Marikamba Temple, Sirsi - Aslo Called Doddamma Temple

Marikamba Temple, also known as ‘Doddamma’, meaning the ‘senior sister’, this temple is located in the hilly town of Sirsi. As it is the oldest temple for Goddess Kali in Karnataka, it is worshipped as the senior of them all. The story of the evolution of this shrine and her devotee ‘Asadi’ dates back to millions of years. Asadi, also named Basava, used to attend a fair at the neighboring village. One of the years, he was troubled by some people there citing his poor status. This really hurt Basava and so the other year, he did not go to the fair but continued praying from his village Sirsi. One fine night, he saw a dream where the Goddess Kali informed him about her presence in a tank at his village. Basava narrated this dream to the head person and the people gathered at the said tank.

The head man had threatened Basava if his dream turns out to be false then he'll have to face dire consequences. To their surprise, they discovered a box with parts of deity. The different parts of deity were assembled together and since then Sirsi Devi became popular among the region. The temple was constructed in the late 17th century. The Idol of the Goddess is about 7 feet high with different weapons in her eight hands and seated on a lion. The temple has extremely striking murals in ‘Kaavi’ art. It is an art form of the Konkan region of coastal Karnataka. This stunning art involves the creation of patterns done in red colour against a white background. The Goddess is highly revered by the people of North Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and she is the family deity for most of them. At an altitude of 2500 feet above sea level, the region experiences wonderful climate all the time.