Once upon a time, during the exile of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, the trio made the present-day Namada Chilume one of their pit stops. During their stay here, one day Rama set out in search of water to apply tilak on his forehead.
The long and arduous search for water was unsuccessful in that rough terrain. So Rama decided to stop the search and thought why not create a source of water? He shot an arrow at a boulder and lo and behold, it made a hole in the boulder and out came water!
Hence the name Namada Chilume or the ‘ Spring of Tilak’; Naama meaning tilak, and chilume meaning spring.
Turns out, there’s water in that spring throughout the year! The locals and visitors from far and wide believe that the water is sacred.
That was the popular legend behind Namada Chilume. The site is located approximately 80 km from Bengaluru and 14 km from Tumkur.
One can still enjoy a peaceful time at Namada Chilume even though it is located so close to the metro city of Bengaluru. The place is maintained by the Karnataka Forest Department as it is located inside the Devarayanadurga Reserve forest.