Kalika Devi Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

dedicated to

Shaktism Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, mani ...

History

The place name is mentioned as ''Rishishringapura'', ''Pirishingi'', or ''Hirishingi'' in two records from the same place dated 1148 of Jagadekamalla and another dated 1186 of Someshwara IV. It was a noted commercial center. As per the studies conducted by the department of archaeology, the temple of Shri Kalika Devi in Sirsangi might have been constructed during the first century. Sirsangi is a place which is prominent in Karnataka and this is due to the monuments and temples in and around this small village. Earlier this place was known as Pirising but later, during the Medieval era, the name was changed as Hirisingi.

Mythology

The temple of Shri Kalika Devi in Sirsangi is of mythological significance as its name is mentioned in many Hindu mythologies. One such myth mentions that a saint by the name of Vrushya Shrunga was involved in penance in Vrushya Shrunga Tapovan, which is currently the place where the temple of Shri Kalika Devi is present. However, demons like Narundasur (Naragunda), Bettasura (Betasur) and Nalundasur (Navalagund) disturbed his meditation. Then the goddesses Chikkumbasura (Chikkumbi) and Hirekumbasura (Hirekumbi) killed these demons heeding the pleas of the ascetic Vrushya Shrunga. The goddesses later settled down here and hence the temple of Shri Kalika Devi was erected in Shirasangi.

Geography

There are two small

hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007 ...

s at the outskirts of the village, one having a cave locally called Maunappanagavi and the hillock is called Kalluru Gudda ("kallu" in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

language ಕಲ್ಲು means stone, Ooru ಊರು means town) . Inside the cave is a hill which can accommodate about 200 people; after this is a six-meter-long passage leading to a small pit having water. Another hillock near Kalika temple has a cave locally called Siddeshwaragavi, approachable by climbing nearly 200 steps and inside the cave there is a Shivalinga.

Worship

Depending upon devotees' pledges, they put

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

, wheat, coconuts, rice, edible oil, etc. equivalent to their weight in Tulaa Bhara Seva. Anna Dasoha seva is also a part of worship.

Temple activities

Many devotees, to complete their vows and pledges on their behalf or on behalf of their family members and also to follow traditional vows.

Festivals

Ugadi

Ugadi () or (), also known as Samvatsarādi (), is the first day of the year on the Hindu calendar that is traditionally celebrated by the Telugu people and the Kannadigas in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Na ...

is one of the major festivals celebrated by Vishwakarmas of this region. The Vishwakarma Samaj Vikas Samsthe organizes religious and cultural programmes on the

Amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conj ...

(Dark-moon Day). Devotees offer wheat grown in their fields to the goddess. The famous "Butti" ritual is performed during the early hours of the Padyami.

Halegodi Amavasya

Halegodi Amavasya is celebrated next to Ugadi Amavasya.

Vishwakarma Mahotsava

This is grandly celebrated on Chatti Amavasya every year. k

Transportation

Road

The Kalika Devi temple at Sirsangi is 62 km from Dharwad and is on the Dharwad–Bijapur route. It is around 2 km from the bus stand at Sirsangi.

Air

The nearest airport is Belgaum which is around 100 km and Hubli around 72 km from Shri Kalika Devi Temple at Sirsangi.

Rail

The nearest railway stations is located at Hubli and Belgaum. There are daily trains which connect other spots in Karnataka.

References

{{Hindu temples in Karnataka Hindu temples in Belagavi district Devi temples in Karnataka