Shri Bhadrakali Devada Namme – Hebbettageri

This Bhadrakali temple is one of the very renowned  temple in kodagu.   ‘The Namme’ is celebrated in the ‘Meenyar’ month of the Kodava calendar (during the month of April) and is located in Hebbettageri in Madikeri Naad.

An article which was the part of the essay writing competition on festivals of kodagu organised by kodavaclan during the lockdown.

Submitted

Pandira Nirisksha Bojamma

Deity

Bhadrakali

Temple

Bhadrakali

Village

Karavale Badaga

Hebbattgeri village

Madikeri Nad.

Location

Google Location of the temple: 12°26’19.2″N 75°43’48.3″E  Hebbettageri, Karnataka 571201

Thakka

Pandira

Mukkati

Areyanda

Okkas Linked to the temple

Chettira,

 Minnanda,

 Muddanda,

Bollera,

Subbamanda,

Thekkada,

Bedakanda

Temple contact details

yet to recieve

Festival/ Pooje 

Nithyapooje

No

Festival

ShriBhadrakaliDevadaNamme

Frequency

Annual

Period

Meenyar ( April –May )

Festival Rituals ( Namme Paddathi )

Pattani

Pattani is followed during the complete time span of ‘The Namme’.On the day of ‘PodaThatto’‘Neer Dose’ is eaten for breakfast. On the ‘Deva Kulipo’ day ‘Neer Dose’ is consumed both for breakfast and lunch. On the ‘Bolak’ day also ‘Neer Dose’ is eaten for breakfast. Only on the day of ‘KaalePudipo’‘Puli Dose’ is consumed. On the final day for both breakfast and lunch ‘Neer Dose’ is eaten.

Day 1  : ’PodaThatto’

On the first day,’PodaThatto’ ritual is done. All the villagers gather at the Bhadrakali temple in the evening and visit the ‘KaravaleBhagavati’ temple nearby, playing‘Dudi’ and ‘Dhole’, to seek blessings to conduct the festival properly and without any problems.

Day 1  : Naakodi’

The next day, a ritual called ‘Naakodi’ is performed. In this ritual, a ‘Trishula’ is made with sticks and draped with red cloth, called ‘Kodi’. Each family from the surroundings will have one Kodi.On the same day, after about 2 o’ clock the ‘Deva Kulipo’ ritual is performed at the ‘AreyandaKere’. On the ‘Deva Kulipo’ day ‘Neer Dose’ is consumed both for breakfast and lunch

Day 3  : ‘Bolak’

Before dawn, lamps are lit all around the temple. This is called ‘Bolak’. All the residents of the village gather at the temple in the traditional Kodavaattire and perform nine rounds of ‘Bolakaat’ in nine different ways in the ’Ambala’ and ‘Mandh’.After this, the men perform the ‘Kaithaleaat’, This is performedwith a long, rectangular red piece of cloth which is wrapped around one’s index finger, which is given by the ‘Thirolakara’.

Final Day

On the final day of ‘The Namme’ all the men gather in the dawn and perform ‘Bolakaat’. In the noon, the men gather at ‘Mandh’ to perform ‘Kodiaat’ and ‘Bolakaat’.  Women and children gather in hundreds to meet relatives and offer prayers. Hundreds of nearby villagers also participate in this festival. After this, the ‘Bandara’ is kept. ‘ThengeBodi’ or firing at the coconut to exhibit the shooting skills  is also held at the temple. In the evening, all the men gather at the ‘Bana’ where the ‘Parkeraaad’ are sacrificed and offered to the goddess.This marks the end of ‘The Namme’.

History

There is a story about the origin about Goddesses Bhadrakali and its temple in KaravaleBadaga.  In the old times, it is believed that Goddess Bhadrakali obtained blessings from ‘Adinarayana’and settled in ‘KaravaleBadaga’ of ‘MadikeriNaad’. The residents of the surrounding villages are known to have faced difficulty for not worshiping the Goddess for many years. The elders of the villagedecided to organize a ‘Deva Prashne’. In this Deva Prashne it came to light that the problems were  result of not worshipping the Goddess. Then the villagers decided to worship the goddess. As Haleri Kingdom was ruling Kodagu during those days, villagers approached the king. The king sanctioned about 1.5 acres of land to build the temple and about 20 acres for the ‘DevadaKaad’.

Villagers constructed a temple and started worshiping the Goddess Bhadrakali, as their village deity. There are numerous stories about the kindness of Goddess Bhadrakali in solving the miseries of devotees and punishment imposed on violators who violated the customs and rituals.