Yellamma Devi Temple is Situated in Saundatti Taluka of Belgaum District.
In Kannada language "Yella" means "all" and "Amma" means "Mother" hence the meaning of Yellamma is "Mother of All".
Yellamma Devi Temple is considered as one of the 9 Shaktipeethas of India, in other words one of the most sacred places of India. It is situated on a hill top popularly known as "Yellammana Gudda". Yellamma Devi is worshipped mainly by people of North Karnataka and South Maharashtra. She is the Kul-Devta of most of the families in this region.
Yellamma Devi is worshipped before any auspicious functions like marriage, opening ceremony of newly built house etc. Worshiping is mainly in the form of "Pardi' filling. Pardi is a small bowl made of bamboo. Pardi filling is performed mainly by ladies known as Devadasi. Pardis are filled with sweets made of Jaggery and Gram Dal known as Puran poli, Kadabu, 5 types of vegetables. Also Devadasis take jogwa from near by houses where they live mainly on Tuesdays, Fridays and full moon and new moon days.
However Devadasi system is quite controversial and is banned by government for betterment of lives of women involved in it. I don't want to go in details of the Devdasi system, as it will be out of the scope of this page.
Main pilgrimage takes place during the full moon days of the Hindu months 'Pausha' and 'Magha'. Lakhs of devotees of Yellamma devi visit the place and take holy darshan of Devi Yellamma. Massive transport arrangements are made by karnataka State Road Transport Corporation during the period of pilgrimage. Duration of the pilgrimage is usually 8 to 10 days. However the temple authorities still need to improve a lot on discipline during pilgrimage period. But inspite of all inconveniences, people manage to take darshan of Yellamma Devi for the divine experience which is worth compared to any other things in life.
How to reach
Plenty of buses available from Belgaum Central Bus Stand to Saundatti. It is about 100 km from Belgaum city.