Mopidevi is a mandal headquarters in Krishna District in Adhra Pradesh. Mopidevi is famous for the Subramanya Swamy temple where the deity is in the form of a Shiva Lingam. Bhagwan here is Swayambhu (self-manifested).
Itihasa
According to ancient text Skandapurana, the mighty Vindhya Mountain, which lies between North and South Bharat, started growing towards the sky. It almost reached the Sun, and the world became dark. The entire universe with living beings, flora, and fauna, suffered due to the darkness. The Devas prayed to Sage Agasthya, who was in Varanasi at the time of this crisis. Sage Agasthya agreed to resolve this crisis and he travelled towards South Bharat.
Once the Vindhya Mountain realized the sage had arrived, it reduced to its original size and made way for the great sage, who advised the Vindhya Mountain to continue to remain in its original size until he returned back. But thereafter Sage Agasthya chose to settle in South Bharat. Mount Vindhya waited a long time for the sage, but he never returned and therefore the Vindhya Mountain has remained in the same size.
Sage Agasthya while passing through the southern region along with his disciples, he reached a place where there were many tigers (Vyaghrapuri). The sage told his disciples that if one goes further in the eastern direction from there one would find the place where there will be a Subramanya temple.
“Vyaghrasya poorva digbhage
Kumara kshetramuttamam
Subrahmanyena satyatra
Bhukti mukti phalapradam”
The disciples follow the directions of their guru Sage Agasthya and reach a place where there are lot of anthills. Sage Agasthya then shows them one anthill that radiates with divinity and tells his disciples that Bhagwan Kartikeya is doing penance in the form of a serpent in that anthill. The disciples get surprised and seek detailed information on this from Sage Agasthya. Sage Agasthya then narrates the following legend to his disciples.
According to legend, four Deva Rishis (sages) Sanaka, Sanakasa, Sanatkumara, and Sanatsujata were immortal and always appeared as little children of five years of age. The Deva Rishis had immense knowledge and devotion, were unaware of the world around them and were naked like small kids who never wore clothes. One day, they visited Kailasa, the abode of Shiva, to worship him. Sachi Devi, Swaha Devi, Devi Saraswathi, and Devi Lakshmi were also present on that occasion.
The child Kumaraswamy (Kartikeya) was seated on the lap of his mother Devi Parvati, and upon seeing the contrast between the fully clad Goddesses and the naked Deva Rishis, he was bewildered and he started giggling. His mother Devi Parvati reprimanded him for his behaviour. Kumaraswamy realized his folly and to get rid of the sin he committed, decided to do penance for many years, disguised in the form of a snake. Rishi Agasthya thus tells his disciples the reason behind Kumaraswamy doing penance in the form of a serpent in that anthill. The site where Kumraswamy did penance later came to be known as Mopidevi.
It is believed that Bhagwan Subramanya appeared in the dreams of an ardent devotee Veeravarapu Parvathalu, a pot maker and revealed his whereabouts (around 200 years ago). Parvathalu with the help of other villagers unearthed the self-manifested murti of Bhagwan Subramanya which was in the form of Shiv Ling from the anthill. Parvathalu constructed the murtis of Nandi, Garuda, and the Cock in clay and baked those murtis in furnace so that the clay murtis became hard.
Sri Subramanya Swamy is the principal deity for the royal family of Challapalli, which manages the temple at present. There is another temple located beside the Mopidevi Temple, Sri Sakaleswara Swamy temple, which has a Swayambhu (self-manifested) Shiva Ling. People discovered the Lingam when floods washed the Mopidevi village in 1783 A.D. Adusumilli Gangubhotlu, the landlord of the region, later constructed the temple in 1785. The Sri Sakaleswara Swamy temple is presently under the management of Adusumilli family.
Poojas
Devotees perform poojas at Mopidevi temple that include the Sarpa Dosha Nivarana Pooja, Rahu Ketu Dosha Pooja, and Anapathya Dosha Pooja for curing specific health issues related to vision, ear infections and skin- related diseases.
Many devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other South Bharatiya States, visit Mopidevi temple on auspicious days like Magha Shasti, Ashada Shukla Panchami, Naga Panchami, Subrahmanya Sashti and Nagula Chavithi.
How to reach Mopidevi temple?
By Road: APSRTC Busses are available from Vijayawada (75 km). From Machilipatnam it is 30 km to Mopidevi Temple.
By Rail: Repalle Station is the nearest Railway station (12 KM). Machilipatnam and Guntur (76 KM) are the other nearest railway stations.
By Air:
Nearest Airports to Mopidevi are: Vijayawada Airport 64 KM, Tadepalligudem Airport 142 KM, and Rajahmundry Airport 192 KM.
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