Chamundeshwari Temple,
Chamundi Hills – Legends
Sakthi Peetha:
In Hindu
mythology, Daksha Yajna or Daksha-Yaga is an important event, which
is narrated in various Hindu scriptures. It refers to a yajna (sacrifice)
organized by Daksha, where his daughter Sati immolated herself.
The wrath of god Shiva, Sati's husband, thereafter destroyed the
sacrifice. The tale is also called Daksha-Yajna-Nasha (destruction of
Daksha's sacrifice). The story forms the basis of the establishment of
the Shakti Peethas, temples of the Hindu Divine Mother. It is also
becoming a prelude to the story of Parvati, Sati's reincarnation who later
marries Shiva. The mythology is mainly told in the Vayu Purana. It is also
mentioned in the Kasi Kanda of the Skanda Purana, the Kurma
Purana, Harivamsa Purana and Padma Purana. Linga Purana, Shiva
Purana, and Matsya Purana also detail the incident.
Sati-Shiva marriage:
Daksha was one of the Prajapati,
son of Brahma, and among his foremost creations. The
name Daksha means "skilled one". Daksha had two wives:
Prasoothi and Panchajani (Virini). Sati (also known as ‘‘Uma’’) was
his youngest daughter; born from Prasoothi (the daughter of the Prajapati Manu),
she was the pet child of Daksha and he always carried her with him. Sati
(meaning truth) is also called Dakshayani as she followed Daksha’s path; this
is derived from the Sanskrit words Daksha and Ayana (walk
or path).
Sati, the youngest daughter
of Daksha, was deeply in love with the god Shiva and wished to
become his wife. Her worship and devotion of Shiva strengthened her immense
desire to become his wife. However, Daksha did not like his daughter’s yearning
for Shiva, mainly because he was a Prajapati and the son of the god Brahma;
his daughter Sati was a royal princess. They were wealthy nobility and their
imperial royal lifestyle was entirely different from that of Shiva.
As an emperor, Daksha wanted to
increase his influence and power by making marriage alliances with powerful
empires and influential sages and gods. Shiva on the other hand led a very
modest life. He lived among the downtrodden, wore a tiger skin, smeared ashes
on his body, had thick locks of matted hair, and begged with a skull as bowl.
His abode was Mount Kailash in the Himalayas. He embraced all kinds
of living beings and did not make any distinction between good souls and bad
souls.
The Bhutaganas, his
followers, consisted of all kinds of ghosts, demons, ghouls and goblins. He
wandered through garden and graveyard alike. As a consequence, Daksha had
aversion towards Shiva being his daughter’s companion. However, unlike Daksha,
Sati loved Shiva as she had the revelation that Shiva was the Supreme God. Sati
won Shiva as her husband by undergoing severe austerities (tapas). Despite
Daksha's disappointment, Sati married Shiva.
Brahma's Yajna:
Once Brahma conducted a
huge yajna (sacrifice), where all the Prajapatis, gods and kings of
the world were invited. Shiva and Sati were also called on to participate in
the yajna. All of them came for the yajna and sat in the ceremonial place.
Daksha came last. When he arrived, everyone in the yajna, with the exception of
Brahma, Shiva and Sati, stood up showing reverence for him. Brahma being
Daksha's father and Shiva being Daksha's son-in-law were considered superior in
stature to Daksha. Daksha misunderstood Shiva’s gesture and considered Shiva's
gesture as an insult. Daksha vowed to take revenge on the insult in the same
manner.
Daksha Yaga:
Daksha’s grudge towards Shiva
grew after Brahma's yajna. With the prime motive of insulting Shiva, Daksha
initiated a great yajna, similar to that of Brahma. The yajna was to be
presided over by the sage Bhrigu. He invited all the gods, Prajapatis and
kings to attend the yajna and intentionally avoided inviting Shiva and Sati.
Dadhichi – Daksha argument:
The Kurma Purana discusses the
dialogues between the sage Dadhichi and Daksha. After the sacrifice
and hymns where offered to the twelve Aditya gods; Dadhichi noticed that there
was no sacrificial portion (Havvis) allotted to Shiva and his wife, and no
Vedic hymns were used in the yajna addressing Shiva which were part of Vedic
hymns. He warned Daksha that he should not alter the Holy Vedas for personal
reasons; the priests and sages supported this. Daksha replied to Dadhichi that
he would not do so and insulted Shiva. Dadhichi left the yajna because of this
argument.
Sati's Death:
Sati came to know about the
grand yajna organized by her father and asked Shiva to attend the yajna. Shiva
refused her request, saying that it was inappropriate to attend a function
without being invited. He reminded her that she was now his wife more than
Daksha’s daughter and, after marriage, is a member of Shiva’s family rather
than Daksha’s. The feeling of her bond to her parents overpowered the social
etiquette she had to follow. She even had a notion that there was no need to
have received an invitation in order to attend as she was Daksha’s favourite
daughter and no formality existed between them.
She constantly pleaded and urged
Shiva to let her attend the ceremony and became adamant in her demands without
listening to the reasons Shiva provided for not attending the function. He
allowed Sati to go to her parents' home, along with his followers
including Nandi, and attend the ceremony, but refused to accompany with
her. Upon arriving, Sati tried to meet her parents and sisters; Daksha was
arrogant and avoided interacting with Sati. He repeatedly snubbed her in front
of all the dignitaries, but Sati maintained her composure.
Because of Sati’s persistence in
trying to meet him, Daksha reacted vehemently, insulting her in front of all
the other guests at the ceremony to which she had not been invited. He called
Shiva an atheist and cremation ground dweller. As planned, he took advantage of
the situation and continued shouting repugnant words against Shiva. Sati felt
deep remorse for not listening to her beloved husband. Daksha’s disdain towards
her, and especially her husband Shiva, in front of all the guests was growing
each moment she stood there. The shameless insult and humiliation of her and
her beloved, eventually became too much to bear.
She cursed Daksha for acting so
atrociously toward her and Shiva and reminded him that his haughty behaviour
had blinded his intellect. She cursed him and warned that the wrath of Shiva
would destroy him and his empire. Unable to bear further humiliation, Sati
committed suicide by jumping into the sacrificial fire. The onlookers tried to
save her, but it was too late. They were only able to retrieve the
half-burnt body of Sati.
Daksha's pride in being a
Prajapati and his prejudice against his son-in-law created a mass hatred within
himself, which resulted in the death of his daughter. The Nandi and the
accompanying Bhootaganas left the yajna place after the incident. Nandi cursed
the participants and Bhrigu reacted by cursing the Bhootaganas back.
Destruction of the Yajna by Lord
Shiva:
Lord Shiva was deeply pained
upon hearing of his wife's death. His grief grew into a terrible anger when he
realized how Daksha had viciously plotted a treachery against him; but it was
his innocent wife who fell into the trap instead of him. Shiva learned of
Daksha’s callous behaviour towards Sati. Shiva's rage became so intense that he
plucked a lock of hair from his head and smashed it on the ground, breaking it
into two with his leg. Armed and frightening, two fearsome beings Virabhadra and
Bhadrakali (Rudrakali) emerged. Lord Shiva ordered them to kill Daksha and
destroy the yajna.
The ferocious Virabhadra and
Bhadrakali, along with the Bhutaganas, reached the yajna spot. The invitees
renounced the yajna and started running away from the turmoil. Sage Bhrigu
created an army with his divine penance powers to resist Shiva’s attack and
protect the yajna. Bhrigu’s army was demolished and the entire premises were
ravaged. All those who participated, even the other Prajapatis and the gods,
were mercilessly beaten, wounded or even slaughtered.
The Vayu
Purana mentions the attack of Bhutaganas: the nose of some goddesses were
cut, Yama's staff bone was broken, Mitra's eyes were pulled
out, Indra was trampled by Virabhadra and Bhutaganas, Pushan's
teeth were knocked out, Chandra was beaten heavily, all of the
Prajapatis' were beaten, the hands of Vahini were cut off, and Bhrigu's beard
was cut off. Daksha was caught and decapitated, the attack culminated when the
Bhutaganas started plucking out Bhrigu’s white beard as a victory
souvenir.
The Vayu Purana do not
mention the decapitation of Daksha, instead it says Yagna, the
personification of yajna took the form of an antelope and jumped towards the
sky. Virabhadra captured it and decapitated Yagna. Daksha begs mercy from
the Parabrahmam (the Supreme Almighty who is formless), who rose from
the yajna fire and forgives Daksha. The Parabrahmam informs Daksha that Shiva
is in fact a manifestation of Parabrahmam. Daksha then becomes a great devotee
of Shiva. The Linga Purana and Bhagavatha Purana mention
the decapitation of Daksha.
Certain other puranas like Harivamsa, Kurma,
and Skanda narrate the story from the perspective of the
Vaishnava-Shaiva community feud prevalent in ancient times. In these puranas,
there are fights between Vishnu and Shiva or Virabhadra, with various victors
throughout. The story of Daksha Yaga in
Vaishnava and Shaiva puranas end with the surrendering of Daksha
to the Parabrahmam or with the destruction of yajna and decapitation of Daksha.
Aftermath:
As the obstruction of the yajna
will create havoc and severe ill effects on the nature, Brahma and the
god Vishnu went to the grief-stricken Lord Shiva. They comforted and
showed their sympathy towards Shiva. They requested him to come to the yajna
location and pacify the Bhutaganas and allow the Yaga to be completed; Shiva
agreed. Shiva found the burnt body of Sati. Shiva gave permission to continue
yajna. Daksha was absolved by Shiva and the head of a ram (Male goat) meant for
yajna was fixed on the decapitated body of Daksha and gave his life back. The
yajna was completed successfully.
The later story is an epilogue
to the story of Daksha yajna mentioned in Shakta Puranas like Devi
Bhagavata Purana, Kalika Purana and the folklores of various regions.
Shiva was so distressed and could not part from his beloved wife. He took the
corpse of Sati and wandered around the universe. To reduce Shiva's grief,
Vishnu cuts Sati's corpse as per Vaishnava Puranas; whose parts fell on the
places Shiva wandered. The Shaiva version says that her body disintegrated on
its own and the parts fell while Shiva was carrying Sati's corpse in various
places. It is believed that hair of Sati had fallen here. The
Temple is considered as one among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas.
These places commemorating each
body part came to be known as the Shakti Peethas. There are 51 Shakti
Peethas, representing the 51 letters of Sanskrit. Some of the puranas
which came in later ages gave more importance to their supreme deity (depending
on Vaishnava, Shaiva, and Shakta sects) in their literature. Shiva went to
isolation and solitude for ages and wandered all around until Sati reincarnated
as Parvati, the daughter of the King Himavan. Like Sati, Parvati took
severe austerities and gave away all her royal privileges and went to forest.
Shiva tested her affection and devotion in disguise. He eventually realized
Parvati is Sati herself. Shiva later married Parvati.
Annihilation of Mahishasura:
As per legend, a demon named Mahishasura (mahisha meaning
buffalo and asura meaning demon) lived in Mysore. Mahishasura was
born of the union of a demon Rambh and Mahishi, a cursed half woman half
buffalo. Rambh had obtained a boon from Agni, the God of fire, to have a
powerful son who would rule over the three worlds and so Mahishasura was born.
When he came of age, he obtained a boon of immortality from Lord Brahma, the
creator, and soon captured heaven and earth, terrorizing the Devas.
The Devas, left with little
recourse, took refuge at the mercy of the trinity of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.
On seeing the plight of the Devas directed Goddess Durga to slay the demon. She
incarnated as Chamundeshwari. She fought Mahishasura and his demon army for
nine continuous days slaying Mahishasura army and eventually killing the
powerful demon king Mahishasura at the top of the Chamundi
hill. Hence, she came to be called as Mahishasura Mardini.
To safeguard the people, she resided
atop the hill overlooking the kingdom Mahishasurana Ooru (means abode of
Mahishasura in Kannada language). Later got corrupted to Mahishooru. The
Britishers then modified Mahishooru to Mysore. Then, on 1 November 2014, the
government of Karnataka changed the name to Mysuru. A
colorful gigantic image of the demon, Mahishasura greets visitors as they reach
the summit of the hill.
Chamundeshwari:
The story of Devi Chamundi is
narrated in Markandeya Purana. There were two Asura brothers, Sumba and Nisumba,
who, strengthened by the boons received through severe penance, began to harass
the Devas and the people of the earth. The Devas prayed to Devi Parvati, who
took the form of a beautiful young maiden and came down to Earth. The Asura
brothers were smitten by her beauty and sent emissaries to try and entice her
to come to them. When this failed, they tried force. But the young maiden
killed the generals sent by the Asuras. Two of the generals were named Sandan
and Mundan. The Goddess took the ferocious warrior form of Kali and destroyed
them at this
place. As she killed Sandan and Mundan, she was called Chamundi or Chamundeshwari.
Trimuta Kshetra:
The place where the
temple is located was known as Trimuta Kshetra, meaning a place surrounded
by eight hills. The Chamunda
Hill lies at the western part of the group.
Mahabaladri / Mahabalachala:
It is believed that Lord Shiva
used to reside at the Mahabaleshwar
temple and hence this hill was named as Mahabaladri / Mahabalachala.
Krouncha Peetham:
It is known as Krouncha
Pitham as the region was known in Puranic times as Krouncha
Puri.
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III:
It is believed that when
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was blessed by the Goddess Chamunda, he decided to
build the beautiful Gopura in 1827 AD. He also gifted a Simha Vahana, that is,
the vehicle of the goddess along with other animal vehicles to the
temple.
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