Part-2 for THE ESTEEMED DIAMONDS.
As I already said that, the Goddess Kakathi was Kakatiya’s almighty, and their totem (kula devatha) was Bhadrakali Devi.
What do you think, the reason behind having the Bhadrakali Devi as a totem, Even after having the godhead?
Let’s know what and how it happened!
Pulakesi-II, the Chalukyan king, built this temple and worshiped the goddess Bhadrakali Devi to win the battle against the Vengi dynasty. Chalukyas followed single stone architecture, hence without a surprise, Bhadrakali Devi’s idol was carved on a single stone.
According to the natives of Warangal and what priests say is, it is believed that temple has been built around 625 A.D. What! 1400 years old!! Hmmm…. I never realized that I have been living in a place that is more than a thousand years old. No wonder why Warangal is said to be a city with history.
Bhadrakali Devi is with eight hands with various weapons in each. On the right side, she holds a sword, rosary, dhol, and Chulika. On the left, trident, bell, a small head hanging downward, and a pot.
The Goddess Bhadrakali Devi was strongly believed to fulfill the desires of her devotes since the time of king Prathapa Rudra which was mentioned in the most antique books like Sidheshwara Charithra, Prathapa Rudra Charitra.
After the ruins of the Kakatiya dynasty, Bhadrakali Devi temple crumpled its eminence glory. Beyond this, due to the ruling of Golconda Nawabs in Hyderabad and the unjust behavior of Razakars, the temple lost its glory from 1323. This continued till 1950.
It is revived in 1950. The goddess Bhadrakali Devi was with the hanging tongue. She looked so ferocious. According to the scriptures, the south Indian goddesses’ idol should be worshiped in their calm and pleasant form. So later on, the high priests of the temple applied some of the elixir seeds in the mouth of the goddess and made her face to look propitiated.
And this the mysterious history. Now let us concentrate on the landscape of the temple.
To the south of the temple, we can see a cave. People talk that many of the yogis used to practice meditation in the cave. On the top of the caves, the statues of Lord Shiva and Parvathi are carved. The forte of this statue is that lord shiva is not in the form of lingam. It is with the goddess Parvathi Devi.
In front of this Lord Shiva’s statue, there are pillars, often considered as special, are familiar as Gaja Sthambam, Simhavahanam, Bhali peetam, Subramanyeshwarudu, Anjaneyulu.
At the entrance to the left, there is a cowshed(goshala). We have a great culture right! Cows are treated as gods and being worshiped here. And to the right, we have a pavilion, where priests perform yagna on some special occasions.
The pavilion is followed by a mirror temple, it’s not actually called as mirror temple but the thing is, it is a small temple with a goddess idol in the middle and the covered with mirrors all over inside the temple.
As every temple has a water body associated with it, so is the Bhadrakali temple.
It is called as Bhadrakali lake for obvious reasons and serves as a drinking water supply to natives.
This is a peaceful place to visit for children, adults, and older people. I hope after reading this blog, people around Warangal would definitely love to visit the temple and witness all the glory.
Author:
Nikhila puli
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