Mavinakere is a small village near Holenarasipura, Hassan district, in the Indian state of Karnataka. This village is famous for Mavinakere Sri Lakshmi Venkataramanaswamy temple. Mavinakere Sri Lakshmi Venkataramanaswamy is worshipped as- Mane devaru - family deity by so many families in and out of Karnataka.

History

The natural formation of a piece of stone in the form of a grinding stone surrounded by a hole is the main deity "Sri Ranganatha". This was noticed during the Paleyagara's reign. Sri Lakshminarasimha Nayaka, who was the Paleyagara of Holenarasipura ruled this area. During his time a cow which belonged to him used to empty the milk in this cave every evening. He followed the cow one day to check the reality and noticed that this cow used to empty the milk on its own above the same deity and he was extremely surprised to see this. Since then he started offering poojas to this god. Even today devotees offer their offerings right on the top of this god, and as ever, all of it goes straight through the hole and disappears. This remains a mystery even to this day. Hence devotees believe that their offerings are reaching god directly.
One has to see it to believe it. Come experience the magic yourself.
Extract From: LIBRARY-ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM MYSORE PALACE. M.A.R-PAGE NO 12 1908 - 1914 AC NO 833.

Mavinkere, which has a ruined fort, is said to have the residence of Palegar Lakshmana nayaka. The god in the Srinivasa temple here is fine figure about 3 ft (0.91 m) high. attribute in the right lower hand being a lotus with a stalk. Sukhanasi has two figures of Alvars. Two modern inscriptions were found here one on the pedestal of the utsava vigraha and one on the prabhavali. The hill to the east of the village is called Mavinakerebetta. In a cave on the top, a round stone rising a few inches above the ground level is worshipped as Ranganatha though the inscriptions call it THIRUVENGALANATHA, which is a synonym of Srinivasa. In a niche at the back of Ranganatha stands a good figure about 3 feet (0.91 m) high, of Keshava, flanked by consorts, while to the left are two figures of Alvars on a beam of front mantapa was found a new inscription. In another part of the cave to the left is a figure of Hanuman over hanging the cave, a huge boulder about twenty feet high in the form of a dome on which a tower is built. The top of the hill commands a fine view of surrounding parts. Viewed from below, the temple with its front mantapa presents an imposing appearance. In a cave at the foot of the hill is a stone, about two feet high, from the top of which minute particles fall in the form of a circle around the bottom. People look upon the fall of particles as miracle and attribute to them medicinal properties such as curing belly aches and other diseases. At some distance from spot is shown the rock on which MARDANAVALI of Manchagodanahalli is said to have prayers and some marks seen on the rock are believed to be his foot prints.

Temple view

The temple is situated at the top of the hill, surrounded by boulders and a whole lot of greenery. The walk way up to the temple is shaded and cooled by trees and lined by green shrubs. There are three ponds that are the source of water for the temple. The view from the temple is absolutely spectacular. Huge blocks of cultivated land, highway connecting Mavinakere to Hassan, a canal transporting water for agricultural land are just a few things that you see from the temple. You need to get here to enjoy the beauty and experience the magic of Mavinakere temple.