The Divine Call of Maa Vārāhī: My Pilgrimage to Matsya Vārāhī and Hirapur Yoginī Temple

Introduction — When the Divine Mother Calls

My recent visit to India in 2026 was originally planned as a deeply personal journey to celebrate my mother’s 85th birthday — a sacred and memorable occasion that unfolded beautifully through the grace of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. What I did not realise then was that hidden within this family visit was another pilgrimage already ordained by Divine Mother herself.

The year had begun turbulently for me. I had undergone what I can only describe as a profound psychic and spiritual disturbance arising from misplaced trust in a self-proclaimed spiritual teacher. The experience became an intense lesson in discernment, humility, and the sacred responsibility embodied within Guru Tattva.

In hindsight, I now recognise that Maa Vārāhī was silently protecting me throughout this difficult phase.

Her protection is not always gentle. Sometimes she dismantles illusion. Sometimes she removes false structures in our lives so that truth may emerge with unmistakable clarity. What initially appeared painful gradually revealed itself as divine intervention.

I leave all such matters at the feet of the Divine Mother, for Vārāhī is both compassionate protector and fierce guardian of dharma. Through her grace, I recovered fully — emotionally, spiritually, and inwardly stronger than before.

It was during this period of rebuilding that Maa Vārāhī intensified her presence in my life and mysteriously guided me toward two extraordinary centres of ancient feminine tantric worship in Odisha:

• the sacred Matsya Vārāhī Temple at Chaurasi,

• and the mystical Chausath Yoginī Temple at Hirapur.

  
  

What followed was no ordinary pilgrimage.

It felt like being summoned.

The Mysterious Calling to Matsya Vārāhī

When planning my Odisha pilgrimage, I had only intended to visit:

• Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri,

• and the famed Chausath Yoginī Temple at Hirapur.

  
  

The weeks that followed became deeply mystical. Lord Jagannath showered immeasurable grace upon me — experiences I hope to share separately in another article.

While researching the Hirapur Yoginī temple online, I unexpectedly came across the YouTube channel of Niilanjana De after nearly three years. An unmistakable inner prompting urged me to contact her regarding prayers and rituals connected to Hirapur.

During our conversation, she casually mentioned another temple nearby: the ancient Matsya Vārāhī Temple at Chaurasi.

I froze.

Despite being a Vārāhī upāsaka for several years, I had never heard of this temple before. The moment I heard the words Matsya Vārāhī, something stirred powerfully within me.

It did not feel accidental.

It felt orchestrated.

It felt as though Divine Mother herself had quietly redirected my journey.

My itinerary was already fixed, and my return flight to London could not be altered due to professional commitments. Yet somehow, through a series of unlikely adjustments, my travel plans reorganised themselves to accommodate the visit.

When the Divine Mother calls, circumstances rearrange themselves.

Matsya Vārāhī — The Fish Goddess of the Cosmic Waters

Matsya Vārāhī is among the rarest and most esoteric manifestations of Maa Vārāhī.

Vārāhī herself is revered as the Śakti of Lord Varāha, the boar incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu who rescued Bhūdevi, Mother Earth, from the cosmic waters. In the Vārāhī Tantra, five principal manifestations of Vārāhī are described:

• Svapna Vārāhī

• Caṇḍa Vārāhī

• Mahī Vārāhī (Bhairavī)

• Kruccha Vārāhī

• Matsya Vārāhī

  
  

Among these, Matsya Vārāhī remains one of the most mysterious.

She is associated with the cosmic waters, hidden wisdom, and the navigation of consciousness through the vast ocean of samsāra. In tantric symbolism, she represents the soul crossing turbulent waters toward liberation. Tamil Siddhars invoke her to awaken deeper states of awareness, while in Shaiva traditions she represents awakened Kundalinī rising through the chakras.

The magnificent 9th-century Matsya Vārāhī temple at Chaurasi in Odisha — now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India — is one of the most important surviving shrines dedicated to this form.

The deity enshrined there is an extraordinary masterpiece of Kalinga art.

The Iconography of the Goddess

The image of Matsya Vārāhī is unlike any other form of Vārāhī I had encountered before.

She is depicted seated gracefully in lalitāsana upon a pedestal, bearing:

• the face of a boar,

• and the body of a divine woman.

Her right hand holds a fish (matsya), while her left hand holds a kapāla (human skull bowl), symbolising mastery over both the waters of creation and the impermanence of worldly existence.

Her right foot rests upon her vāhana, the buffalo — symbolising the conquest of inertia, ignorance, and ego.

Though time has softened certain details, a faint third eye remains visible upon her forehead, signifying transcendent awareness. Her hair is beautifully arranged in spiral coils.

One of the most striking aspects of the image is her large belly, symbolising that she carries the universe itself within her womb. In Odisha tradition she is revered as:

Bhugarbha Parameśvarī Jagaddhātrī —the Mother who holds the cosmos within herself.

Two celestial Vidyādharas flank her from either side upon the back slab.

The Jagamohana also houses two additional forms of Vārāhī:

• one holding fish and kapāla,

• and another four-armed form displaying Varada mudra, holding a rosary and fish.

  
  

Every inch of the temple radiates ancient tantric symbolism.

The Temple of Silence and Living Energy

No artificial light is allowed inside the sanctum.

The Goddess reveals herself gradually through semi-darkness.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim interior, I could slowly perceive the form of the Mother emerging from shadow. What I experienced there is difficult to describe adequately.

There was profound stillness —yet the stillness pulsed with immense force.

Outside the temple stood ancient stone pillars associated with Nāga energies. The priests informed me that the temple is protected through a powerful Nāga Bandha, established because the energy of the deity is considered exceptionally intense and difficult to contain.

The moment I entered, I felt something deeply familiar.

Not intellectually.

Energetically.

It felt like returning home.

The Earlier Seeds of Matsya Vārāhī Sādhana

At this point, another mysterious connection surfaced in my mind.

Two years earlier in London, a Guru-bandhu of mine, Mr Raja, had initiated me into the mantra of Matsya Vārāhī. I had briefly begun the sādhana but eventually stopped because the energy was extraordinarily intense.

At that time, I was still influenced by teachings that discouraged seekers from exploring spiritual paths outside a tightly controlled framework.

Looking back now, I strongly feel that my connection to Maa Vārāhī silently protected me from falling deeper into spiritual confusion.

The moment I heard about the Chaurasi temple from Niilanjana De, I instinctively restarted the Matsya Vārāhī mantra.

It felt less like beginning anew and more like resuming an ancient conversation.

The Butterfly, the Dream, and the Trishul

The priests kindly permitted me to sit inside the temple and perform my sādhana.

During meditation, I felt enveloped by an overwhelming maternal presence — fierce, ancient, protective, yet deeply compassionate.

Throughout my spiritual life, Divine Mother has often communicated her presence to me through butterflies. Maa Vārāhī, in tantric traditions, is known to assume subtle symbolic forms.

Once again, a butterfly appeared.

I had experienced something remarkably similar years earlier while trekking through the Himalayas toward Maa Anasuya Temple.

But what happened next shook me profoundly.

One of the priests informed me that the previous night, Maa Vārāhī had appeared to him in a dream and declared:

“My child is coming from a distant land. He must offer me a trishul.”

This message was conveyed to me before I even arrived at the temple.

There are moments in spiritual life where logic dissolves completely before grace.

I now pray that I may soon return to offer the trident personally at her sacred feet.

Entering the Realm of the Yoginīs — Hirapur

After receiving the blessings of Matsya Vārāhī, I travelled onward to the Chausath Yoginī Temple at

Hirapur.

The moment I entered the circular hypaethral temple complex, I felt I had crossed into another dimension altogether.

The atmosphere was electric with ancient feminine power.

The open-sky architecture, the silent Yoginī forms, the tantric geometry of the sacred enclosure — everything vibrated with primordial Śakti.

Among the Yoginīs sits Maa Vārāhī herself.

I sat before her image and effortlessly slipped into a deep trance-like meditative state.

Time vanished.

I could faintly hear priests chanting near Mahāmāyā. People occasionally moved around me. Then gradually everything became completely silent.

After what felt like an eternity — perhaps one to one-and-a-half hours — an inner impulse suddenly urged me to open my eyes.

Beside me lay a fresh red hibiscus flower.

There was no one around.

I simply sat there overwhelmed by the unmistakable feeling that Divine Mother had accepted me.

The Grace of Being Chosen

As I now begin writing my book on Maa Vārāhī, I increasingly realise that none of these events were planned by me.

They were arranged by Her.

In today’s world, even hearing the name of Maa Vārāhī is itself grace. She chooses her children. She calls whom she wills.

We are merely nimitta mātra — instruments in her divine play.

If we fail to respond to her call, She loses nothing.

But we may lose the opportunity of lifetimes.

If this article has somehow reached you, perhaps it is also Her whisper reaching your soul.

Surrender to Her.

She protects with the love of a thousand mothers and the ferocity of divine truth.

May Maa Vārāhī guide and protect you always.

If you wish to know more about these sacred temples or are planning a pilgrimage to Odisha, please feel free to contact me at:drananthkb@hotmail.com

Śrī Mātre Namaḥ 🙏