TEMPLE OF THE DAY: Sri Mangalambigai sametha Sri Manganathar temple -Uthirakosamangai in Ramanathapuram district, TN.
One of the oldest Shiva temples dating back to Ramayana period & closely associated with Mandodhari, wife of Ravana. This temple is even older than Rameshwaram.
A Tamizh saying “Man thodriya podhe mangai thondriyadhu” explains the antiquity of this temple.
Uthiram - Upadesh; Kosam - secret; Mangai - Devi Parvati. Here, the Lord blessed the Vedic secrets to Maa Parvati. Hence the name. Another uniqueness is it houses the Emerald Nataraja
Mangalanathar blesses us as a Svayambu lingam and the supreme mother is called Mangalambigai. It houses emerald and spatika lingams. During Arudra/Thiruvathirai, people throng to witness the day long abhishekam of Emerald Nataraja.
Sthala puranam: Lord Shiva decided to bless the pious wife of Ravana, Mandodhari. He decided to appear before her a a child, the form that Mandodhari visualised. As he appeared, Mandodhari was in ecstasy to see the Lord in that form. Ravana, ignorant of the true nature..
of the child embraced it. As soon as he touched, Lord appeared as pillar of fire in Utharakosamangai pond where thousand sages were doing penance. Sensing the divinity, 999 sages jumped in to attain Mukti. Only one remained to take care of palm scriptures. Lord blessed him too.
The sages bless even today as Sahasra lingams (thousand) inside the temple. The temple architecture is as grand as Rameshwaram temple. Many kings including Maharaja of Kandi (Sri Lanka) have contributed to this temple.
May Lord Mangalanathar and Maa Mangalambigai bless us all 🙏🏻
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