ஜோகுளாம்பா கோயில் (அலம்பூர்)Jogulamba Temple, Alampur

Sthala Mahātmyam

Jogulamba at Alampur, near the confluence of the Tungabhadra and Krishna at the western gateway to Srisailam, is invoked as 'Alampure Jogulamba', the fifth of the eighteen peethas, where tradition holds the upper teeth of Sati fell. The name derives from 'Yogula Amma', Mother of Yogis, for she grants siddhi in yoga. Her fierce iconography is striking: seated upon a corpse in the cremation-ground posture, with a scorpion, frog and lizard upon her head and hair, she embodies the Ugra (terrible) aspect of the Divine Mother and is a seat of tantric worship. She stands with Bala Brahmeswara Swamy (Shiva), whose shrine is among Alampur's celebrated Nava Brahma temples built by the Badami Chalukyas. The original shrine was destroyed in the 14th-century Bahmani invasions and the deity kept elsewhere for safety; the present temple was reconstructed and reconsecrated in 2005. Chief festivals are Navaratri, when the celestial wedding of Jogulamba and Bala Brahmeswara is performed, and Maha Shivaratri, celebrated with grand Brahmotsavams honouring Shiva as guardian of the peetha.