The miracle of the Sode seer

They were a Madhwa couple from Jayanagar in Bangalore and they had been married for several years. Though the marriage was a happy one, the couple had only one sorrow.

The couple had no children and though their parents had performed several seves and ceremonies, the couple had remained childless. The doctors had said there was nothing wrong with the couple and it was only a matter of time before a child was born. However, the time did not come.

One day the couple and their parents went to Mysore for a vacation where they were told by a relative to go to Sonde or Sode near Sirsi and offer prayers to Vadiraja Theertha and Bhoota Raja.

The couple planned their trip to Sode and made all arrangements to perform seve in Sode. They decided to go in their  own car.

They had hired a driver to drive them to Sode and back. The car driver came in the morning of the departure to check out the car. He took the car to a garage in Banashankari called Noori Garage. The garage owner told him that here was some fault with the differential and that it would take several hours to get it repaired.

The driver called up the couple who asked him to go ahead with the car repair. Meanwhile, the husband suddenly fell ill and he had high temperature. His wife too was not feeling okay.

The parents of the boy asked the couple to postpone the trip. The couple refused and decided to leave for Sode the same day come what may. They began praying to Bhootaraja to permit them to undertake the journey.

The car repair went on till late in the evening. It was almost ten in the night when the car was declared road worthy. The trip to Sode began in the night.

The road trip was uneventful except for a minor scare. When the car reached Sirsi, it was six in the morning and the diesel in the car had almost become empty. The car slowly came to stop right in front of a petrol pump and the tank as filled up in no time.

Sode was just an hour’s drive and when the Madhwa couple reached the temple they were told about how to perform the Seve. Meanwhile, the husband’s fever did not go away. On the other hand, the fever increased. The husband then requested the wife to go ahead and perform the seve alone.

The wife decided to do the Kai (coconut) seve for three days. Every morning and afternoon, she went around the temple premises including the Trivikrama and Bhootaraja Temple for 108 times. After completing each round, she bathed in the Daula Gange.

During their stay in Sode, the couple participated in the Bhoota Bali ritual to Bhoota Raja and other rituals in the temple.  

After the seve was completed, the then seer of Sode Matha, Vishwotthama Theertha, personally blessed all such Sevakartas and gave them the coconut. When he saw the couple, he instantly said, you will get two children. “Nimmage Yaradu Makkakala Daye”, was all he said.

Before they came back to Bangalore they collected the Mrithike and theertha from the priest who performs pooje at the Brindavana of Vadiraj Theertha. The priest told them to either eat the Mrithike after bath or put it on their body. The theertha, of course, was to be sipped.

An year later,Vishwottama Theertha  passed away in Sode. While he left his mortal body in April 2007, the couple became parents of two children the following year-both twins.