Melkote

It is 48 km from Mysore. The sacred hill shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu as Narayana is worshipped since KruthaYuga. Vedadri, Narayanadri, Yadavagiri, Yathisailam and Dakshina Badrikachalam are the Puranic names of Melkote.

The presiding and processional deities were given to Brahma by Lord Vishnu Himself. Brahma gave one idol to Sanatkumara, who installed in Bhooloka for the benefit of Mankind. The processional deity, Sampatkumara or Ramapriya, was worshipped by Sri Rama and His son Kusha. This deity later came to Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga, who later installed it in the shrine.

Sri Ramanuja the Vaishnavite saint of the 11th century, earned the patronage of Jain king Bittideva, who embraced Vaishnavism and changed his name to Vishnuvardhana. The king built five shrines known as Panchanarayana temples. At that time, Narayanapuram was in ruins, devastated by the invasion of Muslim rulers. Both the idols of Narayana and Rampriya were lost for some reasons. Ramanuja had a vision in which Lord Vishnu revealed to him the place where the idol of Narayana was hidden. He found the image among Tulasi shrubs in an ant-hill in Yadavagiri and installed the deity again in the temple.
Ramanuja also brought back professional deity of Rampriya from the court of a Muslim ruler, whose daughter was keeping the idol in her custody. The princess, an ardent devotee of Rampriya, also reached Melkote and attained mukti here. She is known as Beebi Nachiyar, whose image is also installed near the Lord. The enchanting idol of Lord Vishnu holding Shanku, Chakra and Gadha. The image of Rampriya is in the Ranga Mandapam in front of the sanctum. The shrines of Vaikuntanatha, Chakrathu Alwar and Anjaneya are on the prakarams. Goddess Yadugiri Nachiyar and Kalyani Nachiyar have separated shrines in a sculptured mandapam.
The Melkote temple is flanked by mutts belonging to different sects of Vaishnavites. Much significance is attached to the idol of Ramanuja in this temple. When Ramanuja wanted to go back to Srirangam, he made an image of himself and installed it in this temple. the other two images of Ramanuja are in Sriperumpudur (his birthplace) and Srirangam (his Brindavanam).