History

According to Legends, Moter Durga incarnated as Saptadurga sisters. Each form of this Durga Devi is believed to have stayed as Shaktidevatas at Chitrapur, Sasihitlu, Polali, Kateelu, Murdakar, Kunjaru and at Bappanadu respectively. This was after killing of the demon king Darigasura by Devi Durga. The seven places where these sapta Durga devi stayed, later came to be called a Shakthi kendras.

It is believed that the deity got the name "Chitrapura" after the killing of the Demons Chitrasura and Vichitrasura by Jaladurga, the younger sister of Sapta Durgas. The story revolves around the two demons followers of Darigasura who were wandering in search of Jaladurga to take revenge of their master's death. They happen to meet a Gandharva named Chitraksha and his two beautiful wives. The demons were lured by the beauty of Chitraksha's wives and so took them away on defeating the Gandharva in a fight. The helpless Gandharva is said to have prayed Lord Hari to rescue his wives. As per the wishes of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Jaladurga with her divine power kills these two demons and rescues Chitraksha's wives. However she blesses the dying Rakshas by naming the place upon their death, as "Chitrapura" or "Vichitrapura". She also promises to grace the place, along with Mahakali, who helped her in the battle in the form of Udbhavalinga.

Another tale pertaining to this temple reveals that there once lived a couple named Kantu (Male) and Kaldi (Female) who were earning livelihood by fishing and doing cane works. One day, Kaldi was sharpening her knife on a stone, in order to cut canes. She finds blood coming out of the stone in the process. Astonished by this strange happening (Vichitra sambhava), she dies on the spot out of fear. It is believed that the stone which she was sharpening was none other than the sacred Udbhavalinga. Goddess Durga is believed to have stayed there in the form of a linga. Thus this place where the strange event occurred got to be called later as Chitrapura.

Sri Vijayatheertha Swamiji of Madhwa seat of Dwaita philosophy once happened to travel on the way where goddess jaladurga stayed in udbhava linga form. Devi durga appeared in hos dreams and had asked him to construct a temple for her at that place, by identifying her in the form of a stone with a blood mark in it. She also directs him to build a temple for the Harijan woman kaldi who died upon seeing the blood oozing out from the stone while sharpening her knife.

Accordingly, Sri Vijayadwaja set out to find the holy stone. In the process, he had to pass through a river which was over flowing. Hence he sought the help of a boatman to cross the river. The boatman refuses to help the Swamiji. Thus using his divine powers, the Swamiji crosses the river. He also curses the boatman to take the form of a worm. When the boatman realised his mistakes and rendered his unconditional apology, the saint was merciful and thus blessed the boatman. He also declared that the temple of Devi Durga that is to be constructed by him, would be named "Pulupinalaya", which means the temple of worms. From then on, this temple also got to be known as "Pulupinalaya".

The Swamiji then continued his search for the holy stone, and successfully found it. He performed various poojas to this holy stone form of the goddess, in front of his disciples and the villagers. The saint then sought the help of the king Veeraprathana Harihararaya of Vijayanagar for constructing a temple at this place for the deity. The king in turn directs the landlord of that village, Sri Pandavideva to provide all the required services. The landlord was initially reluctant to help but later agreed, fearing the king's wrath

Thus the temple was built as per the directions of Shree Vijayatheertha Swamiji, and with the assistance of the landlord (Paleyagar) Pandarideva. The Swamiji later performed the Asthabhanda Bramha Kalashotsava and other rituals to the devi Sri Durgaparameswari.. He also established a mutt there which came to be known as Chitrapur Mutt. He made one of his disciples, the head of the mutt and honoured him with the title Shree vidyadhiraja Theertha Swamiji. He also gifted a Kaliya mardhna Krishna's vigraha for his daily poojas. Sri Vijayatheertha Swamiji returned back to his original mutt after establishing the temple and the mutt at Chitrapur during the 13th century. The temple's inscription mentions the various offering made by landlord (Paleyagar) for this temple.