.

Orion is not just any other mall for it has some of those small things which make it interesting like a food court which looks like a street from Europe. There is an aesthetic sense to the food court with fancy paintings which adorn the walls, and dull street lamps providing the soft light effect. There are enough benches and drinking water outlets in each floor so that one can enjoy the mall without feeling the fatigue.

The mall has just the right blend of luxury brands like Mango, Zara, Debenhams and the common ones like Westside, Lee, Levis. The mall also does have one of the biggest Swaroski outlets.

There are two approaches to reach the Mall, one from the Yeshwanthpur flyover and the other from the Chord road side. However the chord road end is blocked due to Metro construction

A visit to the mall in the evening is sure to make one feel out of Bangalore.

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At a very short distance from Orion is one of Bangalore’s biggest temple complexes ISKCON.

ISKCON stands for “International Society of Krishna Consciousness”.

In September 1987, ISKCON Bangalore was operating from a rented house in the city with a handful of devotees. Under the leadership of the Temple President,
Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa, ISKCON Bangalore applied for a 7-acre hillock from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). The BDA had described it as waste land as it was a huge piece of monolithic rock and could not be converted into sites. The BDA sanctioned the land at a cost of Rs. 11 lakhs to be paid in 90 days. This hillock was then converted to the ISKCON temple complex

There are two entrances to the temple, one is a general public entrance which takes one through a series of stairs and the other is a vehicle entrance. The staircase to the temple is a long and winding one with a small break to deposit the camera, bags and chappals.

Once the items are safely deposited, there are series of temples which one comes across before entering the main complex. The first temple that we encounter is of Lord Sri Prahalada Narsimha and then comes Lord Srinivasa Govinda.

A broad series of staircase then leads to the main temple complex which is a huge prayer hall comprising of three deities. Sri Sri Radha Krishna Chandra, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama and Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga are these three deities adorning the main hall.

The main prayer hall is huge and splendiferous. The ceiling of the sanctum sanctorum is adorned with paintings of Lord Krishna and his childhood. The gopurams inside the hall looks magnificent. The mesmerizing bhajans in the main hall hold the devotees with such power that one wouldn’t feel like leaving the hall. However for those who would like to soak themselves in the chantings can do so as there is provision for the devotees to sit at the center of the hall.

There may be different programs which are specific to each day and the day we were in the temple, there was “thepothsava” which is called “Panihati Chida Dahi Mahotsav” in ISKCON.

The exit from the temple complex leads us to a lot of shopping options ranging from bakery products, idols and souvenirs of lord Krishna, clothes and various other stuff. The prasad is offered at the end of the stairs.

Do keep aside enough time to enjoy the grandeur of the temple.

So the next time you are wondering where to head on a weekend, try out this option, it is sure to engage for one whole day.