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 🙏🏻
A thread on Sastha/Ayyanar worship. Do read.
Since time immemorial, Sastha worship has been prevalent across the globe. Sastha is widely worshipped as Ayyanar/Chathan in TN & Kerala with Shri Ayyappan of Sabarimalai as Dharma Sastha, one of the eight incarnations of Sastha. (1/n)
Sastha refers to teacher/ruler/respectful one while Ayyanar derived from Ayyan, which literally means the same. Ayyanar/Chathan references can be found in ancient Tamizh literary works Puranananooru, Silapathikaram with Kanda puranam calling him "son of Shiva". (2/n)
Puranas refers him as the 'protector of Vedas' and he is depicted with his two consorts Poorna and Pushkala. Inscriptions suggest Chera, Chola Pandyas and Pallavas worshipped Sastha for annihilation of enemies and prosperity. (3/n)
Do you know there is another Navapashana Murugan installed by Bhogar, one of the 18 siddhars? Yes, It's in Poomparai, 19 kms from Kodaikanal.
I was fortunate to visit Kuzhandai Velappar temple at Poomparai that contains the Navapashana Murugan as its presiding deity. #KodaiTales
Located at the centre of this picturesque hilly village, this ancient temple possibly more than 2000 year old was built by Chera King.
Few centuries back, Arunagiri nadhar stayed here and extolled Poomparai Murugan with a Thirupugazh.
Assuming the form of a child (Kuzhandai), Lord Murugan saved him from a Rakshasi. Hence the Lord here assumed the name, Kuzhandai Velappar.
Skanda/Kandan worship was once prevalent across geographies but now mostly restricted to southern India, Malaysia etc. Let's see some ancient skanda iconography. 1. Khmer Kandan - 7th CE- Kdei Ang Temple, Kampuchea 2. Skanda - 2nd CE - Gandhara, Afghanistan
3. Skanda - coin of Yaudheya - 1st CE - Punjab 4. Karthikeya - Gupta Period - 5th CE
5. Skanda - Kannuaj - medieval 6. Skanda - 9th CE - Central India 7. Karthikeya - 9th or 10th CE - Central India
Massive 6 ft Shivalingam unearthed at Arasampalayam in Karur dt, TN near the sangam of Amaravathy & Kudakunaaru rivers. Happened on Diwali day. It seems the land owner received divine direction in his dream to unearth after few dharmics approached him. Check this thread for pics.
Aap Chronology Samajhiye.. 1. 300 kg heroin, 5 AK-47 rifles & 1,000 live rounds of 9mm ammunition seized off the coast of Vizhinjam, Kerala in March 2021.
2. Suresh Rajan, a Sri Lankan, arrested in August 2021 from Angamaly, Kerala linked to Pakistani drug lord, Haji Salim.
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3. 5 Srilankans arrested in Chennai near Porur, in March 2022 with fake passports.Check the names Mary Jensika, Reginold, Mary Sanchika
4. Annamalai exposes fake passport scam involving Srilankans in 12-13 July 2022;ADGP Intelligence David Devaseervatham directly implicit
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5. NIA raids Trichy special camp for Sri Lankan refugees today (20th July 2022) with several incriminating evidence seized. Raids are going on in places around Chennai
6. Annamalai flies to Delhi to meet @HMOIndia to discuss on this matter
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