Goddess Mariyamma and Mogaveera Samaja

The history of Goddess Shree Maariyamma can be traced back to nearly about 500 years. As per ancient folklore and the sayings of ancestors, a person from the ‘Dulli Gurikara’ family living in the Moghaveera village of ancient Karnataka, had gone to the ghat area on business visit. While returning home, his body started shaking and shivering as if in a trance known as ‘Avesha’ meaning Goddess entering a human body and speaking through him. The ‘Avesha’ soon spread to his family members too. This continued for several days without any respite for him or his family members with the Devi refusing to leave their bodies and releasing them from their agony. The Devi through them kept chanting “I am Goddess Shree Maaridevi. I am ordering you all to perform daily poojas to invoke my blessings and according to the strength of your belief and faith I will grant you the ‘phala’ (fruit).”

After several days of agony, as a last resort all the family members and the villagers held a Meeting. And together they decided to pray to the Goddess and did that saying that since they were poor, they could not be able to perform daily pooja. The Devi accepted their wish and then assured them with a Abhaya Lastha … “I have come here to show you all the way, for earning your livelihood. I will show you a suitable place to make the prathishatapana (temple memorial).”

Consequently all the members of the seven pattanas (villages) of the Moghaveera Samaj held a meeting from Kudroli to Hosabettu. As per the decision taken by all, the Gram Patela of Boloor was made their head and he narrated the proceedings of the meeting and he also suggested a suitable place for construction of temple for the Devi. It was a vacant plot of land. In those days the Pottu Kumbaras used to perform poojas to Lord Eishwara (Shiva) in the nearby katte or gudi (monuments). And thus villagers of Moghaveera Pattanas installed the idol of Goddess Shree Maaridevi and started worshipping the Devi in the adjacent plot next to Eishwara Gudi.

Despite their poverty, all the fishermen parted with one share of their income for the development of the Devi Temple. From then onwards, it became a custom to collect vanthiye (monetary offerings) from the villagers of the pattanas. As proof of their devotion, their money was then utilized to decorate the Goddess with different varieties of gold coins on her neck. All the women, children without any age bar, co-operated in the construction of the Maaridevi Temple, by joining hands in this noble cause. They even carried bricks, stones and other building materials on their heads and walked all the way for one and half kms from Boloor.

From the time immemorial, whenever they faced a scarcity of fishes in the sea or any crisis, all the villagers of the seven paraganas meet at Yogettu and prayed to the Devi for a whole day, and miraculously the very next day they would get a bumper crop of fishes in the seas. To support this belief, they have a lot of evidence too. For instance whenever the sea became wild and rough and they could not venture into it for fishing, they would pray to Goddess Maariamma and miraculously she would bless her devotees and the tidal waves would recede back into the sea and calm down the waters. Even during heavy rains lashing the seas, the fishermen without caring for their lives would jump into the seas with the belief that Goddess Maariamma would protect them by not allowing any accident to occur and thereby protecting the entire Moghaveera Samaja.

Hence from the ancient times to this day, the Moghaveera Samaja has sacrificied everything at the feet of Goddess Maariamma. As proof of this Sridevi Maariamma has ordered the “Dulli” family to participate and perform all the religious ceremonies and rituals of the temple even when they have any “Sutakas” (bad omens). All the religious ceremonies even today are being conducted by the Moghaveeras of the seven pattanas in sequence one after the other, annually.