Mahanavarathri and Belief that Adi Shankara composed Soundarya Lahari at Kollur Mookambika Temple!

The Mahanavaratri festival will be celebrated at the Sri Mookambika Temple, established by Adi Sankara, the exponent of Adwaita philosophy, at Kollur in Udupi district from October 1 to 11.

A large number of devotees from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry are expected to participate in the festival. The ‘kalasha sthapane’ ritual will be held at 5.30 p.m. on October 1.

‘Chandika yaga’ will be performed on the Mahanavami festival at 11.30 a.m. on October 10, while the ‘rathotsava’ will be held at 5.30 p.m.

A major highlight of the Vijaya Dashami festival on October 11 is the ‘vidyarambha’ ceremony, which will begin at the Saraswati Mandira on the temple premises at 4 a.m. It is believed that Adi Shankaracharya composed the ‘Soundarya Lahari’ at the Saraswati Mandira.

During the ‘vidyarambha’ ceremony, the symbol ‘OM’ is written on the tongue of children, in the 2-3 age group with a turmeric twig. The children are then made to write alphabets in rice-grains. Nearly 2,000 children are expected to participate in the ceremony this time.

Vijayotsava

The Vijayotsava will be held at 5.30 p.m. on the same evening. During the Vijayotasva, ‘utsavamurthy’ (idol taken out during procession) of Goddess Mookambika will be carried to the ‘shukla tirtha’, about one km from Kollur, and brought back. The Goddess will be decorated in a different style on each day of the Maha Navaratri.

A 24-hour emergency health centre will function at the Jagadambika Administrative Block.

H. Krishnamurthy, Assistant Executive Officer of the temple told The Hindu that an additional ‘seva’ counter would start functioning near the Saraswati Mantapa to cope with the rush of devotees. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation had been told to run more buses from the Byndoor railway station, Udupi and Kundapur during the festival, he said.

Arrangements had been made for vehicle parking at the PU College Ground, the Temple Ground, Kashi Hole, and either sides of the bus stand.

Arrangements had also been made to provide meals and buffet breakfast (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.) to the devotees at noon and night during the festival.

Buffet meal would be available from October 9 to 11. Cultural programmes will be held daily from 3 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. at the Swarnamukhi Ranga Mandira near the temple.

Praveen Nayak, Deputy Superintendent of Police, said that tight security arrangements would be in place at the temple during the festival.

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Source: The Hindu

The address of the Temple is: Kollur, Karnataka 576220, India

Phone: +91 82542 58221

Kanchi Mahaperiyava has spoken about Kollur Mookambika temple in Deivathin Kural Voice of God book.