Our village's temple is the residence of a Goddess called 'Sathneramma'. The period after Ugadi till the 'Mungaru' (monsoons) is the 'Jathre' (Village festival) season in all villages. Since, our village Jathre was around the corner, I happened to ask a few questions to my husband about the temple and the Devi. And his story left me so amused that I had to blog this story about the travelling Goddess especially when this is the era we see the wanderlust bug has bitten a lot of ladies in our country too!!!
So, going back a long long period ago, the Devi or as the villagers call her 'Amma' was the residing Goddess in a temple by the lake in a village called 'Sathigrahalli', quite a distance away from our village when we think of the distance by foot. Amma was the resident of the temple right next to the lake of the village and she was religiously worshipped by folks of the village and from the neighboring villages too. In this part of the state, the God/ Goddess talks with the villagers by possessing the body of a specific villager. Around 50 years back, in one such possessed session, Amma revealed that she has left that temple and has moved to a small shrine next to the lake of the village called 'Madenur' which happens to be our neighboring village. This shrine could be reached through a dried up lake and was on the outskirts of the village. When this story began to spread, folks started visiting this small shrine and felt the energy of Amma present there. This shrine was gradually built to a temple and the surrounding seven villages started worshipping Amma there and the Jathre used to happen revolving around that temple. Moving forward by 45 years, the fame of the temple had spread all across and Amma had gathered a lot worshipers. This meant a lot of donations followed and like always, money corrupted people. The temple management was not immune to money and they also got corrupted and started diverting the temple funds for their own personal uses and ignoring Amma and the temple welfare began.
But during the Jathre around the seven villages, Amma used to travel to all the seven villages and stay for two nights in every village. Amma was sincerely worshiped in our village and she was accorded a very high divine treatment when she stayed in our village for the two nights and sent back with huge sense of piety and devotion.
5 years back, when another session of possession took place in some neighboring village, Amma conveyed the message to a villager that angered by the mismanagement of the temple, she had moved to our village and she was currently staying in a spot next to our village lake. With a lot of devotion, my village folks went to the lake and were surprised to find a small white stone, which they claim was not present before, had blossomed overnight. Now, we have a temple around this stone and Amma has become even more famous after moving to our village. She commands worshippers from far and wide and she has made a name for herself as the"Lost objects Finder". Most of the people who worship her are the ones who would have lost some object and come to her seeking the object back. She seems to point to exactly where the object is through possessing one of the village folks.
If I had listened to this story a decade back, I would have rubbished it and got back to my work. But, now after traveling, exploring and experiencing varied cultures and beliefs, I tend to not dismiss any belief but rather just accept it as something I would not agree to but still exists.
When the Goddess of 2018 seems to travel so much, what is wrong in meek humans being so passionate about traveling. And like how we all have our genre of travel places, our 'Amma' seems to be the 'Lake liking' traveller as she always finds a lake to settle herself in! Doesn't she now?
So, going back a long long period ago, the Devi or as the villagers call her 'Amma' was the residing Goddess in a temple by the lake in a village called 'Sathigrahalli', quite a distance away from our village when we think of the distance by foot. Amma was the resident of the temple right next to the lake of the village and she was religiously worshipped by folks of the village and from the neighboring villages too. In this part of the state, the God/ Goddess talks with the villagers by possessing the body of a specific villager. Around 50 years back, in one such possessed session, Amma revealed that she has left that temple and has moved to a small shrine next to the lake of the village called 'Madenur' which happens to be our neighboring village. This shrine could be reached through a dried up lake and was on the outskirts of the village. When this story began to spread, folks started visiting this small shrine and felt the energy of Amma present there. This shrine was gradually built to a temple and the surrounding seven villages started worshipping Amma there and the Jathre used to happen revolving around that temple. Moving forward by 45 years, the fame of the temple had spread all across and Amma had gathered a lot worshipers. This meant a lot of donations followed and like always, money corrupted people. The temple management was not immune to money and they also got corrupted and started diverting the temple funds for their own personal uses and ignoring Amma and the temple welfare began.
But during the Jathre around the seven villages, Amma used to travel to all the seven villages and stay for two nights in every village. Amma was sincerely worshiped in our village and she was accorded a very high divine treatment when she stayed in our village for the two nights and sent back with huge sense of piety and devotion.
5 years back, when another session of possession took place in some neighboring village, Amma conveyed the message to a villager that angered by the mismanagement of the temple, she had moved to our village and she was currently staying in a spot next to our village lake. With a lot of devotion, my village folks went to the lake and were surprised to find a small white stone, which they claim was not present before, had blossomed overnight. Now, we have a temple around this stone and Amma has become even more famous after moving to our village. She commands worshippers from far and wide and she has made a name for herself as the"Lost objects Finder". Most of the people who worship her are the ones who would have lost some object and come to her seeking the object back. She seems to point to exactly where the object is through possessing one of the village folks.
If I had listened to this story a decade back, I would have rubbished it and got back to my work. But, now after traveling, exploring and experiencing varied cultures and beliefs, I tend to not dismiss any belief but rather just accept it as something I would not agree to but still exists.
When the Goddess of 2018 seems to travel so much, what is wrong in meek humans being so passionate about traveling. And like how we all have our genre of travel places, our 'Amma' seems to be the 'Lake liking' traveller as she always finds a lake to settle herself in! Doesn't she now?
