Durgaparameshwari Temple, Kateel

01Bhramari and the river Nandini

The kshetra’s katha begins with a drought. Maharshi Jabali, sent to bring Kamadhenu to save the land, was given her daughter Nandini instead; when she refused to come to earth, he cursed her to flow as a river, and the Devi promised to be born in her midst. Later the asura Arunasura, who had won a boon against every two-legged and four-legged being, troubled the Devas. The Devi took the form of a swarm of bees, Bhramari, and stung him to death, since bees are six-legged. She then rose from the rock in the middle of the Nandini: kati-ila, the centre of the earth, which became Kateel.

02Yakshagana of Kateel

Kateel is the home of the Kateel Mela, the temple’s Yakshagana troupes, which tour coastal Karnataka from Deepavali to the onset of the monsoon, performing all-night plays from the Puranas as a seva offered by devotees. Families book a performance years in advance in fulfilment of a vow. The Devi is offered jasmine and tender coconut, and the temple’s annual festival falls in Mesha (April).