Goddess of all things

Being a part of the Western Ghats, Kollur lies on the Kodachadri hill range. Known for its natural beauty, Kollur is also a prominent Hindu pilgrim centre of Karnataka. It has a beautiful temple dedicated to Mookambika, who slew the demon Mookasura. 

It is believed that Adi Shankaracharya had a vision of Goddess Mookambika and had the deity’s form installed here. The idol of Chandramoulishwara was also installed by Sri Shankaracharya. It is said that Keladi rulers renovated this Temple.

This Temple draws a large number of pilgrims from various parts of the country every day. During Dasara festivities, like in the old Mysore region, in Kollur too, we can witness the Navaratri festival for nine days. 

Pious rituals

During Navaratri, suhasini puja, mahadeepaaraadhana and navakshati kalasham puja are performed every day. On the day of Vijayadashami, the idol of Goddess Mookambika is carried to Shuklatheertha, which is about 1.5 km from Kollur, and brought back to the Temple. 

This ritual is known as vijaya utsava. On the day of Vijayadashami, more than 25,000 devotees participate in the festival at Kollur.

For Keralites, Vijayadashami festival at Kollur is special one. As Kollur is associated with Shankaracharya, this Temple holds immense relevance for the devotees of Kerala. As Kollur Mookambika is regarded as a goddess of Shakti, Vidya Saraswathi and Lakshmi, devotees of Kerala lay the foundation for their kids’ education at Kollur at Mookambika Temple. 

Saraswathi puja is performed on the seventh day of Navaratri, by taking Mookambika Devi to the Saraswati mantapa on the west side of the Temple during early morning. 

On the auspicious day of Vijayadashami, the ritual vidyarambha begins early in the morning. More than 3,000 children in the age group of 2 to 4 years, most of them from Kerala, would enter the world of learning by writing their first letters.
 Knowledge is god

Parents, along with their kids, gather at Saraswathi mantapa early in the morning. Parents with their child seated on their lap begin an initial puja. Then, the vidyarambha begins. They get the child to write the name of god and om on the rice in a tray. Then, they are made to the write the first few alphabets of their mother tongue. 

Then the priest traces the om symbol on the tongue of the child. This is believed to improve the child’s pronunciation. The vidyarambha ritual continues till noon and is conducted on other auspicious days also.

The faith behind this ritual is that, if the child begins its education in the presence of Kollur Mookambika, who is considered the presiding deity of all fine arts, the child will have a bright education and future. 

In order to receive her blessings and achieve progress in education, mahatrimadhura is an important offering to the goddess. It is believed that by consuming mahatrimadhura, children turn clever and intelligent.

Other offerings like payasa, naivedya, alankara puja, pushparathotsava and pushpanjali are intended to improve knowledge. 

One more popular Hindu custom, annaprashana (the first time solid food is fed to a child) is also conducted here.  People from Tamil Nadu and Andhra pradesh also visit this Temple during Vijayadashami.