WRITTEN BY London swaminathan
swami_48@yahoo.com
Date: 20 SEPTEMBER 2019
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Post No. 6989
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During my third trip to India this year (September 5 to 18, 2019) I visited Bengaluru, Sringeri, Kollur, Agumbe, Udupi and Kukke. Before entering Karnataka, I toured in Trichy area visiting Samayapuram, Srirangam and Tiruanaikka. It was a productive trip. I hit all my targets!
Gods seek help from human beings for publicity!!! Sabarimalai became popular due to actors like Nambiar; Manthralaya became popular due to actors like Rajnikanth; Kollur became famous due to actors like MGR and Jayalaitha. I remember former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and famous actor M G Ramachandran donating a golden sword to Kollur Mookambika. Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan Jayaalalitha and Vadundhara and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Wikramasinghe and several political heavyweights have visited the temple. When Jayalaaitha came to Kollur in 2004 she was shown the golden sword offered by her predecessor MGR and she offered Rs.30,000 towards food offering in the temple and one ton Ghee (clarified butter). After Tamil politicians’ visits, the Tamil crowd in the temple increased!!
My driver (Narasimha of Vishnu Travels, Bengaluru) told me that Keralites come in big numbers to the temple. I saw lot of Malayalees.
Where is Kollur?
It is in the midst of ever green forests of Western Ghats in Karnataka. Kollur is 45 kilometres from Kundapur and 80 kms from Udupi. I went by car from Udupi. Temple of Goddess Mookambika (Parvati) is on top of Kodachadri hill. River Sauparnika is flowing nearby. People from Karnataka ,Tamil Nadu and Kerala come to this temple in big numbers. The reason for attraction, it is believed, is the installation of a Sri Chakra by Adi Shankara. Wherever Adi Shankara installed Sri Chakra Yantras (plate with magical drawings of triangles) people throng the places and pour money in to the money boxes of the temples. Tirupati and Varanasi are other examples).
The main deities here are Goddess Mookambika and Shiva linga. The goddess killed Mooka (dumb) Asura (demon). I remember another Mooka. He is known as Dumb Poet/ Mooka Kavi. The dumb poet received the blessings of Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram and burst out in poems (Mooka Panchasati).
Goddess Mookambika is very beautiful. During festival time the temple attracts huge crowd. But I was fortunate to have Darshan at 3 pm in the afternoon within 15 minutes. See the pictures taken by me. Jayalalitha picture is from Mangalorean news.
Story of ‘Dumb Poet’ Mooka Kavi | Tamil and Vedas
https://tamilandvedas.com › 2014/06/07 › story-of-dumb-poet-mooka-kavi
7 Jun 2014 – Compiled by London swaminathan. Post No.1091; Dated 7th June 2014. मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिं । यत्कृपा …
MALGUDI DAYS AND AGUMBE
When I was studying B.Sc in Madura College in Madurai we were taken to Western Ghats for botanical collections. We were promised the viewing of beautiful tropical rain forests and big water falls in Agumbe. But after passing Singeri we stayed at Central Coffee Research Institute ( in 1968 or 1969). We were told by our professor that the weather was very bad and we couldn’t proceed any further. All the students were disappointed. But we did plant collections on our way back. From that day I wanted to visit Agumbe. When my driver told me that we were going via Agumbe I felt that my long time dream was fulfilled. Though I did not go deep into the forest, I stopped at the sunset viewing point. My driver told me the area was infested with most poisonous king cobras. We saw small water falls and streams along the Ghat section. At a distance huge water falls were visible. Agumbe receives the highest rain fall in South India like Cherrapunji in Assam in North East India..
Agumbe is the Cherrapunji of South India receiving 300 inches of rain (760 cms) in a year. This part of Karnataka experiences continuous rain fall for four months in a year.
My driver showed me a place connected with the most famous TV serial Malgudi Days of R K Narayan. Probably director and actor Shankar hailed from the place.
I saw cloud and fog topped mountain peaks. That reminded me of Pillar Rocks in Kodaikanal. The 1500 mile long Western Ghats is a paradise for nature lovers.
Don’t miss your next opportunity to visit this part of Karnataka! Study well before you visit that area.
Xxx subham cxx
Tamil and Vedas 