Khandoba Temple is located at Mangsuli near Kudchi in the
state of Karnataka. This is a very ancient village goddess temple. In India,
female and male deities are worshiped as village deities. However, the male and
female village deities are considered to be entirely related to the deities
Shiva and Shakti. There are many stories about Khandoba being worshiped as the
greatest deity in Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. Khanderao, Khanderaya,
Mal Hari Marthand and also known as Mallukhan are known as Marthand Bhairav,
another form of Lord Shiva. Khandoba is worshiped as a tribal deity, especially
in Maharashtra. He is known as the goddess of agriculture, livestock, and
warriors. He is also considered by some Brahmin sects in Maharashtra to be a
caste deity. The Khandoba cults are intertwined with the traditions of Shaiva
and Vaishnavism and Jain and Muslim religions. This seems to be an exception.
Similarly, in the state of Karnataka, the village goddess Mylar is also known
to be a form of Khandoba. Khandoba, a village deity, began to be worshiped in
the 9th and 10th centuries AD. In Khandoba there are elements of deities like
Shiva, Bhairav, Surya, Kartikeya, etc., especially Kartikeya who has the name
Skanda.
Some believe that the name Khandoba is derived from the name
Skanda. In the former Deccan region, two demon brothers, Malla and Mani,
meditated on the god Brahma and received the gift of death and defeat by whom.
The demon brothers, who weighed in with the strength of that week, began to
torture all the gods and even the sages who were finally penitent in the
forest. To bear their sufferings, the Sapta Rishis and the gods went to Lord
Shiva and begged him to save them from the huge of those demons. God heard
their cries and gave them refuge. After that, a warrior named Marthanda Bhairav
emerged with the aspect of Shiva.
The warrior had three eyes. His face glowed golden with
yellow all over his face. There is also a meniscus in the fruit part. All the
Deva armies followed him and declared war on the Marthanda Bhairav, the demon
brothers. In the battle against the demons and the gods, Marthanda Bhairava
killed the demon brothers Malla and Mani. Mani, however, apologized to
Marthanda Bhairav in his last moments and made a wish. He asked that every
Khandoba temple should have its own idol along with the Khandoba idol and that
he should offer goat meat in those temples. His last wish was accepted by
Marthanda Bhairav. As a result, the idol of Mani, a demon, is still worshiped
by devotees in all Khandoba temples.
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