For hundreds, ‘Techie Ganesha’ is the answer to career woes

BENGALURU: Amidst the ever busy roads of Koramangala, stands tall one of the most unique temple in Bengaluru, called ‘Techie Ganesha’ or ‘Prasanna Ganapathi ’ temple.

Built in 1979 by then local MLA KRS Naidu, the temple occupies a 100×100 sqft space and has five gold gopurams.

As the name suggests, the temple is quite famous amongst the techie community as many believe the deity is known to fulfil wishes for new jobs, appraisals, promotions at work or a career growth.

Besides housing the shrine of presiding deity Lord Ganesha, the temple also houses shrines of Shiva, Subramanya, Maheshwara and Parvathi. The temple is run by a samithi located within the temple premises. The samithi has five office bearers and 10 committee members.

Gopala  Gowda, vice-president of the samithi, says, “As the temple is located in one of the IT hubs in the city, it attracts a lot of techies and so the name ‘Techie Ganesha’. IT employees believe Ganesha fulfils their wishes, if asked with devotion. We have devotees (mostly techies), who come from nearby districts as well to perform poojas here, especially the ones who are facing hurdles in their job.” He adds that hordes of techies visit the temple on Mondays and Saturdays to perform special poojas.

V Naveen, a techie, says the way his career has shaped after he started visiting the temple is nothing less than a miracle.

“There is so much positive energy around this temple. A few years ago, I faced some downs in my career. I wanted to go abroad for higher studies but faced hurdles at every point. It was at this time that I saw the temple growing and devotees lining up in large numbers to offer prayers.  When nothing else was working out, I accepted the divine route and started visiting this temple and in no time I saw a transformation in my career and myself too.  Later, my wish to go abroad was fulfilled,” says Naveen, who is at present a manager at an IT firm in Bengaluru.

According to Srinivas Reddy, samithi secretary, while a few techies take up ‘seva’ (volunteering) after their prayers are fulfilled, others donate for temple activities and its maintenance. The temple also receives donations from techies who are settled abroad. Reddy says during festivals, the donations go higher.