LION .... KARMA...DURGA...

Once a Lion fell in love with a beautiful girl ! He approached her and told his wish. The girl told - " I dont decide on these matters. You better ask my Dad. I will do anything only when my Dad says OK. "

The Lion goes to her house and discusses. The Girl's father tells the lion - " See, your claws will pierce my daughter. You better go and remove your claws and come. " The lion goes off and comes the next day - clawless. This time the dad says " Your teeth (incisors) are too sharp. It will hurt my daughter. You better go and remove them and come ." The lion goes off and come the next day teethless, clawless.

Now the Dad tells the Lion - " You stupid being, comeon, be my slave and listen to me and do what ever I say." The poor lion couldnt do anything, but for what ever the Girl's dad told.

Here the Lion symbolises KARMA.
The Girl symbolises Jeevatma.
The Dad symbolises Paramatma or the Higher Soul.
The Claws and Sharp teeth symbolises Ego and Ego linked actions.

The Image of Durga on the Lion says - Take control on Karma and Ego and Ego linked actions in the divine journey.

May the blessings of Divine Mother be with all.

Om Sreem !

SRI VARAHI - 5th of the SAPTHA MATHAS

                                  Today (4th Feb 2012 - Saturday) is VARAHA DWADASI. This is the day, when  Vishnu took Varaha avatar to salvage the drowning earth. In line with that, would like to write about VARAHI.

The 7 sapta mathas are as follows.

S.No	SAPTAMATHA	FORM / AMSAM
1	BHRAMI	BHRAMA
2	MAHESWARI	MAHESWARAN
3	KOUMARI	KUMARAN
4	VAISHNAVI	HARI
5	VARAHI	VARAHA MURTHY
6	INDRANI	INDRAN
7	CHAMUNDI	RUDRAN

Varahi is the 5^th amoungst the 7. Varahi takes care of the peace and prosperity of all.  This form of Devi is worshiped by Shaivites, Vishnavites & Sakthas.

Lets see the mythological stories behind the 3 sects.

VAISHNAVITE version: 1. Asura Hirnyaksha pulled the land and sunk the earth under the oceans, Vishnu took the form of a boar and rescued Mother earth. 

                                   2. At Thiruvanamalai, when Shiva stood as a pillar of fire, Bhrama and Vishnu tried to see the head and feet of Shiva. Bhrama flew up as Swan and Vishnu moved down as a Boar.

SHAIVITE Version: Reference from Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam. A story from Madurai. At a place called Kuruvirundathurai, near Madurai, there lived a Saiva Vellala family. Though, born in an orthodox back ground, didn’t take care of their 12 kids. They passed away. The kids loafed around in the forests with hunters. Guru Bagavan was doing tapas in that forest. These kids throw stones and sand at Guru Bagavan. The furious Guru Bagavan curses the kids that they will be born as pigs and will loose their parents and will suffer out of hunger. The kids pleaded for forgiving them. Guru bagavan told that Shiva himself will come for the rescue. As cursed, the kids become piglets and their parents were killed when Pandya king came for hunting in the forest. The piglets were let in lurch and were suffering. Shiva & Parvathy took pity on the piglets and Shiva took the form of a Boar and fed them like a mother. They were converted back to human form and he made them ministers in Pandya kingdom in Madurai. From then, the Varaha form came to be worshiped in Shaivite culture also.

SAKTHA Version: Ref from Devi Mahatmiyam. Pandasuran did tapas and got lots of powers. He also got a boon that, he can be killed only by a lady, who is not born to a mother and who has a face of a pig. He thought that both probabilities will never happen and went ahead ravaging all. Devas went to Devi and sought for rescue. Devi created a Divine power with a lady form with a face of a boar and killed the asuras. Buddhist worship her Vajra Varahi.

ROOPAM:

Varahi has 4 hands. Abaya, Varada, 1 hand has plough ( When Varaha avatar took the earth out of the waters, he used the horn to plough the earth and cultivated plants to start life cycle). 1 hand has Pestle (Ulakkai in Tamil). At times she is even shown as 8 handed - Sangu, Chakram, Gadhai, Kadgamalai, Damaragam (udukkai), Abaya mudra, varada karam and Ulakkai.

She is generally draped in yellow color dress and has dark jewels.

Vehicle – GIRI CHAKRAM

Position – 16^th CORRIDOR (Pragaram) in Sri Chakra.

Feet - @ Noopuram. Her left foot is placed on a small peetam.

She is the military commander of Sri Lalitha Tripurasundarai. Hence she is called as Danda natha.

She is the 5^th amoung the SAPTA MATHAs. Hence she is also called as PANCHAMI.

12 NAMES:

1.       Panchami

2.       Danda naka

3.       Sanketa

4.       Samayeswari

5.       Samaya sanketa

6.       Varahi

7.       Bodhini

8.       Shivey

9.       Varadhasi ( she strengthens the speech of kids)

10.   Maha sena

11.   Ajna Chakreswari

12.   Arikiri

Time to worship: She is considered as Panchami, as she is taking care of Anugraham, which is the 5^th job The 5 jobs are

1.       Srishti = BHRAMA = creation, symbolized by Conch,Books,Lotus bud, Damaru, Veena, Flute and musical instruments)

2.        Sthithi = VISHNU = Preservation, symbolized by Sugarcane, Parrot, Deer, Flowers, Food, Abhaya mudra, Chin Mudra.

3·          Laya / Samhara = RUDRAN= Dissolution, symbolized by various weapons like Sudarshana Chakra, Bow and arrow etc, the Thiruvaasi ( arch above the idol made of an arch of fire and Maha Kala at the centre of the Arch / Thiruvasi , which talks about Time and limitedness of time)

4·    Thirobhavam = MAHESWARAN = Obscuring grace . Certain prayers / wishes are not answered by God, because God sees a better plan / wants to save us from a worst case scenario in the long run, if our present day wish is OKed. Even knowledge addition is also given in phases, like in education system. Not all subjects are dealt in 1 stroke. Certain topics r kept un-discussed for till the sadaka gets the required maturity . Though there is no direct representation of this concept, but still , images like Devi sitting / standing on a lotus flower (spiritual enlightenment / wisdom), Holding a bud of lotus or holding an inverted lotus, Devi standing on an asura named Muyalakan (ego, selfishness, ignorance).

5·         Anugraham = SADASIVAN = Revealing grace / God’s limitless benevolence. Varahi is also the Anugraha sakthi of Sadasivan.

The 5 main forms of VARAHI:

1.       Ashvarudae Varahi : She got genesis from the Noose (Paasam) of Rajarajeswari. Symbolising that, we have to get ourselves tied with bakthi on Lalitha, like the way she uses the paasam. She comes in a horse named Aparajita. Head of the horse force of Devi. She brings in self control for the devotee, like the horse rider has mastered the riding.

2.       Sampathkari Varahi : She got genesis from the Ankusham (Goad) of Rajarajeswari.Heads the elephant battalion of Devi. She helps us to win over our ego. She  also helps us to get control over our mind, like she controlling the elephant (named Ranakolahalam) that she is riding.. She is auspicious. Like Gaja lakshmi considered auspicious and giving lots of wealth & prosperity, Sampathkari Varahi also gets lots of prosperity. She uses Ankusham to control the elephant. Like wise, by bakthi on Lalitha, we should be able to control our mind.

3.       Dandani Varahi : Heads the armed force of Devi. She is golden color and has 8 hands – Sanghu, Chakram, Plough, Dandha(ulakkai), Noose (Paasam), Ankusham(Goad), Staff .  She helps to win over obstacles. Thiruvanaikaval in Trichy is considered as Varahi Peetam.

4.       Swapana Varahi: She comes in our dream and guides us! She is dark skinned and has  3 EYES. She has Crescent moon on her head. She holds Sword,Shield, Noose, Sickle, Varadam,Abhayam

5.       SUDDHA Varahi : She has a projecting white tooth, Crescent moon on head, and holds Trishulam, Kapalam, Ullakai, Serpent.

                                                                   HOW  TO WORSHIP :

DAYS : Wednesdays, Saturdays.

1.       THIRUVONAM STAR

2.       NAVAMI Thidhi

3.       PANCHAMI Thidhi – will give prosperity, leadership capabilities,

4.       ASHTAMI Thidhi – Mental strength, Power, success.

5.       EKADASI, THRIYODASI Thidhis – removes fear and worries

TIME : LATE EVENINGS -  7PM TO 9pm. For Swapana Varahi – upto 11PM. If we do 1 hour puja in the night, the same  1 hour puja has to be done in the morning also. (Equal timings both times)

Colors :

1.       Yellow / White dress for her = gives knowledge, oratorical skills.

2.       Red = Removes obstacles

3.       Green = gives us prosperity

4.       Blue = removes the fear about enemies.

OBLATION:

 Sarkarai pongal, Vadai, Mochchai Sundal, chukku drinks, Dosa mixed with spices like pepper, Nava dhaaniya  vadai, Jaggery, Milk mixed with spices, Saffron flower & Cardamom,  Tapioca, White pumpkin, Honey.

Nei deepam in coconut / Neeranjanam will help to reduce the impact of Karma.

PUJA :

Mantra deeksha required to do the puja as per rituals. So, normal people can worship her by invoking her in their mind and saying – Sri Varahi, Sri Varahi, Sri Varahi – 3 times. She will accept our prayers.

PLACES TO WORSHIP

1.       CHENNAI – Sri Durgai Chithar Peedam, Padappai – east of Tambaram in Kanchipuram road

2.       Varanasi

3.       Thiruvidanthai – ECR – Chennai

4.       ARIYALUR

5.       Thirupanrikodu @ Kanyakumari district : Lord Varaha was feeling proud of saving the earth. This made him behave differently with all. Devas were worried and reached Shiva for rescue. Shiva appeared in front of Varaha murthy, broke his single horn (with which he ploughed the land and cultivated crops after taking the land out of water), and added it to his mala. Varaha apologized to Shiva and took his form of Vishnu and went back to Vaikundam. This place where Vishnu did puja to Shiva is called Thirupanrikodu.

6.       Haridwara mangalam

7.       Kulithalai

8.       Tanjavur

9.       Udrakosamangai ( Ramanathapuram)

10.   Pallur – Arakonam to Kanchipuram road

11.   Thiruvanamalai

12.   Kalahasthi

13.   Srimushnam

14.   Thirupathy.

Will write a detailed note on Sapta madhas in a subsequent post.

1. CHERTHALA DEVI KATHYAYANI KSHETHRAM

1.CHERTHALA

Cherthala is along the NH 47, southwards, about  40 Kms from Eranakulam. . Its 1 hour by bus or 30 min drive from Eranakulam. Cherthala Karthiyayani Temple is located very close to the KSRTC bus terminus of Cherthala.

Of the 108 Devi temples in Erstwhile Kerala , the very famous ones are  Kanyakumari, Aattukal, Saarkara, Chengannur, Kumaranellur, Cherthala, Chottanikkara, Kodungallur, Angadippuram, Thirumaanthamkunnu, Chittoor &  Kollur.

FRONT VIEW

VIEW FROM LEFT SIDE

VIEW FROM RIGHT SIDE

FROM REAR RIGHT - while coming from Sastha temple

SREEKOVIL FACADE

ETYMOLOGY: Vilwamangalam Swamigal was returning from Trivandrum after the pradishta of Sri Padmanabahaswamy. He halts  at Cherthala for a while. He could see lots of swans around in a pond near by. But for the pond, it was a relatively dense forest all across. He noticed that on a gracious divine looking girl swinging in a swing on a Thamka tree. ( The tree remainant is still protected and is considered as Sree Moolasthaanam. Pic given below.

SREE MOOLASTHANAM - ( Reminants of Thambaka tree where Devi swung.)

THE TREE - (in close up)

 When he went near the tree, she jumped into the near by pond. Swamigal also jumped into, but couldn’t get any trace of her. This happened continously for 7 days. Everyday, she jumped into 7 different ponds. Swamigal was extreemly frustrated on the 8^th day. On the 8^th day, somehow, she jumped into a pond which was full of slush and mud. This time, Swamigal was able to catch hold of her hair. But he couldn’t catch hold of her. The hairs came off from her scalp. Out of rage he yelled at that girl. Later he realised it as Devi. Symbolising that, even now, during the 8 day annual festival, people call the diety with slang malayalam , like what Swamigal did.

Even now, this diety is located in a 4 feet deep pit. Only the head part is visible. Even in the Shila roopam of Devi, one can observe pits in a part of the head, symbolising the hair loss when Swamigal pulled her up from water, but in vain. So, after the daily abhishegam, the deity is dryed using a cloth, like we do for a child.

Since the land was having lots of swans earlier, now people give Cockerel as owe to the temple. This is offered to the temple, when people pray for the well being of their kids, especially for good health. Over a 1000 of the cockerels freely move around the temple, except into the sanctum sanctorum.

BLESSED ROOSTERS

THEY ARE FREE TO MOVE AROUND - Rear entrance of the temple

The 2^nd next temple in Kerala, where cockerel is offered to temple is the Bagavathy temple at Pazhayanoor, near Thrisur.

During the 8^th day of the temple function, a wooden cockerel is circumvented the temple.

THE WOODEN ROOSTER

The wooden face is Bhima ( Mahabharata) is also used during the festival.

BHIMA's FACE

We have deties of Shiva, Vishnu,Sarpa kaavu, Naga Lingam, Yakshi amma spread around the whole vast of the temple around the main temple.

SARPA KAAVU

NAGA RAJA DIETY

YAKSHI AMMA

Ganapathy & Sastha were earlier installed inside the Sreekovil only. But, once a Gandharvan was creating problem to the local people. Devi asked Sastha to go and get rid of him. Sastha killed the gandharvan and came back. That time Devi asked him to stay back and be a gaurdian for her temple. The present temple for Sastha is on the South west corner of the temple. Since he is protecting the temple he is known as Kaavudaiyon. Here there are 2 idols inside the Sastha temple. 1 is Sastha. The other is Kaavudiyon with a Mace in his hand. People who are affected by evil forces come to this Kaavudaiyon temple and offer him a wooden mace as owe for protecting them.  Every year in the month of March its festival period for this Sastha ending at Uthram of Meenam month / Panguni Uthram – his birth day

SASTHA TEMPLE ( South west corner )

2 IDOLS - SASTHA, KAAVUDAIYON

WALKING BACK FROM SASTHA TEMPLE - SARPA KAAVU (Rear view - on the right)

 SHIVA, VISHNU TEMPLE ( on the right side of the temple)

SHIVAN

VISHNU

 During the 8 day main function of the temple in the month of Meenam, Aaraatu ( taking the ulsava moorthy for holy bath in the temple pond) happens twice daily, morning and evening.  Rather this is the only Devi Kshethram where Aaratu happens twice in a day .

The 8 tanks of aaratu are

1.       Kali kulam

2.       Chera Kulam

3.       Kelan Kukam

4.       Pullan Kulam

5.       Palli kulam

6.       Karupa kulam

7.       Thiru poora kulam

8.       Palli kulam.

These were the 8 holy ponds where Devi went and hid herself

After the aaratu, they take the idol of Devi, Shivan and Vishnu on procession on the 8^th day.

On Magam and Pooram days, ‘ Velai ‘ is celeberated, wherein they pull huge wooden models of Cockerels. But now only smaller versions are used as seen in the picture.

Irati is the oblation offered to Devi. Thadi is offered as oblation to Sastha.

Worship of Maa Kathyayaini was more common during Lord Krishna period. Young gopikas used to worship Maa Kathyayani praying that they should get married to Lord Krisna himself. That practice was more for Devi worship. But in the past 1500 years, this early morning worship in the month of Maargazhi got extended to Saivites, Vaishnavites and even Jains in South.

The early morning pooja if done here at Cherthala Karthyayani temple, in the month of Margazhi will ensure that girls get married to good groomes. 

SWAYAMVARKALA MANTRA

‘Om hreem yogini yogini yogeshwari
yogeshwari yog bhayankari
Sakalsthavarjangmasya mukham
Hradyam mum ashmakarshayakarshaya
Swaha’

KATYAYANI MANTRA

‘Katyayani Mahamaye
Mahayoginiyadheeshwari
Nand Gop Sutam Devi Patim Me
Kuru te Namah’

Durga Gayatri

Om Katyayanyai ca vidhmahe
Kanyakumari ca dhimahi
Tanno Durga pracodayat

Vamana Puranam considers Kathyayani as the Thejo roopam of all Devathas. It goes like this -

 " Thachabi thejo varamuthamam mahath / naamnab rrodivya mamavath prasidim / Kathyayiniyeva ththbabau naam na sa devanaiva jagath prazeeda //

May the divine providence of Devi KATHYAYANI be with all.