Mangala devi (kannagi ) temple at Vannathi parai
Compiled by
P.R.Ramachander
This dilapidated
but ancient temple dedicated to Kannagi
, the celebrated heroine of possibly the
greatest epic of Tamil Nadu viz
Silappadikaram is situated
on the border of Tamil Nadu and
Kerala. It is located about 7 km from Pazhiyankudi
in Theni district and 15 km from Thekkadi of Idukki District. From Kumili town of Kerala jeeps can be
hired to reach the temple,. (there is considerable difference of opinion of it
.People of Kerala believe , the temple dedicated to her is n Kodungaloor and
people of Trivandrum believe that it is in Athukal temple
in Trivandrum)
Due to an unjust judgment
of the Pandya king, KOvalan, the husband
of Kannagi is put to death by the Pandya king. Overcome by wrath Kannagi burnt the city of Madurai and walked fourteen days
to reach the Chera kingdom. She is
received there by the hunters (some say Kuravas) who
inhabited that area. It is
said , that in front of them Kovalan
came to that place and took
away Kannagi to heaven. This area at
that time was ruled by the great king
Cheran Chenguttuvan. When the hunters informed this incident to the king, he
consecrated there a temple in honour of
Kannagi by bringing stones from the Himalaya mountain and the local people started calling this
temple as Mangala Devi temple. Engravings at the temple record that The king Gajabahu (Kayavagu?) of
Lanka attended the consecration ceremony of the temple. Even today there
is a pond near the temple in which that great lady Goddess took her bath. Initially only the people in
the Kambam valley of Tamil Nadu were worshipping at this temple. The Britishers
recognizing the importance of the temple even constructed a road to reach the temple in 1897. Earlier
records suggest that a festival of
about two weeks was being observed
here. After the division of linguistic provinces, this temple was located in Kerala state. From then
on The temple is opened for pilgrims
only on the Chithra pournami day(6 Am-5 PM) . It seems that the original statue
of Kannagi was broken and the board the trustees of the temple who live in Tamil
Nadu, carry the idol with them on Chithra POurnami day ,
consecrate it, do pooja, anoint it with
Sandal paste, offer curd rice to the idol and bring back the idol once the festival is
over. Large number of devotees who want
to get married and also devotees who want children visit this temple the temple or those who want to
reunite with their husbands.. Every year free food is provided on Chithra Pournami
day to about 30 thousand pilgrims who
visit this temple.
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