Bhringi – The Story of Devotion and Curse

Parangi (The Wanderer), a sage was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva. His Bhakti for the Lord knew no bounds. Every morning he offered prayers to Lord Shiva earnestly at Mount Kailash. He exclusively worshipped Lord Shiva, ignoring goddess Parvathi.  The goddess, who failed to get any attention of any kind from Parangi grew jealous and complained to Lord Shiva. The next day, goddess Parvathi was seen seated on the lap of Lord Shiva by Maharishi Parangi who had then come to offer prayers to the Lord. Parangi was dumbstruck at this situation and using his yogic powers transformed into a snake (some accounts mention this form also as a rat) to circumambulate only the Lord in the gap between him and the goddess, in order to avoid the goddess.

Ardhanareshwara - Badami Cave

Bhringi - Shri Kedareshwara Temple, Nagalapura

 Goddess Parvathi was very hurt at his behavior and complained to Lord Shiva as follows, “When you and I are one, then why should Rishi Parangi ignore me and offer prayers only to you”? The Lord smiled and replied, “His (Parangi’s) behavior should not bother you”. However, to please his beloved, Lord Shiva unites with his goddess to form “Ardhanareshwara” (a composite form of Lord Shiva and Parvathi). On seeing this form of the Lord, Rishi Parangi again used his yogic powers and this time turned into a beetle (some accounts mention this form as a bee) to bore a hole through the navel of Ardhanareshwara and go around Lord Shiva’s half-only, avoiding the goddess again. Thus he gets the name Bhringi, meaning bee/beetle.  Parangi’s devotion only towards Lord Shiva and ignorant attitude towards her added to the goddess’s agony, who was now enraged enough to curse him.  She cursed him to lose the parts of his body received from his mother. According to our Puranic beliefs, the bones and nerves come from the father, and blood and muscles come from the mother. Though this may not be completely true as per genetics, it signifies the importance of both parents equally contributing to their child’s physical characteristics. Due to this curse of goddess Parvathi, Parangi (Bhringi) loses all his muscles and blood and falls down at the feet of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva then blesses his ardent devotee with a third leg to provide support to his body, similar to a tripod.

Monkey Faced Bhringi

Lord Nataraja with Nandi, Shri Veerabhadra Swamy Temple, Gangadevanahalli

 Bhringi is usually seen with folded hands, in full devotion standing beside Lord Ardhanareshwara, which is beautifully depicted at Cave No.2 of Badami. Bhringi is also considered the ‘Dance Master of the Gods ' and is associated with many nritya murtis of Lord Shiva. One such beautiful depiction can be seen at the Natya mandapa of Sri Veerabhadra Swamy temple of Lepakshi.  He is also said to have a monkey’s face, owing to the curse of goddess Parvathi. Bhringi is also classified as a form of Lord Bhairava; the same is depicted on the outer wall of Sri Veerabhadra Swamy temple at Gangadevanahalli. Also, Bhringi is one among the 8 Commanders/Ganas of Lord Shiva, along with Devi, Chandesha, Mahakala, Vrishabha, Nandi, Ganesha, and Murugan. He was also entrusted with the administration of Lord Shiva’s troops. He along with Lord Nandi guard the doors of Lord Shiva’s residence at Kailash. 

Dance Master Bhringi, Lepakshi

Nataraja Panel, Mandapeshwar Caves, Mumbai

Master "Dance Master"  -Bhringi

There are many such beautiful stories of devotion/bhakti.

References:
1. Pratima Kosha - A book 
2. Iconography of Shiva - T A Gopinath Rao  

Related Posts
1. The Great Destroyer - Samharamurtis
2. The Divine beggar - Bhkshatanamurti 
3. Lepakshi Chitra Katha

The Impregnable Fort of Thattakaldurgam – Vanagiridurgam Part 2

After returning to the place from where there was deviation to two routes, we all rested for some time. Meanwhile, we decided to call off the trek. However, I wanted to continue and check on the other forest route, so we could complete the trek next time. While my other partners rested, I followed the forest route and was confused more as every now and then, other routes popped up!  I took an initiative to check every route in order to ascertain the right one and reached a point from where the fort was visible and route was clear! I was sure of completing this trek on our next visit. I decided to go back as I was pretty sure about this being the right route. Somehow, while coming descending I missed a turn and went ahead finally getting down on the opposite side of the place where my partners were resting. I immediately made a call to my wife and informed them to start their descent and reach the starting point of trek.  In the meantime, I walked towards our vehicle. As it was quite long since I made the call and there were no signs of them, I decided to wait for them at the start point of the trek. Time was ticking but they had not yet reached. I got a call from my wife saying there had missed the route and will take some time to reach as they were exploring around for the correct route. As I waited, they finally managed to reach the starting point. Oh yes! It was one hell of an experience and one after a long time of this sort! In a few Weeks times, we had organized a trek cum drive from RTC to Thattakaldurgam. This time we were 8 adults plus 2 kids and were bent upon completing the trek to this hill-fort successfully! We knew beforehand that the trek was definitely going to be of a difficult level and the forest route was surrounded with thorny vegetation. However, we ensured to keep track of the right route this time.We halted for breakfast at our regular hotel in Krishnagiri and also packed some for later as we knew the trek was going to be long. We started the trek around 8am in the morning.  The weather then was perfect to climb, although it turned hot as noon approached. 

Introduction and Discussion about the Previous Trek to this Fort

 After a brief introduction and discussion on the session, we started our trek and reached the point from where we had missed our route during our last visit. Here on, we proceeded in the forest route. As we moved forward, the hill of Periyamalai was visible and looked great. The route to the top is clearly marked from mid-way of the trek. I still wonder why someone would mark the route from mid-way onwards rather than from the start point of the trek. However, our heartfelt thanks go to the person who marked along the route. The trail is tricky as there are numerous routes in between that intersect with the main trail. Hence, keeping order of the track is very important. We took regular breaks for drinking water and keeping ourselves from dehydration. Finally after trekking for almost an hour and a half, we reached the first gateway of Thattakaldurgam!

First Look of The Fort

Notorious Two

Break Time Discussion

In the Jungle

The Young Trekker

This part of the climb was quite tricky and a bit slippery. Here it was! We were entering the impregnable Fort of Thattakaldurgam, which stands tall as a perfect example of Vanagiridurgam (forest hill fort). The feeling was just wow! It is a wonderful fort and worth the climb! It was really good to witness that much of the fortification up here was intact, which would surely give us an idea about the fort architecture that prevailed here. Although not much about the history of this fort is documented and it is very difficult to ascertain who built the fort, the architectural features of this fort can be easily assigned to 15^th-16^th century and in all probability, built by the Vijayanagara Kings or their feudatories. 

Probably the Main Gateway

The Fortress of Thattakal

The First Gateway

The Top most Gateway

 As we entered the gateway, we found another gateway on the left, pretty much built in Vijayanagara style. A little further is a big and beautiful carving of Lord Kote Anjaneya Swamy on the fort wall, carved on the lines of the Fort styles of the Baramahal. Here on, many remnants of various buildings and palaces are scattered across the terrain. There is also a small temple dedicated to Lord Rama. We found a good spot under shade to rest and munch on the food we had carried, after which we spent some time exploring the ruins of the palaces around.  Our descent was quite easy without any issue. Thus another day and another adventure accomplished! However, this trek was definitely a difficult one and one that will always remain closer to our hearts! 

Lord Shri Rama with Sita, Laskhmana and Hanuman

Brick Temple Dedicated to Lord Rama

Kote Veeranjaneya Swamy

Remains of the Mahal/ Palace

Water Storage Structure

The Climb

Thattakaldurgam

At the Peak

The Impregnable Fort of Thattakal

The Gang

Related Posts:
1. Rayakottai fort 
2. Ratnagiri fort
3. Periyamalai Fort

Thattakaldurgam – Vanagiridurgam Part -1

As per records with regards to the Baramahal or the 12 forts built in Krishnagiri district, one of them was the 'Thattakaldurgam' or the 'Thattakal' fort. As not much information was available (including its location), finding this fort was a real challenge.  We finally managed to get some reference to this fort and its location. On a Sunday, we, accompanied by one of our friends headed towards exploring the fort. After enquiring at a few places, we reached the village of Thattakal. The locals informed us that not many visit this fort; and the 2 routes leading to the fort are equally difficult to trek. Now, trekking here with kids was our next challenge and after looking at the massive hill, we felt it was next to impossible! We then tried to find a guide who knew this place well and would take us around the hill. But sadly none agreed. One person even confessed that reaching the hill top was a tedious task for them too and hardly anybody ventures. However, we took the details of the route and decided to explore it on our own.

Thattakaldurgam Fort

Little did we expect that this would turn out to be one hell of a trek! While there are many reasons for why this trek is a difficult one without being accompanied by a guide, the most important is the absence of a proper trail and much of the trek is through thorny shrub vegetation. With whatever information we gathered, we began our trek. Locating the starting point of the trek itself became a major challenge. We finally zeroed in on a point that seemed like the best one to begin. We kept following the track and reached a big boulder, which was one point that the locals had told us to keep in mind as the route from here takes a path from behind this boulder. We did find the trail as informed and following it, we reached the place from where the thorny shrub vegetation began. 

Vanagiridurgam

In Search of the  Hidden Path

The Never Ending Trails

Young Trekker Leading The Way

We took a short break here and after a while, I went in search of any traces of the route hereon. I went ahead and found the presence of two trails. While one was a straight path and led us to the portion of the final stretch of the hill (which was quite steep and this we only realized after climbing it half way), the other went through deep forests. Obviously, we preferred the hill route as visibility was high and the route seemed shorter.  I hurried back to my trek partners to take their suggestion about the route to proceed and finally in unison, we agreed to go by the hill route. Thus began our misadventure, and as we reached another big boulder walking through the thorny vegetation, we realised that a short climb from here would lead us to the fort, although unsure about this being the correct route. However, we started to climb the boulder which was almost a 70-degree inclined slope. It was only after we ascended cautiously half way of this extremely steep portion that we concluded it would be stupid of us to even think of climbing further as the terrain only turned steeper. With two young ones, venturing further was risky. We were five of us in total (three trekking independently plus one carrying the youngest partner) and each one was at different levels of ascent. It was our friend who was ahead and was almost nearing the hill-top. As she climbed, she realised that it was impossible to cross the  further portion in order to reach the fort and all of us would get stuck if we proceeded. We immediately decided to withdraw our trek and slowly started our descent on the steep hill.  We had to be extremely cautious and watch every step as any wrong step could lead to a  mishap. With nobody around except us, it was indeed a wise decision to retreat. Looking back at that portion of the steep hill, it was hard to believe that we had actually even tried climbing it!

The Impregnable Fort of Thattakaldurgam

This post is also our 350th one and we are excited to put forth this adventurous place!

CONTINUED HERE