Avani, Kolar

Avani is a small village in the Kolar district in Karnataka, India, about ten miles from Kolar Gold Fields. The village is located 50 km from the twin towns of Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura. It is also a popular location for rock climbing.

Legend

Avani is famous for the Sita temple situated on a hill. This temple is one of the few temples dedicated to Sitadevi in India. It is also known as the Gaya of the south and has ancient temples known as the Ramalingeshwara, Lakshmaneshwara, Bharateshwara and Shatrugneshwara, dating back to the period of the Nolamba Dynasty. It has been told that Sitadevi gave birth to her twin children Lava-Kusha here. Even today the room where Sita gave birth to her children exists.The war between Sri Rama and his sons Lava & Kusha was happened in this village. The place is very near (About 9 km)to Mulabaagilu (Taluk head quarters) in Kolar District.

When Sri Narasimha Bharati IV of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham was on his sancharas', he camped here for a few days. During his stay here, in Avani, he found an idol of Goddess Shrada, in standing posture flanked by Srimajjagadguru Shankaracharya and the Sri Chakra. He consecrated this idol here and established a new Matha and installed one of his shisyas as the head of the new Matha. This matha is now known as Avani Sringeri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sharada Peetham. There is a branch of this matha in Basaweshwaranagar in Bangalore.

There is also a belief that the sage Valmiki, the author of the epic Ramayana, was residing here during the period of Ramayana.

Owners of the land live in the U.S.A.

Meaning of "Avani"

The girl name Avani is of Sanskrit origin and its meaning is "earth". It is a not a Hindi name. It is perfectly a Sanskrit word and Sita was also called Avanisuta meaning 'Daughter of Earth' as the legend goes that she was found while ploughing the earth.