On a certain night while he was sleeping Goddess Mangaladevi
appeared in his dream and revealed to him that at the spot where
Netravathi and Phalguni rivers converge there is a mound under
which lay the remains of a shrine. Mother Goddess bade him to
relieve from the remains the Shivashakthi Linga and the Dharapatra
and install them in a shrine which was newly built.
Then, she further said arrangements should be made for the regular
worship in the temple. She promised him that these services
would bring him glory and happiness.
The king, not being able to decide as to what he should do,
consults sage Bharadhwaja. Bharadhwaja saint was very much pleased
with the king and encouraged him to fulfill the wishes of the
Mother goddess. He wanted him to know the past events, which
had made the place a hallowed and blessed one.
Listening
to the story of Vikhasini, Andasura and also sage Parasurama,
Bhangaraja decided to execute the responsibility entrusted to
him by Goddess Mangaladevi herself. Thus a beautiful shrine
was built and the Linga Symbolizing Shiva and Shakti, along
with Dharapatra were installed. Once again the splendor of the
shrine began to attract the pious people.
At the later stage, Kundavarma once again renovated the temple
where it was in a dilapidated condition under the guidance of
Matsyendranath and Goraknath, holy saints of the Natha cult.
In Tulunadu, Kundavarma, the most famous king of Alupa Dynasty
was ruling. At that time, there came two sages named Matsyendranath
and Goraknatha from Nepal.
They
reached Mangalapura (today's Mangalore), crossing the river
Netravathi. The place where they crossed the river came to be
known as 'Gorakdandi'. They choose a place near the bank of
Netravathi, which was once the centre of activities of sage
Kapila. He had his hermitage there and it was a great centre
of education.
Hearing about the arrival of two saints the king came to meet
them. Introducing himself as the king of Tulunadu he paid them
his respects and offered them help and patronage. Pleased with
the humility and virtues of the king they brought to his knowledge
that his kingdom was a hallowed place and it was sanctified
by the activities of holy saints and sages in the past. They
requested him to grant them land so that they could build their
hermitage and make it a centre of their religious activities
under his protection and patronage.
For Kundavarma it was really a surprise to know that his land
had such a hoary history. It was from these saints he came to
know that once upon a time there exists a temple in his land
dedicated to mother Mangaladevi. From their own mother he heard
the story of Vikasini and Andasura, Parasurama and the temple
built by him. The two saints took the king to places where all
these historical events had taken place. They asked the king
to dig the place and relieve the Linga and the Dharapatra symbolizing
Mangaladevi and install them in a shrine along with Nagaraja
for the protection.
Kundavarma carried out the advice of the two sages. A grand
shrine of Shri Mangaladevi stood on the hallowed place. The
two sages themselves guided and supervised the execution of
the work. The temple attained special significance, as Mother
Mangaladevi granted special favours, especially on maidens.
Pious maidens who worship the goddess observing Mangaladharavrata
(Swayamvara Parvathi) will have their wishes fulfilled. They
get husbands most suited for them.
Even today the two temples, Mangaladevi and Kadri have maintained
their connection. The hermits of Kadri Yogirajmutt visit Mangaladevi
temple on the first days of Kadri temple festival and offer
prayer and silk cloth. The place name Mangalapura owes its origin
to the temple of Mangaladevi. The pious people even today believe
that worship of Mangaladevi brings them prosperity and happiness.
The temple has a special significance for the maidens. Maidens
who observe Mangala Parvati Vrata will have their wish of having
a suitable match, fulfilled. Those who celebrate their wedding
in this holy place will have a happy married life.
Mythology
Hindu Scriptures tell us about Lord Shrihari's incarnations
on this earth whenever time comes to protect his devotees by
means of destroying evil forces. Mother Goddess too makes her
appearance in the earth to fulfill the same mission. In one
such incarnation Lord Shrihari (Vishnu) killed a demon king
Hiranyaksha, king of Shonithapura. His daughter Vikhasini in
order to take revenge for her father's death gathered demons
army and attacked Devaloka and defeated Indra, king of Devaloka.
Seeing Indra's throne vacant the demons occupied it with pomp
and pride, Kubera King of Yakshas did not allow their victory
last long. He slayed their chief and drove them out of Devaloka.
By seeing this Vikhasini realized that without the grace of
god her earthly powers were futile.
She
made up her mind to do penance and propitiate Lord Brahma so
that she could get a son by his grace that would be powerful
enough to avenge the insult and penury suffered by her because
of Lord Vishnu and Devatas.
Having entrusted her state responsibilities to her minister,
Vikhasini entered a forest and commenced severe penance devoted
to Lord Brahma. When it proved to be futile she decided to offer
her mortal body to the sanctifying fire Brahma appeared before
her, immensely pleased with her devotion and offered to satisfy
her wants. Elated by the grace of Brahma, Vikhasini said, "Lord,
grant me a son who can slay Vishnu, the slayer of my father".
Brahma had to tell her that the Thrimoorthis are deathless but
he granted a boon to her, saying that she would beget a son
from Lord Shiva and he would be valiant and invincible. This
boon brought Vikhasini boundless pleasure, and quite contented,
she returned to her kingdom.
Dreaming about her rosy future Vikhasini prepares herself for
meeting Lord Shiva. She decided to discard her true form and
disguise herself as Parvathi and chose a place where she could
meet Shiva. She made Shiva Linga and began meditating on Lord
Shiva.
The spring season came. In Kailasa Lord Shiva, who had tamed
his mind began to feel a new kind of inexplicable sensation.
He found it hard to meditate. His feet led him wandering about
the hills. He reached a certain spot where the natural surrounding
was quite captivating.
These sensations made Shiva long for the company of Uma. He
was led to the place where Vikhasini in the guise of Uma was
awaiting him. Seeing Uma, Lord Shiva was overwhelmed with the
desire for carnal pleasures. Uma obliged him and they go under
cover. The boon of Brahma began to come to fruition.
Vikhasini left the place with deep sense of fulfillment. The
subjects of Shonithapura were extremely happy to have their
queen back to rule them. Thinking of that malicious Devatas
will harm her womb Vikhasini asked the help of Bhoodevi as to
the foetus could be hoarded inside the earth. The gestation
period of Vikhasini's foetus was over. Fully grown, it forced
its way from the bottom of the earth with a thunder like sound.
Thus a mighty demon Andhakasura was born. Vikhasini instilled
him a burning desire to take revenge on Lord Vishnu and the
Devatas. Soon Andhakasura attacked Devaloka, the heaven. None
could stand the might of Andhakasura, the son of Lord Shiva
and Devatas were faced a very humiliated defeat. Andhakasura
was half way through his life's mission. His next target was
Lord Vishnu and he went in search of him.
Here in Kailasa the Divine Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara
were deliberating on how to save the world from the new problem
in the form of Andhakasura. Indra too joined them. They finally
decided to propitiate Mother Goddess who alone had the powers
to solve this problem. Mother Goddess appeared before them
.
Together with granted powers and strength of all Devatas and
Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara - Mother Goddess set out to annihilate
Andhakasura and invited him for war. Andhakasura first sent
two of his men to check out the position. But they lost their
lives as they dealt radically with Mother. By knowing this Andhakasura
become angry.
But the sight of a strange and captivating woman of beauty left
him spell bound. He spoke to her very endearingly and with ulterior
motive crossed the bound of courtesy and hence the Mother Goddess
was waiting for the opportune moment and the demon was challenged
to fight.
The demon did not take time to realize that he was courting
his own death. Mother Goddess's over whelming appearance - twelve
arms each holding weapons and the lion on which she was riding
were too much for him. He ran to the sea in order to save his
mortal life. He jumped into the sea for cover. The mother taking
the form of Rakteshwari also jumped into the sea and killed
him. Her victory caused waves of happiness all over the world.
In Tretayuga, Shri Hari is incarnated as Bharghava to destroy
evil Kshatriya kings, taking twenty-one expeditious round the
world. The empire won from the kings offered to sage Kashyapa
in charity. Then he prayed Lord Shiva to grant him a land on
which he could live and continue his penance.
Shiva
appeared before him and asked to obtain the land from the king
of ocean. In the event of Varuna's refusal he threw his axe
and the ocean vacated the distance of land covered by the axe.
Thus the land retrieved from the ocean called as Parashurama
Shristi.
The
spot where Mother Goddess killed Andhakasura was the spot which
Bhargava chosen for his penance. And as per the instruction
given by Mother, he built a beautiful shrine and installed the
Linga and Dharapatra. For conducting the worship he appointed
virtuous Brahmins. Having executed the instruction of Mother
Goddess he left the place for Badarikashrama.
Postal Corresponding Address of the Temple
Mahatobhara Shri Mangaladevi Temple,
Bolar, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
Phone: +91 - 824- 2425476 (Office)
