The origin of the town is lost in antiquity, but one tradition is that its name was derived from two
Kirāta twin brothers, Tala and Kādu. The brothers cut down a tree after seeing wild elephants worship it and discovered it contained an image of
Shiva and that the elephants were
rishis transformed. The tree being miraculously restored, all obtained
mōksha and the place was named Tala-kādu, which was translated into
Sanskrit as Dala-vana. Two stone images declared to represent the brothers are pointed out in front of the temple Veerabadra swamy. In a later age,
Rāma is said to have halted here on his expedition to
Lanka. The earliest authentic mention of the city of Talekād or Talakādu, in Sanskrit Dalavana-pura, is in connection with the
Ganga line of kings. Harivarma, who has been assigned to find a place (247–266 CE) was, according to an old chronicle, installed at Skandapura (said to be Gajalhatti, in the
Coimbatore country, near where the
Moyār flows into the
Bhavāni), but resided in the great city of Dalavanapura in the Karnāta-dēsa. After Talkād became the capital these powerful sovereigns and there the subsequent kings of that line were crowned. At the beginning of the eleventh century CE, the
Western Gangas succumbed to the
Chōlas, who captured Talkād and gave it the name of Rājarājapura. But about a century later the
Hoysala king
Vishnuvardhana, who drove the Chōlas out of Mysore, took it. After this time, Talkād was composed of seven towns and five
mathas. The town of Māyilangi or Malingi, on the opposite side of the river, was also a large place and had the name of Jananāthapura. Until the mid-fourteenth century, it remained a possession of the Hoysalas and then passed into the hands of a
feudatory of the
Vijayanagar sovereigns, whose line appears to be known as that of Sōma-Rāja.
Curse of Talakadu In 1610 CE, the Mysore Rāja conquered Talakadu under the following circumstances. Tirumala-Rāja—sometimes called
Srī Ranga Rāya—the representative of the Vijayanagar family at
Srirangapatna, being afflicted with an incurable disease, came to Talkād for the purpose of offering sacrifices in the temple of Vaidyēsvara. His second wife Rāni Alamelamma was left in charge of the government of Srirangagapattanam, but she—hearing he was on the point of death—soon after left for Talkād with the object of seeing him before he died, handing over Srirangapattanam and its dependencies to
Rāja Wodeyar of Mysore, whose dynasty ever since retained them. It appears that Rāja Wodeyar had been desirous of possessing the jewels which was the property of the Rāni, and being unable to obtain them and eager to seize at any pretext, he levied an army and proceeded against the Rani. Rāni Alamelamma went to the banks of the
Cauvery, and throwing in the jewel, drowned herself opposite Mālangi, at the same time uttering a three-fold curse: "Let Talakād become sand; let Mālangi become a whirlpool; let the Mysore Rājas fail to beget heirs." The latter part continues to affect the royal family. Talakadu is also tagged to the curse called "Curse of Talakadu" by Alamelamma on the
Wodeyar dynasty (former
Maharajas) of
Mysore. The Hoysala ruler,
Vishnuvardhana, conquered the
Gangas and Talakadu. He built the impressive Vijayanarayana
Chennakesava Temple at Belur. == Talakadu Today ==