We were on our way to Bhilai from Amarkantak when a small
temple and huge statues adjacent to it attracted our attention. We stopped and admired the huge statue of dancing Shiva and other statues.
Deciding to pay obeisance at the temple, we bought a thali with flowers, coconut, scentstick and
camphor and offered it at the sanctum sanctorum. The pujari gave back prasad tied in a plastic bag. I could feel half coconut with a good amount of husk
inside the plastic bag.
Usually we use a knife to take out coconut pulp. We were
going to stay in a hotel in Bhilai, where this procedure would have been difficult.
I prayed that somehow the coconut pulp is in pieces and we could eat it there
and then. I gave Reiki also to this effect and then opened the plastic bag.
And there they were! The shell inside the husk was broken
into many pieces and the pulp was also in small pieces which we could easily
munch on. In my whole life it has never happened like this before. Every time either a knife
or coconut scraper was needed to take out the pulp. The moment I discarded the
coconut shell it struck me that I should have taken a photograph of that. So I decided to make a drawing to show you what I found on opening the plastic bag:
Later I searched for the information
on the temple. It was Kaal Bhairav Mandir situated at Ratanpur, about 25 km from
Bilaspur, in Chhattisgarh. 'Bhairav', Lord of Terror is another form of Lord Shiva, regarded as his 'rudra' or dreadful form. The temple lies around 3 km away from Shri Mahamaya
Devi Mandir towards Bilaspur. The temple is dedicated to Kaal Bhairav, one
among the 52 Bhairavs.
A popular belief among the devotees is that Kaal Bhairav
Mandir should be visited first before the visit of the Shri Mahamaya Devi
Mandir as the deity here is regarded as the door keeper of Devi. Devotees have been practicing worship in the Mahamaya Devi temple since centuries ago, the first 'Abhishek' and pooja are said to have occurred in 1050 AD.
