Mahathobhara Shree Mahalingeshwara Temple

Soumyaroop Mukherjee

Mahathobhara Shree Mahalingeshwara Temple

Puttur is a town located in the Dakshina Kannada district of the Indian state of Karnataka. The town is home to the 12th-century Mahalingeshwara Temple, which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is sometimes referred to as Puttur Mahalingeshwara.

Mahalingeshwara temple at Puttur, Source: Govt. of Karnataka

The Hindu temple of Mahathobhara Shree is located in Puttur in the Bolara area of Mangalore, a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu Shakti goddess, Mangaladevi, who is the presiding deity.

According to legend, Mangaladevi may have originally been a local village or town goddess who was later "Brahmanized" and connected with Shaktism, a common practice in southern India. This process of legitimization has been borrowed from the Brahmana and Aryan civilizations of the North. A similar example is the case of Kanyakumari, the virgin goddess of the southern tip of India.

The palace features a rectangular wall that encloses the Chester-Madilluka temple and has entrances leading to each of the shrines inside. The doors on each side of the gates feature guardian deities, or dvarapalakas, which are typical of South Indian temple architecture.

The central shrine has a circular design and is constructed with a granite base, a laterite superstructure, and a conical roof made of terracotta tiles. The inside structure of the temple is supported by a wooden frame. Overall, this temple is beautiful and is said to have played a significant role in the history of Karnataka.

This temple was built during the 9th century A.D. by Kundavarman, the most important king of the Alupa dynasty, under the patronage of the famous saint Matsyendranātha.

So who was Matsyendranātha? He is regarded as an important yogi or saint who revived the Hatha Yoga tradition of India. He is mainly remembered as the founding father of the Natha sector, having taught many Shiva texts and founded the Gorakhpur Math of Uttar Pradesh.

According to legend, this temple was built by Parasharuma, the sixth avatar of Vishnu. He was known as the destroyer of the Kshatriya or warrior class, and by some accounts, he destroyed and made the world Kshatriya-free 21 times. He is often depicted with an axe, and his name also means Rama with an axe.

According to legend and folklore, the axe attached to his shoulder tells another story. It is said that he was instructed by his father to raise an axe and run to kill his mother. She cursed him, and the axe became permanently attached to his shoulder.

The temple is built in the Kerala style of architecture, which is common in most South Indian temples located in the southern states of Kerala and the Western Ghats. It was constructed using wood. In addition to the shrine dedicated to the Mangaladevi goddess, there are also shrines dedicated to other gods and goddesses.