Muthathi

Muthathi is a small village on the banks of the river Kaveri, which belongs to Halaguru Hobli, Malavalli Taluk, Mandya district, Karnataka state, India. Muthathi is around 107 km from Bangalore – the state capital. It is a quite popular destination for one-day trip, for bikers, nature lovers, for family who love to enjoy, and a near-by picnic spot.

Muthathi was once surrounded by dense forest (now which is very scanty), which belong to 'Kaveri wildlife sanctuary'. The scenery is beautiful with the river Kaveri flowing in the added with the beauty of green trees in the background especially during and after the rainy season.

In the tretha yuga, after Killing Ravana, Lord Rama crowned Vibhishana and Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana were returning to Ayodhya. It is believed on the way back, they happened to walk through this forest on the banks of the river Kaveri. Looking at the peaceful river and the scenic beauty they stopped here before continuing their further journey.

One day Sita, while playing in the river water, happened to lose her pearl nose ring, which was very dear to her. After searching for it for a long time, she was not able to find it. Then Hanuman came for her help. Seeing Sita's sad face he asked her what was bothering her. Sita told about her lost pearl nose ring. At once, Hanuman put his tail into the river water to look out for the ring and found it, and gave it to mother Sita. Sita was very happy and blessed him, for his love and devotion, calling him 'Muttuethidaraya', meaning Muttu (pearl) ethida (lifted) raya (Raja-King) — the king who lifted (collected) the pearl. Over time 'Muttuethidaraya' became 'Muttetaraya' and the place further was called Muthathi. Lord Hanuman here is called Muttetaraya. Sita further blessed him saying, "those who come to see him with any problem will be solved immediately," as he had solved her problem immediately.

Temple at Muthathi

There is a temple built here of Hanuman as 'Muttetaraya' which is believed to be a 'swayambu' (self-manifested) idol. As the belief goes, there are so many devotees with their own stories who have been blessed by 'Muttetaraya' by solving their problems.

Miracle at Muthathi

One such story is about our famous Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar. It is believed when Rajkumar's parents did not have male children they had come here to Muthathi to take the blessing of Muttetaraya. That happened around 80 years ago. A son was born, whom they named 'Muttu Raj', who later became Dr. Rajkumar for the film industry. He never gave up his original name. It is believed that his signature would always be 'Muttu Raj', and he would visit the temple with his family at least once in a year.