Shaktipeethas.org

Jogulamba (also called as Yogulamba / Yogamba) is one of the eighteen Shakti peethas. Oordhva danta pankti (Upper jaw with tooth) of devi fell here. She is the Shakti of Bala brahmeswara swamy.

Jogulamba mahadevi / Roudra veekshana loochana //
Alampuri sthita mata / Sarvartha phala siddhida //

Where is Jogulamba Shakti peeth ?

INDIA > ANDHRA PRADESH > NEAR KURNOOL > ALAMPUR [Jogulamba in 18 Shakti peethas map]
While going to Kurnool from Hyderabad we have to turn left at Alampur cross-road (12k.m before reaching Kurnool). Alampur is at 12k.m distance from that spot. It is a small village and the Jogulamba temple is located in the South-East corner of the village very beside Tungabhadra river.

Nearest Bus station: Alampur.
Nearest Railway station: Kurnool.
Nearest Air port: Hyderabad.

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Jogulamba temple:

Old temple of Jogulamba was destroyed by Bahamani sultans in the 14th century. The idols of Jogulamba and her two shaktis Chandi, Mundi were protected from them and placed in Bala brahmeswara swamy temple untill 2005. Now, a new temple was constructed in the same place and the godess was shifted in to it. New temple of Jogulamba is very much beautiful to see with a nice granite flooring. It is surrounded by a water pool. Villagers of Alampur tell an interesting reason for it: "Jogulamba is an Ugra rupa (highly energetic and hard to worship) and this water pool makes the atmosphere cool so that we can easily worship her".

Idol of Jogulamba is typical. She is in sitting position. She has huge amount of hair with lizard, scorpion, bat and a human scull in it. Idols of Saptamatrikas, Vighneswara and Veenapani veerabhadra are also present in the temple. Original Chandi Mundi idols were left in Bala brahmeswara swamy temple and new idols are made and placed in Jogulamba temple.

Alampur is called as "City of Temples". All of them are very old and famous for their sculpture. They are under control of Indian Archeological department. The entire temple campus was built on the bank of river Tungabhadra. Out of them, temples of Nava brahmas and the temple of Kanchi kamakshi are most important.

Once upon a time Alampur was the ashram of Maharshi Jamadagni and his wife Renuka. They were spending their lives by worshiping Balabrahmeswara and Jogulamba. Renuka was great at Pathi bhakti and Daiva bhakti (devotion on Husband and God). Daily she used to bring water from Tungabhadra with a new pot freshly made up of sand. This was possible because of her devotion. One day she saw a king of Gandharvas taking bath in the river with his wives. She thought that they were living happily by the grace of God. She forget that the real happiness comes from the worship and not the materialistic wealth. Because of that sin she couldn't make the pot and went home with-out water. Jamadagni asked the reason. She told the truth. He became angry and ordered his first son to kíll Renuka. But, the son refused to kíll his mother. Jamadagni asked his second and third sons. They too refused. But, the fourth son Parasu Rama kílled his mother by cutting her head with his axe. Jamadagni was pleased and told that Parasu Rama can ask a boon. Parasu Rama requested to give life to his mother. Jamadagni rejuvinated her.

The head of Renuka which is Maya rupa (Materialist thoughts) became Ekaveera (one of the 18 Shakti peethas) and the body of her which is Matru rupa (Mother of Parasu Rama) became Bhudevi. Bhudevi is present in a small temple in the campus of Bala brahmeswara swamy. She gives children to the wanted. She is worshiped by offering butter.

In the above post you have told that the head of Renuka matha became Ekaveera devi. But, I heard a different story. The head fell in a Chandala vatika. Those savage people worshiped her as Grama devatha, by name Yellamma. We can see the temple of Yellamma at Undavelli, 8k.m distant from Alampuram. The temple is very old and built by bricks. The main idol of Yellamma is only a head with a crown. Some people also call her Hemala. This may be a sanskritization of the word Yellamma.

I think both of us are correct. Yellamma is Ekaveera.
Ellamma is a native telugu word which means "Yellaraku Amma (Mother of all)" . We can find many temples of Ellamma in the Rayalaseema area of Andhrapradesh, Karnataka and some parts of Maharashtra. People consider Ellamma as Renuka and worship her with love and devotion. We can't differentiate the cults of Ellamma, Ekaveera and Renuka. I told only a philosophical difference.

Ellamma is also said to be borne in Iron smiths' and Potters' localities. All this supports the Maya rupa of Ellamma.

The word Jogulamba also has a meaning of "Joginula amma (Mother of Joginis)". Indeed the word Jogini also has two meanings. The first one being Yogini (female Yogi) and the second one being a dancer dedicated to the God. You may have heard of similarities in the cults of Jogulamba and Ellamma. In this sense Jogulamba and Ellamma looks similar. Remember the name "Vishrunkhala (bond-free)" of "Lalitha sahasra namas" which is used to worship Jogulamba.

What I'm interested to tell in the above post is: "Bhudevi in Alampur,i.e, Renuka mata is considered as Rishi (Best worshiper) of Jogulamba". This is only meant for Sadhakas.

All of us know that the idol of Jogulamba has lizard, scorpion, bat, and skull in her hair. I head a meaning for this rupam from an Upasaka.

Jogulamba can be understood as Gruha Chandi. Those symbols show the signs of decay of a house. If a house starts to loose it's Jeeva kala (life), the number of lizards in that house will start increasing. The next step is high occurrence of scorpion appearance. If bats enter a house it's the third step which finally will lead to skulls in the house (Deaths in that house). If we worship Jogulamba she will cancel the results caused by these signs. She is also worshiped to relieve Vastu doshas.