Mookambika Temple, Kollur

The Mookambika temple is located in Kollur, Udupi district of Karnataka. It is a hindu temple dedicated to godess Mookambika located on the bank of the Sauparnika river. In this temple, the idol is said to be a combination of Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati thus Mookambika is said to be the combination of Adipara Shakti and Parabrahman. The temple also has sub shrines of lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Hanuman, Lord Subramanya, Lord Veerabhadra and Lord Naga.

History

The idols in the Mookambika temple were installed about 1200 years ago. It is said tat Halugallu Veera Sangayya Maharaja built a roof over the temple as per the Rani Chennamaji instructions. The garbha griha of the temple has a large lamp as tall as turtle's head that contains 21 beautiful single circles. Those circles resemble Makara Jyoti when lit from a distance.A demon named Kaumasura with special powers given upon him by lord Shiva leading a terrible rule over all the gods. When all the gods are trying to stay away from him, guru Shukrayacharya tells the good news that this demon will be killed by goddess Parvati.

The demon prayed lord Shiva and lord felt pleased to his pray and asked him a wish. He realized that if he fulfill the wish he would be in serious danger and the goddess of speech would make the demon mute. Therfore, the boy was called Mookasura. Goddess Parvati with the combination of all the powers of gods and goddesses killed the demon. This is why Goddess Parvati was called Mookambika. The idol of the goddess is in posture of sitting in Padmasana with a chakra in one hand and a shell(Shankam) in other hand.

How To Reach

Kollur bus stand is just 800m away from the temple. You can reach the temple by walk from the bus stand.