Renuka Yellamma Temple, Saundatti

01Renuka of Yellammagudda

The Mahabharata and the Puranas tell of Renuka, wife of Maharshi Jamadagni and mother of Parashurama, whom her son beheaded at his father’s command and whom Jamadagni restored to life at Parashurama’s plea. The hill above Saundatti, once called Siddhachal and now Yellammagudda, is held to be where Renuka lived. Yellamma, the mother of all, is her popular name across north Karnataka and Maharashtra. The present temple, in the Chalukya-Rashtrakuta manner of the region, is said to have been built in 1514 by Bomappa Nayaka; shrines of Jamadagni, Parashurama, Ganesh and Mallikarjuna stand nearby on the hill.

02Fairs and the end of an old custom

On the full moons of Margashirsha and Magha, Bharata Hunnime and Banada Hunnime, lakhs of pilgrims climb the hill, many in bullock carts as their grandparents did, and the walls of the temple turn yellow from the turmeric thrown at the Devi. For centuries girls were also dedicated to Yellamma as devadasis, a custom that left many in poverty and exploitation. The Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982 made the practice a crime, and the temple and state have since worked to end it.

The life of this place