HYPAETHRAL TEMPLES
An 1,100-year-old priceless sculpture has returned to India, years after it
was stolen from an ancient temple in Uttar Pradesh and was smuggled to
France. The exquisite 10th-century stone sculpture of “Vrishanana Yogini”
was stolen from an unprotected ancient temple at the Lokhari village in the
Banda district of UP, and found its way to France. It has now come back to
be a prized possession of the National Museum in Delhi, thanks to the
family of late French art collector Robert Schrimpf, who had acquired it
after it reached France.
The Yogini temples of India are 9th- to 12th-century roofless
hypaethral shrines
to the yoginis, female masters of yoga in Hindu tantra, broadly equated
with goddesses especially Parvati, incarnating the sacred feminine force.
They remained largely unknown and unstudied by scholars until late in the
20th century. Several of the shrines have niches for 64 yoginis, so are
called Chausath Yogini Temples (Chausath Yogini Mandir, from चौसठ, Hindi
for 64, also written Chaunsath or Chausathi); others have 42 or 81 niches,
implying different sets of goddesses, though they too are often called
Chausath yogini temples. Even when there are 64 yoginis, these are not
always the same. The extant temples are either circular or rectangular in
plan; they are scattered over central and northern India in the states of
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha. Lost temples, their locations
identified from surviving yogini images, are still more widely distributed
across the subcontinent, from Delhi in the north and the border of
Rajasthan in the west to Greater Bengal in the east and Tamil Nadu in the
south.
A kapala, a cup carved from a human skull, used in tantra, including
by yoginis. From around the 10th century, Yoginis appear in groups, often
of 64. They appear as goddesses, but human female adepts of tantra can
emulate "and even embody" these deities, who can appear as mortal women,
creating an ambiguous and blurred boundary between the human and the
divine. Yoginis, divine or human, belong to clans; in Shaiva, among the
most important are the clans of the 8 Mothers (matris or matrikas). Yoginis
are often theriomorphic, having the forms of animals, represented in
statuary as female figures with animal heads. Yoginis are associated with
"actual shapeshifting" into female animals, and the ability to transform
other people. They are linked with the Bhairava cult, often carrying skulls
and other tantric symbols, and practicing in cremation grounds and other
liminal places. They are powerful, impure, and dangerous. They both protect
and disseminate esoteric tantric knowledge. They have siddhis,
extraordinary powers, including the power of flight; many yoginis have the
form of birds or have a bird as their vahana or animal vehicle. In later
Tantric Buddhism, dakini, a female spirit able to fly, is often used
synonymously with yogini .The scholar Shaman Hatley writes that the
archetypal yogini is "the autonomous Sky-traveler (khecari)", and that this
power is the "ultimate attainment for the siddhi-seeking practitioner".
A Shaiva cult of yoginis flourished roughly between 700 and 1200.
It is documented in the Brahmayamala-tantra scripture Non-yoginis consulted
yoginis in "visionary, transactional encounters". The cult led to the
building of stone temples from the 10th to perhaps the 13th centuries,
across the Indian subcontinent. India's major extant shrines of the 64
Yoginis (Chausathi Jogan) are in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Alexander
Cunningham visited and described them in the 19th century for the
Archaeological Survey of India, and they were then largely forgotten. In
1986, Vidya Dehejia recorded that the shrines were "remote and difficult of
access", scarcely explored for a hundred years, and frequented by dacoits,
gangs of robbers, who used the temples as places of refuge unknown to the
authorities. The well-preserved Chausathi Yogini Temple at Hirapur was only
rediscovered in 1953, despite its proximity to the Bhubaneshwar temple
site, something Dehejia describes as "quite amazing". The Yogini shrines
are usually circular enclosures, and they are hypaethral, open to the sky,
unlike most Indian temples. Inside the circular wall are niches, most often
64, containing statues of female figures, the yoginis. Their bodies are
described as beautiful, but their heads are often those of animals Yogini
temples normally stood somewhat outside the main group of temples, and at
the highest point of the site. Chapter 9 of the Kaulajnana Nimaya,
attributed to the 10th-century sage Matsyendranath, describes a system of 8
chakras represented as eight-petalled lotus flowers, the total of 64 petals
denoting the 64 yoginis.
Activities included Prana Pratishtha, the ritual consecration of
images, such as of yoginis. Present-day rituals of this type can last three
days, with a team of priests, involving ritual purification, an eye-opening
ceremony, worship (yogini puja), invocation of protectors, and the
preparation of a yantra diagram containing a yogini mandala and an array of
areca nuts for the 64 goddesses. The earliest yogini practices were
kapalika mortuary rites. The Kashikhanda section of the Skanda purana,
which narrates the myth of the arrival in disguise of the 64 yoginis in
Varanasi, states that worship can be simple, since the yoginis only need
daily gifts of fruit, incense, and light. It prescribes a major ritual for
the autumn, with fire libations, recitation of the names of the yoginis,
and ritual offerings, while all residents of Varanasi should visit the
temple in springtime at the festival of Holi to respect the goddesses.
64-yogini shrines
Hirapur
The small 9th-century yogini temple at Hirapur, only 25 feet in diameter,
is in Khurda district, Odisha, 10 miles south of Bhubaneshwar. 60 of the
yoginis are arranged in a circle around a small rectangular shrine that may
have contained a Shiva image.
Khajuraho
The 9th- or 10th-century yogini temple at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, lies
to the southwest of the western group of temples in Khajuraho, near
Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur District, and is the oldest temple on the site. It
is rectangular, unlike the other yogini temples, but like them is
hypaethral.[35][36] There is no sign of a central shrine; the central
deity, whether that was Shiva or the Goddess, was apparently housed in the
niche, larger than the rest, opposite the entrance.Khajuraho's Yogini
temple is unusual in being rectangular.Mitaoli, Morena
Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli
The well-preserved 11th-century yogini temple at Mitaoli (also spelt
Mitavali and Mitawali) in Morena district, Madhya Pradesh, 30 miles north
of Gwalior, also called Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple, has a central mandapa
sacred to Shiva in an open circular courtyard with 65 niches. The niches
are now all filled with statues of Shiva, but they once held statues of 64
yoginis and a deity.
81-yogini shrine Bhedaghat, Jabalpur
The 10th-century Yogini temple in Bhedaghat (also written Bheraghat), near
Jabalpur in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh, is a shrine to 81 yoginis.
It is the largest of the circular yogini temples, some 125 feet in diameter
42-yogini shrines Dudahi
The temple at Dudahi, locally named Akhada, near Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh,
now in ruins, had a circular plan with niches for 42 yoginis. The circle is
50 feet in diameter
Badoh Gadarmal temple of the Mothers, Badoh, Uttar Pradesh, has 42
niches for yoginis.
Lokhari There appears to have been an early 10th-century yogini
temple on a hilltop at Lokhari, Banda District, Uttar Pradesh. A set of
twenty images, nearly all theriomorphic, the figures having the heads of
animals such as horse, cow, rabbit, snake, buffalo, goat, bear, and deer,
has been recorded. Dehejia describes these as striking rather than
specially artistic.
Nareshwar Another set of twenty 10th-century images, with careless
later inscriptions from the 12th century, was rescued from Nareshwar (also
called Naleshvar and Naresar) in Madhya Pradesh, a site which still has
some twenty small Shaivite temples, to the Gwalior Museum, some fifteen
miles away.
Hinglajgarh The site of Hinglajgarh, on the border of Madhya
Pradesh and Rajasthan, was cleared of statuary for the building of the
Gandhi Sagar Dam. The rescued statues contain enough fragments of yogini
images for Dehejia to state that there was once a yogini temple at
Hinglajgarh.
Kanchipuram or Kaveripakkam
yogini images of the Chola period, around 900 CE, recovered from northern
Tamil Nadu. These include one now in the British Museum, others in the
Madras Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the
Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Royal Ontario Museum. The British Museum
yogini is ascribed to Kanchipuram; the collection site is not known, but
many sculptures of the same style were recovered from a large "tank"
(artificial lake) at Kaveripakkam, seemingly derived from nearby temples.
The image formed part of a large set of yoginis
Varanasi Texts from the 12th century CE,
including the Varanasimahatmya of the Bhairavapradurbhava, suggest that
there was a circular hypaethral yogini temple in Varanasi (also called
Benares and Kashi) in the 11th century. Several yogini-related sites have
been identified in the city. Just above the Chaumsathi Ghat cremation
ground is Chaumsathi Devi temple; it is not mentioned in the scriptures,
but is where modern-day devotees gather, especially at the Holi Spring
festival, as prescribed in the Kashikhanda.
Delhi Legend has it that a yogini temple was built in the
south Delhi district of Mehrauli; tradition places this as the Yogmaya
Temple there, without reliable evidence. The region outside the imperial
city of Indraprastha, described in the Mahabharata, was called Yoginipura,
the yogini city. Indraprastha has been identified with Delhi.
Padma Kaimal has written a travel book about the processes by which the
yogini statues have been turned from religious images to artworks to be
looted, smuggled, purchased, and collected in the western world.
K Rajaram IRS 23425
On Wed, 23 Apr 2025 at 08:12, venkat raman <venkatp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Namasthe. Idols; there are katusarkkara yogam, stone, metal, wooden[
> daru], stucco, mud , autochthonous[ swayamboo].No abhishekam is done on the
> katusarkkara, mud, wooden, stucco idols. To preserve the wooden one
> chaanthaattam is performed every year. Autochthanous deities have
> hypaethral shrines[ no roof].
> In Moolasthanam the shrines are roofless[ hypaethral]. Angadippuram Devi
> temple is an example. Also Oottukulangara Devi temple at Peruvamba[
> Palakkad].
>
> Venkataraman
>
> On Tue, 22 Apr 2025 at 12:45, 'gopala krishnan' via Thatha_Patty <
> thatha_patty@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
>> *MALAYALAPPUZHA DEVI TEMPLE,*
>>
>> * PATHANAMTHITTA DISTRICT, KERALA*
>>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>> Today my posting is about the famous Malayalappuzha Devi Temple, which is
>> a Bhadrakali temple situated at Malayalappuzha in Pathanamthitta in Kerala,
>> India.
>>
>> It is believed that the temple was built more than 1000 years ago. The
>> temple is about 10 KM from Pathanamthitta. Nearest Railway station is
>> Chengannur. Temple is on a small hill. Steps are there to reach the
>> temple. The temple is close to my native Pandalam. My latest visit was when
>> a Mahayanjam conducted in the temple about 10 years ago.
>>
>> Hope a divine reading.
>>
>> Gopalakrishnan 22-4-2025.
>>
>> LEGEND
>>
>> Once upon a time, two revered members of the Namboothiri caste from
>> northern Travancore—belonging to the Aikireth Illam and Eravimangalath
>> Illam —undertook a sacred pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Mookambika. With
>> them, they carried an idol of Bhadrakali, to whom they devoted themselves
>> in deep and prolonged meditation.
>>
>> Moved by their unwavering devotion, Goddess Bhadrakali bestowed upon them
>> a divine oracle, *proclaiming that her perpetual presence would dwell
>> within the idol they bore*. Empowered by this divine revelation, the two
>> Namboothiris resumed their pilgrimage, bearing the sacred idol with
>> reverence.
>>
>> After a few years of travel with the idol to find where to consecrate the
>> idol, the Goddess again manifested before them—this time to guide them
>> to their final destination. She revealed that Malayalappuzha was the
>> most auspicious land to enshrine her divine form. Obedient to her
>> command, the Namboothiris continued their journey to Malayalappuzha and
>> consecrated the idol, establishing what would become a powerful and revered
>> temple of Bhadrakali.
>>
>> To this day, the descendants of the Aikireth Illam and Eravimangalath
>> Illam faithfully perform the daily rituals and poojas, preserving the
>> sacred legacy passed down through generations, and continuing to serve the
>> divine.
>>
>> There is modification of the legend that the original installation was on
>> a place below Edathattil hill , in the planes and a magician from
>> Malayalappuzha transferred the power to his locality in a new idol by him
>> and installed there.
>>
>> Even today there is worship in the original temple of the Goddess and lot
>> of devotees gather there on the first of every Malayalam month.
>>
>> Architecture
>>
>> The temple, believed to be over 1,000 years old, features a medium-sized
>> structure with a majestic gopuram at the eastern entrance.
>>
>> The architectural layout includes a small Namaskara Mandapa, a
>> chuttambalam (enclosure), and a Balikkalpura (sacrificial altar). The inner
>> sanctum, which is rectangular, houses a mukhamandapam (entrance porch),
>> adding to the temple's spiritual ambiance. Malayalapuzha Devi Temple
>> features beautiful wall paintings and artistic stone carvings.
>>
>> Deities
>>
>> Main deity
>>
>> In the temple, Bhadrakali is seen in a ferocious form soon after the
>> killing of the demon, Darika. The main idol is *5.5 feet high,* made
>> from *katu sarkara yogam.* In addition to this idol, two other idols are
>> also erected inside the sanctum sanctorum; one used for abhisheka and the
>> other for sreebali, a daily ritual.
>>
>> 'Katu Sarkara Yogam'- This intricate technique involves combining several
>> materials like different types of wood, clay, Ayurvedic herbs, milk, ghee,
>> jaggery, turmeric, sandalwood, camphor, gold, silver, sand, and natural
>> glue, all symbolizing various aspects of the human body. This idol is
>> consecrated through a Tantric ritual called Prana Prathishta, which imbues
>> it with life and energy.
>>
>> Sub deities
>>
>> The temple features a unique statue of Goddess Parvati feeding baby
>> Ganapathy on her lap. An idol of Veera Bhadra can be seen on the entry
>> to the sanctum. Other sub deities in the temple are *Brahma Rakshas,
>> Nagaraja and a swayambu Shiva Linga.*
>>
>> Poojas
>>
>> 5:00 AM: Nirmalyam 6:00 AM: Usha Pooja
>>
>> 6:20 AM: Ethruthu Pooja 8:20 AM: Pantheeradi Pooja
>>
>> 11:00 AM: Kalasha Pooja 11:30 AM: Ucha Pooja
>>
>> 6:30 PM: Deeparadhana 7:20 PM: Athazha Pooja
>>
>> Festivals
>>
>> The annual festival is celebrated for 11 days. The festival starts on the
>> Thiruvathira nakshtra in the Kumba masam (February – March). Kathakali is
>> conducted on the fourth and fifth day.
>>
>> Malayalapuzha Devi Temple is a hub of vibrant festivities. Significant
>> events like Vinayaka Chathurthi, Navarathri, and Sivarathri are
>> celebrated with great pomp. The temple's annual festival commences on the
>> day of the star Thiruvathira in Kumbham (February–March) and includes
>> the Aarattu ritual on the eleventh day, involving the ceremonial dipping of
>> the deity in a temple tank or river. Tuesdays and Fridays, traditional
>> days of worship in Devi temples, witness a surge of devotees.
>>
>> The annual festival at the temple falls on the day of the star sign
>> Thiruvathira in Kumbham (February–March) as per the lunisolar Hindu
>> calendar. The aarattu falls on the eleventh day, the last day of the
>> festival, when the deity is taken out in a grand procession for a
>> ritualistic bathing ceremony.
>>
>> Thiruvonam on chingam, Ayilya Pooja On Kanni, Navarathri, Vrichika
>> Chirappu, Makara Samkramam, Pongala and Ulsavam On kumbham, Vishu On Medam,
>> Niraputhari On Karkidakam are other festival days.
>>
>> WORSHIPING
>>
>> Malayalapuzha Devi is believed to grant boons for extending prosperity to
>> all the devotees. The goddess is worshiped for protecting the devotee from
>> enemies, getting the unmarried girls married, obtaining job for the
>> unemployed, and helping businesses flourish. This popular belief and faith
>> makes the temple visited by devotees from far locations. *The devi is
>> also known as Goddess Idathattil Bhagwathi*
>>
>> Devotees visit the temple for
>>
>> For recovering stolen goods people offer Thoniyari Payasam (Payasam made
>> of 36 ¼ para (Para is approximately 14 kg) of rice
>>
>> People believe that offer of Payasam made of with 101 Nazhi(120 ml) of
>> rice, coconut milk , jaggery and 101 banana fruits offered to the goddess
>> leads to fulfilment of our desires and success in business.
>>
>> Ladies offer Manjadi seeds (Adenanthera pavonina Linn.) to the Goddess
>> for increase of breast milk. This same seed , after taking it round
>> their head hair is offered by ladies near the flag post for luxurious
>> hair growth.
>>
>> Offer of arecanut , betel leaves , tobacco and camphor to the Goddess at
>> the sanctum is believe help us fulfil our desires.
>>
>> The sacred ash that you get back from the temple after this offer should
>> be kept in the prayer room. People believe that within a year their desires
>> would be fulfilled.
>>
>> *People believe that when we make requests to the Goddess , if a honey
>> bee from outside enters the Sanctum sanctorum and returns back in our
>> presence then our desire would definitely be fulfilled.*
>>
>> A peculiar belief
>>
>> There is another very peculiar belief in the temple. It is believed that the
>> soul of the devotees of the Goddess , after death comes and stays in the
>> temple. So their sons/daughters come to the temple along with a piece of
>> sandalwood packed in a red silk, make the soul enter that and take it out .
>> This is called Chavirakkal (removal of death)
>>
>> Farmers pray that they will give a part of the harvest of their field and
>> take a cloth from the temple, write on it that the produce belongs to the
>> Goddess. People believe that if this is done then theft of the produce from
>> their field is prevented . This is called “Malayalappuzha Thoopu”
>>
>> People also worship the Brahma Rakshas which is on the east of the temple
>> for getting rid of ghosts , devils and evil magic affecting them. Offering
>> of Mangalya to the Goddess to get married quickly is also done.
>>
>> Peculiar Konna tree
>>
>> Just outside the temple The Naga Raja also is consecrated. Near it is an
>> Konna tree which flowers daily all the year long. Below it a Shiva Linga
>> which Is Swayambu is there . People believe that this Shiva linga keeps
>> on growing. People believe that if this Shiva linga is bathed with tender
>> coconut water, immediate rain will result.
>>
>> Unlike other Bhagwathi temples , there is no practice (asked to be
>> discontinued by the Goddess ) of drawing her figure using rice powder,
>> turmeric , saffron etc. but the usual singing of her story is done there
>> without it.
>>
>> Another peculiar custom of the temple is *that the procession carrying
>> the deity turns left (ie clockwise) and because of this people called this
>> Goddess Idathattil Bhagwathi( Bhagawathi of the left).*
>>
>> Visiting Hours
>>
>> The temple is open for darshan from 5 AM to 1 PM and in the evening 5 PM
>> to 8 PM.
>>
>> Visitor Information
>>
>> The best time to visit Malayalapuzha Bhagavathy Temple is from October to
>> March, when the weather is cool and pleasant, making it ideal for temple
>> visits and sightseeing. The festival season, particularly during
>> Malayalapuzha Pooram, is also a great time to experience the cultural
>> vibrancy of the temple.
>>
>> How to Reach
>>
>> Chengannur Railway Station, around 33 km, is the nearest major station
>> for those coming in train. Trivandrum International Airport is the nearest
>> air terminal around 107 km away. *Pathanamthitta KSRTC Bus Stand, about
>> 9 km away*
>>
>> Address:
>>
>> Kumbazha - Malayalapuzha Rd, Malayalapuzha - Mannarakulanji Rd,
>> Malayalapuzha- Kerala 689666 Phone: 0471 232 1132
>>
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