Friday Temple Visit Week # 87
07th October 2022
வாரம் ஒரு கோவில் தரிசனம்
by S. Subramaniam
Sree Mangalanathaswamy Temple, Uthirakosamangai, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, India.
Location:
Sree Mangalanathaswamy Temple is located in village Uthirakosamangai, on the banks of River Gundaru. The temple lies at a distance of about 15 Kms from Ramanathapuram, 30 Kms from Paramakudi and 70 Kms from Rameshwaram.
Uniqueness;
The temple is believed to be more than 3000 years old and considered to be one of the oldest Shiva temples in India. There is a claim that the temple is the first ever temple built for Lord Shiva.
The temple houses the most famous treasure, a six feet tall idol of Lord Nataraja made of pure emerald known as Maragatha Nataraja.
Salient features:
The presiding deity of the temple is known by the name Mangalanathar and his consort, Devi Parvathi, is called Mangleshwari. The Sthala Vriksham (Holy tree of the temple) is the Indian Jujube tree (Elantha Pazham in Tamil) and Holy tank of the temple, Sthala theertham, is a pond within the precincts of the temple called Agni theertham.
Name of the Place:
This is the place where Lord Shiva is believed to have transferred the secrets of Vedas to his concert Parvati. In Sanskrit Uthiram means Updesham / advice or teaching of something very special, Kosam stands for secret and Mangai, a Tamil word, refers to female and in this case it refers to Devi Parvati. Hence, this place has come to be known as Uthira Kosa Mangai.
History of the temple
As far as the antiquity of the temple is concerned, the idols of the temple, including the emerald Nataraja are estimated to be more than 3000 years old.
There is a famous saying in Tamil : "Mann Mundhiyo? Mangai Mundhiyo?" meaning "Did the mud (mann) come first or did the Mangai (the Female Deity of the Temple) come first. From this, the antiquity of the temple can be understood.
However, the existing structure of temple is recorded to have been built by the Pandya king, Achuthappa (1529–1542 A.D.). The rulers of Sethupathy Dynasty have made immense and valuable contributions to renovate and add additional structures to the temple.
Legends:
Legend 1 of 2 - Relating to Mandodari
Mandodari, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, did severe penance seeking only a Shiva bhakta to be her husband. The Lord, wanting her to get United with Ravana, appeared before her in the form of a child. Ravana who was passing by that side, looked at the child and immediately realized that it was a playful act of his Lord and lifted the child. The Lord turned himself into a ball of fire and both Mandodari and Ravana were taken by a shock. After a while, the Lord appeared before them in his usual form and directed Mandodari to marry Ravana and blessed the two.
Legend 2 of 2 Involving 1000 sages.
Once a group of 1000 sages (Rishis) assembled together to perform a Yajna (holy fire sacrifice). The Lord, with a view to test them, appears before the sages and hands over the Agama Sastra Text to informs them to keep it in safe custody till he returns.
The incidence of Lord appearing as a child before Mandodari and later turning into a ball of fire, as narrated above, had an impact at the cite of Yajna and here to the ball of fire appeared. All but one - 999 sages unable to bear the heat, jumped into the nearby pond Agni theertham, now the Sthala theertham of the temple, and got killed in the process. The lone sage who survived held on to the Agama Sastra tightly to save it from fire. The Lord pleased at the devotion of the sage grants him liberation. The sage in his next birth is born as Manikya Vasagar.
The Lord also grants liberation to the 999 sages and apppears before them in the form of 1000 Lingams, adding one for himself, called Sahasra Lingam. In the corridors oc this temple one can find the cluster of 1000 Lingam.
Some special features of the temple
Maragatha Nataraja
The Emerald Nataraja Idol in the temple is the rare one not to be seen in any other temple. The light emitted by the idol is so powerful that the
deity is always covered with sandal paste. Only on one day in the year the sandal paste is removed and the public are allowed to have darshan of the idol glittering in its original form. It is on the Arudra Darshanam day.
Usage of Thazhamboo
This is the only Shiva temple where the fragrant flower Thazhambu is permitted for worship whereas the flower is forbidden for use in worship in other Shiva temples as this flower gave false evidence in favour of Brahma as if he found the head of Lord Shiva.
Yali - the Lion- Elephant combine
t the entrance of the main precinct, the temple features exquisite stone carvings of Yali (mythological dragon portrayed with the head and the body of a lion, the trunk and the tusks of an elephant) is depicted with a rolling stone ball inside its mouth.
The temple
Mangalanathaswamy Temple is spread over a vast area of 20 acres of land and has as many as 16 gopurams (towers).
Entering the temple complex through the Rajagopuram one can see many pillars carved with figures of deities, famous devotees and demons. Unusually Nandi the vehicle of Lord Shiva is housed in a separate mandapam with a separate gopuram.
Inside the Garbagraham or the main sanctum, the presiding deity Mangalanathar is installed as a sel manifested Lingam. Devi Mangala Nayagi is shown in a devotional pose, with folded hands praying to Shiva.
Shrines of othe deities:
On the way to Natarajar temple we find other sub shrines dedicated to Sahasra Lingam, which has thousands of tiny Lingams carved on a single Shiva Lingam.
A separate shrine for Manikya
Vasagar (the saint poet who was a regular visitor to this temple) near the temple tank Agnitheertham.
The granite images of the deities Ganesha and Muruga (sons of Lord Shiva) are located in the hall leading to the sanctum.
As in other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the first precinct contains shrines of Dakshinamurthy, Devi Maa Durga and Chandikeswara. There is also a separate shrine for Kalabhairava.
The Navagrahas, nine planet icons, are not found in this temple. However, there is a single figure of Saneeswara the Saturn. The experts say that the custom of worshipping Navagrahas came into practice much later.
Literary Mentions:
This temple is the 22nd sthalam (holy place) which is mentioned in the songs of the Thevaram. Manikya Vasagar has sung 16 beautiful songs which are known as Ponnunjal, the golden swing.
Arunagirinathar has composed Tamil hymns glorifying Murugan in the temple.
Contact
Sri Mangalanathar Swamy Temple,
Uthirakosamangai – 623 533,
Ramanathapuram district, Tamilnadu India.
Phone: +91- 4567 221 213, 94427 57691.
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