Sri Patala Varahi Devi Temple (Varanasi)

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Goddess Varahi (वाराही, வாராகி) is one of the Matrikas, a group of Saptha Mother Goddesses (சப்தமாதா, सप्तमाता ) Who is the shakti of Lord Varaha, the boar Avatar of the Lord Vishnu. Tantric Granthas (தந்திர நூல்கள்) describes Her of having head of a Sow (பன்றி), with four hands, top-left-hand with the Hala (हल, கலப்பை, plough), the top-right-hand with Musala (मुसल, உலக்கை, pestle), the bottom-right-hand with Abhaya Mudra (அபய முத்திரை, अभय मुद्रा, "protection gesture") and the bottom-left-hand with Varada Mudra (वरद मुद्रा, வரத முத்திரை, "blessing gesture"), usually worshipped at night.................. Anybody who wants to take up the Tantric Upasana Worship (தந்திர உபாசனை) of Varahi Devata in order to obtain Her Siddhi, which is considered as one of the most difficult task, must see a movie "Sri Krishna Parundu" (ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ண பருந்து) shot in Malayalam (1984), directed by A.Vincent, Original screenplay by P. V. Thampy and the cast were Mohanlal, Balan K. Nair, Soman, Jagathy, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Sukumari & Kanchana. The storyline and perfectness with which scenes were shot, particularly involving Upasana (उपासना, உபாசனை) & invoking of Goddess Varthali (वार्ताली, வார்தாளி, a tantric epithet of Varahi) and exactness of make-up & picturization of appearance of Varthali on the screen, were so perfect, really awesome, inspiring and commendable............... The negative aspect of the movie was the portrayal of Goddess Varthali as an "Evil Goddess" (दुर्देवता, துர்தேவதை) which was totally INCORRECT, ill-conceived, and indicated a premature knowledge & faulty understanding of Goddess Varthali, on the part of both the director and the story writer! Goddess Varahi is really the Commander-in-Chief (படை தலைவி, சேனாதிபதி, தண்டநாயகி) of Supreme Goddess Sri Raja Rajeshwari (Lalitha Thripurasundari) who is the "Para Brahmam" (பரபிரம்மம்) which is according to Saktha Religion (शाक्त धर्म, சாக்த மதம்). Therefore, anyone who has the blessings of Goddess Varahi will never be defeated in any battle! Regarding this, there is a popular proverb among Tamilians saying "Don't ever argue/quarrel with a Varahi-blessed-person" (வாராகிகாரனோடு வாது செய்யாதே! वाराहीवाला से तर्क मत करो!). This was the reason why so many Kings used to secretly worship Goddess Varahi in order to win battles! Standing example is the Varahi Sannidhi consecrated by the Mighty King Raja Raja Chozan (மன்னன் ராஜராஜ சோழன்) within the world famous "Tanjai Brihadeeswarar Temple" (in fact, the entire temple was built by the same King!) and everyone knows that King Raja Raja Chozan had never lost any battle! In fact, every Raja of Choza kingdom were ardent devotees of Goddess Varahi!..........................
Thiuvanaika Akilandeshwari (திருவானைக்கா அகிலாண்டேஸ்வரி) is none other than Goddess Varahi Whose ferocity (उग्र ,உக்ரம்) was tamed/subdued by Sri Adhi Shankaracharya by installing Mantra infused a pair of "Sri Chakra" as "ear rings" (कर्णिका, தாடங்கம்) to both the Ears of the Goddess Varahi! In order to further tame, Sri Shankarar installed the Prasanna Ganapathy idol right opposite to her Sannidhi to reduce the ferocity existed in the eyes of the Goddess and the presence of Her elder son in front of her ALWAYS makes her pleased! So, during the NORMAL temple hours (தர்சன காலங்கள்), She assumes Her role as Akilandeshwari (शान्त स्वरूपम्, சாந்த சொரூபம், tranquil form) in order to grace her devotees but once Her Sannidhi is CLOSED (நடை சாற்றுதல்), She returns back to Her "true form" as Goddess Varahi with all ferocity! Even some Devotees were heard of saying that they had a glimpse of Varahi instead of Akilandeshwari ONLY during Ardha-Jama-Pooja (அர்த்த ஜாம பூஜை)! There are stories about some priests of Thiruvanaika temple have reported that they heard, in some occations, the "roaring noise" (உறுமல் சப்தம்) from the CLOSED Sannidhi of Goddess Akilandeshwari and even today, no body dares to make an attempt to enter into CLOSED Sannidhi to conduct any sort of investigation! ................
In Varanasi, Goddess Varahi has been worshipped as Patala Varahi (பாதாள வாராஹி), located atop "Tripura Bhairavi Ghat" (D-16/84), walkable distance (over ½ km) from Viswanathar Temple..... The idol is in the basement, only the priest goes down the steps to bathe and decorate the idol. All other devotees should peep through a hole in the roof to have darshan of the goddess who, to put it simply, is huge. There are 2 holes, one to have darshan of the Face, and another of the Feet. The Goddess has a reputation for being very ferocious and powerful, and a legend says that when a priest kept chanting the wrong mantras, she swallowed him up whole! The temple is open for about 1½ hours (5.00 am to 6.30 am), actually Sun Rise is the only factor that decides the exact time of closing! Once closed at Sun Rise, the temple remains closed for the entire day................

NOTE: The location coordinates of this temple has been drawn from my memory of visiting this temple long ago. I approached this temple from Tripura Bhairavi Ghat whose address is D-16/84. Nevertheless, I request Wikimapia and its contributors to help to correct the location coordinates if there is any deviation/aberration.......