अन्वासितं हरिहरद्रुहिणैस्सदारैः
जामतृभिस्तनुभवैर्दुहितुस्सुतैश्च |
अग्रोपवेशितजगज्जननीसमाज-
माराधये जननि रूपमनुत्तरं ते ||
Last week, we received an invitation for a Kumbhābhiṣēka for a certain temple in Andhra-dēśa. The person who sent the invitation undoubtedly did it with great respect, devotion, and sincerity. However, as we pondered over the details of the temple, a sense of discomfort rapidly set in. This temple was declared to be fully functioning as per the diktat of the ‘Vedas’. I quite fail to understand what ‘Vedic’ worship in a temple really means (for the worship is based mostly on āgamas), but we can certainly look beyond technicalities and accept the colloquial usage. This temple has Sai Baba (the earlier one) as the chief deity, with śāstā playing his second fiddle. The rest of the deities which include Vēnkaṭēśvara, Lakṣmīnr̥simha, Pañcamukha Liṅga, Gāyatrī, Bhūvarāha, Shaktigaṇapati – form the parivāra of the two main deities. The entire functioning of the temple, we were assured, was based strictly on the śāstras. We wonder which scripture describes the method of construction and consecration for a Sai Baba temple and places every other deity as his parivāra dēvatā according to them a secondary status! We wonder which śāstra details the ‘Vedic’ pūjā procedure for Sai Baba? Shāstā himself is a parivāra-dēvatā for many other primary deities. Except probably in śāstā-centric temples in Chola and Chera countries, Shiva, Shakti, Viṣṇu, Gaṇēśa, etc. are never auxiliary dēvatās to śāstā but only the other way round. There is no pramāṇa from any accepted āgama for such a ‘Sai Baba’ centric consecration.
And the new deity to join this bandwagon caused us the greatest grief – Mahiṣamardinī. The poor lady is depicted as an idol of ten hands (fine) but holding a scissor(!), śaṅkha, chakra, a bowl of gold coins (real gold we are assured), a lotus flower, a globe (!) and so on. How on earth can the statue of Mahiṣamardinī be thus depicted, violating every code of āgama? It seems to be forgotten that certain deities are like fire, they offer warmth but when things go wrong, can burn the house down.
The iconography of Mahiṣamardinī is well discussed in the Tantra. Not only are the āyudhas specifically defined, but their position is also described with precision. Based on kāmanā-bhēda, the weapons are arranged in eight different fashions within the lotus hands of Parāmbā. It should also be noted that every weapon closely corresponds to a bīja of the mūlamantra of the deity and to a mudrā employed during the worship. One cannot place anything one likes in the hands of the deity and in any random fashion. Incidents such as these reaffirm my thought: we do not need any more new pop-culture temples. We have enough ancient and magnificent temples that are in a state of deep neglect. Restore them, repair them, train priests to offer the right worship, and refrain from blasphemy such as the current example in discussion. We pray to the lotus feet of Aṣṭādaśabhujāḍhyā Parāmbā to grant sadbuddhi to one and all and greater patience to us.
दशभुजमयीं दुर्गां दलिताञ्जनसन्निभाम् |
कालिकां परमां वन्दे श्रीकृष्णक्रोडसंस्थिताम् ||
त्रिशूलं च तथा खड्गं चक्रं च वरवर्णिनि |
सव्योपरि त्रिशूलं च तदधः खड्गमुत्तमम् ||
चक्रं च तदधो भद्रे बाणं च तदधः क्रमात् |
तदधश्चञ्चलापाङ्गि सर्वशक्तिसमन्वितम् ||
शक्तिरूपं महास्त्रं च दर्शनात् पापनाशनम् |
हस्तयूथेषु वामेषु शृणु चास्त्रस्य निर्णयम् ||
खेटकमूर्ध्वहस्ते च चापं च तदधः क्रमात् |
अङ्कुशं पाशसंयुक्तं तदधो वरवर्णिनि ||
तदधश्च तथा घण्टां तदधः परशुं शृणु |
प्रतप्तकनकप्रख्यमर्द्दिन्यास्तत्रनिर्णयम् ||
दलिताञ्जनसङ्काशां मर्द्दिन्याः शृणु निर्णयम् |
ऊर्ध्वहस्ते स्थितां शक्तिं तदधो बाणनिर्णयम् ||
तदधः संस्थितं चक्रं खड्गं च तदधः क्रमात् |
सव्योपरिस्थितं नित्यं त्रिशूलं परमाद्भुतम् ||
अधुना शृणु देवेशि सावधानावधारय |
शब्दस्य पाततो घण्टा गन्धाद्यैः परिपूजिता ||
तदधः संस्थितं नित्यं अङ्कुशं उन्मनीमयम् |
तदधः संस्थितं पाशं सिद्धिसूत्रपरिच्छदम् ||
चापं च तदधो देवि तदधः खेटकं परम् |
इति ते कथितं सर्वं जम्बुभारतसम्मतम् ||
विपरीतं यतश्चाग्रं अन्यवर्षस्य सम्मतम् |
कामबीजं त्रिशूलं च खड्गं मायां तथैव च ||
चक्रं कूर्चं महेशानि बाणं वाग्भवमीरितम् |
शक्त्यस्त्रं च श्रियाबीजं वामहस्ते वदामि ते ||
खेटकं मान्मथं बीजं चापमङ्कुशमीरितम् |
अङ्कुशं च तथा पाशं कन्दर्पराजमीरितम् ||
या घण्टा चञ्चलापाङ्गि सिद्धिसूत्रस्वरूपिणी |
नित्या श्रीकमलाबीजरूपिणी सिद्धिदायिनी |
परशुं च तथा देवि माकरध्वजमीरितम् ||
Edit: It has been a few years since we wrote the original article and I am told, the temple has closed down, the priest who consecrated the temple and many people associated with it have now passed. The reason could be mere coincidence, or dēvatāśāpa, or a combination of the two.