Kollur Mookambika Temple

Mookambika Devi temple of Kollur is one of the most prominent shrines for the people of Karnataka and Kerala. It lies on the Kodachadri hill range and is located on the banks of the river Souparnika in Byndoor taluk of Udupi district. This is one of the seven temples created by Lord Parashurama. Since Kola Maharshi had meditated in the place, this was named as Kolapura. Today, it is known as Kollur. The mukambika field is unique because it is a form of Mahalaxmi, Mahasaraswati and Mahakali powers.

A demon, Kaumasura obtained special powers from Lord Shiva and undertakes a severe penance to get a boon from Lord Shiva that he should not get death from any living being. God and goddess prayed to Vagdevi(Goddess of speech) not to grant his wish. When Lord Shiva appeared before Kaumasura and asked for a boon, Vagdevi makes him dumb. Thus, Kaumasura became Mookasura (Mooka means dumb). Bringing together the individual powers of all the gods, Devi killed Mookasura using her chakra. The place where Devi killed Mookasura is known as "Marana Katte". Devi has resided at this holy place Kollur with the name Mookambika, fulfilling all the wishes of her devotees.

The main deity in the temple is the Jyotirlinga (Shiva idol), in front of the idol of the Goddess Mookambika. We can see the retinue deities like Subrahmanya, Dashabhuja Ganapathi, Anjaneya, Chandramouleeswara, and Gopalakrishna. Most of the pilgrims from distant places like Kerala, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra etc., visits Mookambika temple. 

Adi Shankara, a spiritual leader worshipped the goddess Saraswati. When the goddess appeared in front of him, he asked her to come with him to Kerala as there were no temples to her. Goddess agreed to come along with him on one condition that Shankara must lead the way for her to follow without looking back. The moment he fails to keep this condition, the goddess will stop and remain exactly where she would be at that time. Shankara agreed on the conditions and started the journey. He saw back when the anklet tinkling stopped all sudden. Goddess stopped in the place, Shankara apologized, and the goddess agreed to be present at Chottanikkara temple (in Kerala) in the morning.