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| The Mookambika Devi Temple, at Kollur,Udupi District in the state of Karnataka, India.en.wikipedia.org/ |
The temple is frequently referred to as the "Temple of Knowledge and Wisdom", because offering a prayer here with devotion and faith will help the devotee enhance his or her knowledge and bring out the best in education, music, fine arts or profession and any other field chosen by him or her. Initiating young children into learning very basics for the first time is an important phase in their lives and this temple is the right place for 'Vidyarambam' or the process of initiating young children into learning of letters. A fascinating fact is that it was the great Adi Sankara of Kaladi (Kerala), one of the proponents of Hinduism who's believed to have installed the 'Panchaloha Vigraha' (Idol) here. Thousands of devotees visit this temple every day, mostly from Kerala and also from Tamil Nadu.
The temple is at least 1200 years old the king Halugallu Veera Sangayya, it is believed, installed an idol there. According to another legend, When Adi Sankara, expressed his desire to bring Goddess Saraswati to Kerala, Devi herself agreed on one condition that while following him to Kerala, he should not turn back. Adi Sankara agreed and passed through the dense forest with Goddess following him. At one place, the great saint did not hear the sound of the anklets worn by Her (it was a sign that She was following him). He turned back and realized that Devi was very much there. Apologizing his mistake, Adi Sankara requested her to continue the journey to Kerala. Pleased with his devotion, the Goddess said, '' Fine then, in the morning, for Nirmalya Darshanam I will reside in Chottanikkara temple in Kerala and bless my devotees. Then I will return to Mookambika". So, the place where Goddess Saraswati stopped her journey became the famous Mookambika temple.
Saraswati mantapam, named after Goddess Saraswati, is an important place of reverence in this temple. The great Adi Sankara had written his famous work 'Soundarya Lahiri' sitting here. Because of his association with this temple and this mantapam, learners of classical Indian music and dances, after getting certain proficiency, come to this temple for intense prayer and blessings from the Goddess. Besides, they stage their performance on the Saraswati Mandapam for the divine guidance in their career before embarking on their professional performances. Further, Sitting, performing and praying in this mantapam is a blessing and it will improve one's talents.
The following are some of the interesting facts:
01. This temple is one of the seven pilgrimage centers created by Parasurama.
02. Raja Ravi Varma, the world famous Painter, had done some of his great works on the walls of this 'Mandapa'
03. Kashaya Theertham' is distributed among devotees every day in the morning after pooja at 9.00 A.M and this holy water is believed to have some medicinal value. It has jaggery (country sugar) and dried ginger.
04. This temple is considered as the most popular one for Vidyarambam.
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| The Mookambika Devi Temple,Kollur, Karnataka, www.indusladies.com |
05. Singers and dancers can stage their maiden performance here as a dedication to the Goddess. Their debut
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| The Mookambika Devi Temple, at Kollur,Udupi Dist. Karnataka, India,tulunadunews.com |
06. Males should wear vesti preferably, wearing pants is allowed, however, above the waist no dress is allowed except Anga Vasthiram. Women with shorts and pants are not allowed inside the temple premises.
07. People donate a lot of money, gold, silver jewelry, etc to the temple. Sometimes the monthly Hundi collection (donation box or vault) will go beyond one crore of rupees (roughly $180,000.00).
Ref:
"Kollur Mookambika temple". Sri mookambika.com. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mookambika
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