Nanjangud

Nanjangud

Nanjangud is a town in Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is a temple town and is on the banks of the river Kapila , and lies at a distance of 23 km from the city of Mysore.Nanjangud is famous for Srikanteshwara Temple...

(Kannada:ನಂಜನಗೂಡು) is one of the Hindu pilgrimage centres of Southern India and is known for the Huge Ancient Temple of Lord Srikanteshwara(Kannada:ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠೇಶ್ವರ) dedicated to Lord Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

 also known as Lord Nanjundeshwara(Kannada:ನಂಜುಂಡೇಶ್ವರ). Nanjangud Temple is located in the town on the right bank of River Kapila. Nanjangud is also known as "Dakshina Kashi" or "Varanasi/Prayag of South".

Nanju(ನಂಜು) in Kannada means poison, the name Nanjundeshwara means the God who Drank the Poison halahala

Halahala

Halāhala or Kalakootam is the name of a poison created from the sea when Devas and Asuras churned the sea in order to obtain Amrita, the nectar of immortality.Fourteen different ratnas were recovered in this exercise mostly retained by Gods after Demons tried to cheat...

 which originated while Great Churning of the Ocean

Samudra manthan

In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Ksheera Sagara Mathanam, Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas...

and thus the town got the name as Nanjangud which means the abode of Lord Nanjundeshwara.