Pilgrims of Poorna (photos)
June, 2019
The pilgrims of Poorna would walk hundreds of kilometres — mothers with their infants, older men, women and children in unusual makeshift conveyance. Some walk with an idol, many barefoot, a few with a symbol of the goddess and many performing Surya namaskara all the way to the temple which ends with 7 km mountain hike. All this in the blistering heat of the Indian summer with temperatures soaring higher than 45°C /113°F.
The pilgrims are usually farmers who after harvest travel to the temple to thank the goddess for her blessing. Some, come with a wish for a child — a few, to thank her for blessing a child — some for Bhakti and some for health.
According to Shiva Purana, Daksha Prajapati’s daughter Parvati (Sati) was married to Shiva. Once a Yajna was organised by Daksha Prajapati in which all deities were invited except Shiva to insult him. Shiva, a yogi and prefers to live in solitude — in meditation, didn’t care much about worldly attachment or superficiality of life. Daksha couldn’t understand and chose to dislike him. Sati couldn’t bear the insult done to her husband and sacrificed her body in Yajna Mandap.
When Shiva discovered, he began to perform tandav in the sky with the burnt body of Sati. Vishnu with his chakra separated the body into 64 pieces of Sati with the view to calm him down. Wherever the Sati’s body fell, a Shakti pind was established. Due to the navel limb of Sati descending on this mountain, worship of goddess Nabhi (Navel) is worshipped. This Shakti pind is called mother Poorna or Poorna Giri (Poorna Mountain).
Shakti Pind translates to energy points or energy mass.
It is said — if you meditate, pray or have a focused thought around these energy points, the power of such is a hundred folds, and there are 64 such energy points all over Bharat.