Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB/SP)
Udupi, Sep 27: A tortoise, which the people believe happens to be vehicle of demigod Koragajja, suddenly appeared at the Koragajja shrine located on the road leading to Budnaru village near MGM College here.
Naveen Patri happens to be the priest of the said shrine. On Tuesday night, he had briefly gone away. He returned to perform the puja rituals at the shrine for the night. When he began preparations for the puja, he saw a tortoise near the idol of Koragajja and was taken aback by this occurrence.
The shrine is located at the centre of the city which is not a natural habitat for tortoises. He guessed that the tortoise might have crawled from somewhere, having lost its way. He put the tortoise in a bucket before performing the puja and going to bed. In the morning, he got up as usual and was surprised to see that the tortoise had again moved to a spot under the idol.
Tortoises usually never get stranded at a spot. They keep moving albeit slowly. But this particular tortoise seems to be having affinity towards Koragajja idol, and it has not been moving from its position under the idol. Even the devotees who visited the shrine to pay obeisance to Koragajja were dumbfounded by the sight.
As the devotees believe that Koragajja uses tortoise as his vehicle, many devotees have been rushing to the shrine to look at the strange phenomenon. Another curious feature of the appearance of the tortoise is that it has been keenly and continuously glaring at the colour picture of Koragajja.
This particular shrine is also the seat of Goddess Mookambika and other family deities. This place had witnessed miracles even in the past.
Priest of the shrine Naveen Patri, believes that this is a signal from Koragajja that his blessings and protection are with the people here. Koragajja Kola, which is annually held at this shrine is scheduled for October 5 this year. The people believe that appearance of Koragajja's vehicle just before the Kola is a good omen. During Navaratri, a number of services are offered at this shrine. The locals are amazed at the appearance of the tortoise at a dry place which is not near any water bodies like ponds, rivers, rivulets, or streams.
Patri explains that a couple of years back, a cobra had made an appearance when puja wa being performed, which had also surprised the people. He believes that the cobra's appearance was meant to caution the people that something that is traditionally believed to be unholy or impure has happened there. Thereafter, purification rituals would have to be performed.
This shrine was established over a decade ago. Miracles have happened here now and then. This particular priest has been serving Koragajja since the last two decades, even before the current shrine was built.