Namada Chilume

Namada Chilume is a small perennial natural spring located in the Devarayanadurga forest near Tumakuru, Karnataka. Situated about 10 km from Devarayanadurga hill temples, it is set amid rocky terrain and dry deciduous forest within a deer park area. The spring is notable for its year-round flow from a rock crevice and its association with the Ramayana legend, where Lord Rama is believed to have created it to obtain water for tilak.

Visitors can expect a small natural spring emerging from a rock cleft in a forested setting within the Devarayanadurga hills. The site consists of a rock face with a continuous trickle of water collected in a small basin, surrounded by boulders, dry deciduous forest and a fenced deer park nearby. The area is quiet and natural, with a short approach walk, opportunities for photography and observing deer and monkeys, and a simple shrine-like reverence associated with the spring.

According to local tradition, the spring is linked to the Ramayana period when Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were in exile in the Devarayanadurga region. Unable to find water to apply tilak, Rama is believed to have shot an arrow into the rock, causing water to spring forth, hence the name Namada Chilume (namada meaning tilak/mark and chilume meaning spring).

The spring is considered sacred and its water is traditionally collected by visitors and pilgrims to apply namam or tilak. It is culturally associated with the nearby Yoga Narasimha and Bhoga Narasimha temples of Devarayanadurga and is visited as part of the pilgrimage circuit in the area.