The Shakti of Silence: Mooambika Temple at Kollur

[Guest guest]

Let us go back in time: The Sage Kola had wandered far and wide in

search of the perfect place to meditate and perform religious

rituals. He finally found it deep in a forest, surrounded by

mountains, on the banks of a little stream with water clearer than

crystal. Things should have been perfect for him despite the fact

that the place was teeming with wild animals. But trouble soon

arrived, in the form of the Demon Kamhasura, who delighted in

disrupting Kola's meditation.

 

The patience of even Great Souls like Kola — though vast — isn't

infinite. And so, finally, when he simply couldn't take it any more,

he started praying fervently to all the Gods to come to his aid and

to rid him of this demonic pain in his saintly neck.

 

But there was a small problem in that Kamha himself was a devout

tapasvi and consequently, extremely well endowed in spiritual

ammunition. To make matters worse, he had pleased Shiva so much with

his tapas that Shiva had given him the boon that no man could ever

kill him.

 

And thus began Women's Lib — all those years ago — in the forests

haunted by Kamha, when the saint Kola started to pray for a woman to

destroy the horrible Asura. Kamha quickly found out about Kola's

plans and appealed to Shiva once again, this time to seek the boon

that no woman could kill him!

 

But by this time, most of the Gods were on Kola's side. So when the

moment came when Shiva manifested Himself before Kamha, Saraswati

sat on Kamha's tongue and rendered him mute!

 

Meanwhile, Shiva, unaware of this, said to Kamha, "I am pleased with

your devotion again, O Kamha. Tell me, what can I do for you this

time?" Alas, all Kamha could do was just gulp wordlessly! Shiva was

a tad surprised. So Shiva asked him again. Still Kamha remained

mute. So Shiva cursed him and departed in a huff. An exulting Kola

wasted no time in invoking the blessings of all the 33 crore Devas

to come to his aid. And come to his aid, they did! And how!

 

The collective power of all the Gods manifested itself in the form

of a Goddess, more glorious than anything anyone had ever conceived

of till then — Aadi Paraashakthi, the Primordial Female Force who

destroyed the dreadful Kamha. Since she did so while he was still

mute — or Mooka in Sanskrit — she came to be called Mookambika. Soon

after she killed Kamhasura (or by now, Mookasura) she disappeared

into a rock on the ground, around which the present Mookambika

Temple is built. The place itself was called Kolapuram after the

saint Kola and over the years became Kollur.

 

....

 

Several more centuries passed. A brilliant young man from Kerala —

on a tour of the entire length and breadth of India — arrived. What

he experienced here, where still only the divine rock existed,

stunned the youthful Adi Shankara. The Divine Mother manifested

herself in his dreams, complete with four hands and a strikingly

attractive face and asked him to build an idol of Hers just as She

had appeared before him, for the benefit of those devotees who would

find the idea of worshipping a mere rock, however divine, simply too

abstract a concept.

 

And he did, which is how the supremely exquisite idol came into

being. Adi Shankara also organised the various rituals and pooja

vidhis of the temple which also continue mostly unchanged to this

day.

 

The profound impact of the Devi Mookambika on Adi Shankara

manifested itself in many ways. It is said that it was while he was

at Kollur that he was inspired to spontaneously compose his most

famous work, Soundarya Lahiri.

 

....

 

When the king Tippu Sultan visited Mookambika temple, he was so

moved by its divine atmosphere that he gave money as an endowment.

In fact, since he offered his respects in the Muslim way during the

evening pooja, this pooja came to be known as 'Salaam' and many old

timers still refer to it by that name. Tippu Sultan apparently used

to refer to Mookambika as 'Mukadumbi' implying the 'Mother from

Mecca'!

 

The number of illustrious personalities who have made the pilgrimage

to the temple over the years boggles the mind. The painter Raja Ravi

Varma's first stop when he left Travancore in 1870 as a young man of

22 in search of fame and fortune was the Sri Mookambika Temple. The

playback singer K J Yesudas openly acknowledges his phenomenal

success completely to the blessings of Goddess Mookambika. The

Kathakali legend, Guru Gopinath offered his celebrated `Bhaja

Govindam' for the first time — and the last time — at Kollur.

Students of music and dance continue to throng here to offer their

art at the Saraswati Mandapam in the temple and to seek the

blessings of the Divine Mother.

 

So, if you are planning to experience for yourself the glory of

Goddess Mookambika, be warned! It could easily turn out to be an

addiction, as it has become for this writer and millions of others

like him.

 

By Rama Varma

Excerpted from the "Newindpress on Sunday"

URL: http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?

id=SEL20030816065705&eTitle=Living&rLink=0