Mother Chamundeshwari and Chaudeshwari

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|| Jai Sadguru Dutta ||

 

 

Dear Members,

 

I have uploaded the photos of Mother Goddess Chaamundeshwarii, the

presiding diety of the city of Mysore, Karnataka, BhArath (India) and

also that of Mother Chaudeshwari (Goddess Nithyaklinnaa). Please view

them and be blessed.

 

Mother Chaamundeshwarii was the patron goddess of the Maharajas of

Mysore. She is the presiding diety of Mysore in particular and

Karnataka state (as Bhuvaneshwari or Kannada Raaja Rajeshwari) in

general. The Mother is an integral part of the history and culture of

the Karnataka state since all great rulers of this sacred land

worshipped Her as their Kingdom's patron diety (rAjya lakshmii).

 

The temple of Mother Chaamundeshwari is situated atop the hill

(famous as Chamundii hill) in the heritage city of Mysore. This rocky

hill, is at a distance of three kilometers to the south east of

fort rising to a height of 1,050 meters (3489 feet) above the sea

level. This is 13 kms away from the city. The Mysore king Dodda

Devaraja Wodeyar laid a flight of 1,001 steps in the 17th century. On

the top of the hill is the 12th century A.D. temple of Goddess

Chamundeswari and the gigantic statue of Mahishasura. Half - way up

along the stone steps is Nandi, Lord Shiva's bull. It is a

majestic 4.8-meter monolith. The Chamundeswari Temple is a fine

quadrangular structure with a high gopura (tower) and dwara

(entrance) which is a visible landmark from many miles.

 

Mysore (known as Mahishur or Mahisha Mandalam - the kingdom of

Mahishasura, in the puranas) traces its history back to the

puranas,when the Mother Chamundeshwari killed the wicked buffalo-

headed demon, Mahishasura. It is believed that the fierce war between

Mother and the demon took place in different places like the Vindhyas

etc and finally Mahisha was killed on the hills where the present day

temple is situated in Mysore. The Mother is also known as Mahishasura

Mardhini. The Mother is seated on Her vehicle lion, killing

Mahishaasura, the demon with her trident (thrishUlam.)

 

 

The now world famous Mysore Dasara is the celebration of this victory

of good over evil. Mysore also has associations with the Mahabharata

and King Ashoka of the 3rd century B.C. During the Wodeyar rule

Mysore reached the Zenith of its glory as a fabled centre of oriental

splendour. It is widely believed that the magnificient throne one can

see in the Mysore palace originally belonged to Dharmaraj Yudhishtir -

the eldest of the Pandavas. Later, it was adored by the rulers of

the Vijayanagar empire and lastly by the Wodeyars (rulers) of Mysore.

 

The great sage Vidyaaranya could establish the great Vijayanagar

Hindoo empire only due to the blessings of the Mother. This is not

only an interesting story but also very inspiring. This historical

story sends out a message to our present day politicians that

spirituality (read Dharma) is the quintessential part of Indian

polity. In my opinion, all the problems faced by our country is due

to lack of practice of Dharma both in personal and public life. I

shall post this story in the near future.

 

The photo of Mother Goddess Chaudeshwari was taken from the temple

where the 432 days long "ayutha chandikaa yajnam" successfully

concluded last year in Padmanabha Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka. Please

refer back to my previous post regarding this yajnam and the

details. "chaudeshwari" is the local name given to goddess "nithya

klinna", an important diety dwelling in the sacred "shrii yantram".

The dhyaana shloka of nithyaklinna is as follows:

 

udhyath soorya samapraBhAm smitha muKhiim, kara-thalE pAna

pAthram dhaDhAnAm |

hasthEnaikEna Khadgam dhOrBhirshoolam cha damarum shuBhra

shuBhrOtthariiyAm ||

nAnAlankArayukthAm maNi makuta vilasath kundalADyAm guNADyAm |

nithyaklinnAm thrilOka vandhyAm aha-manu dhivasam mAnasii

BhAvayAmi ||