Manveli Draupadhi amman temple

Manveli  Draupadhi amman temple

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

  Manveli is a small village in the kumbakonam Nagapattinam high way and isabout 30 km from Kumbhakonam .Draupadhi is the wife  of Pandavas of Mahabharatha.

     There is a story about the origin of this temple. Achyutha  Nayakkar who was ruling over   Thanjavur   went through the place and was taken sick suddenly and almost fainted. His people took him from the Palanquin and made him lie on a tree shad. He was at that time gasping for his breath. Suddenly  he heard   an old lady  calling him  “sir”  to wake him up. When the king opened his eyes, he saw   that in that place there was no body except him and that old lad. He asked her about the whereabouts of   his army and she told they have gone some place near by.. She also told him, “You seem to be greatly tired and also  you seem to gasp for breath.. Please take this Gruel(Kanji)   .” And then she gave him little of the gruel   from the mud pot.. Seeing her old age and her kind gesture , the king    took a little of the gruel from her. Suddenly  she became completely all right. He wanted to give her some present and searched for  his army.But when he again saw , he saw the old lady entering a hut which was far away. And he saw suddenly that he was surrounded by all his army members. He asked them . “Where   were you all this time?”. They replied   that  , “We were all here only round you  and all this while you were  sleeping.” . Then the king showed them the hut that was far away and asked them     to go and call  the old woman who was the owner of the hut. .When the soldiers went there they did not find any old woman but a Statue   of Draupadhi amman.The grateful  king converted the hut in to a well built temple..Again over time the temple got dilapidated but now her devcotees recently have a built a pretty temple for that Goddess.Outside the temple , there are mud statues of Aravan (The son of Arujuna and the Naga princess uloopi  and that of  Muthala Ravuthar, belonging to religion of Islam.)

     People believe  that Goddess Draupadhi   who is very merciful would cure diseases of all children.

When a child becomes seriously ill , it is brought and made to lie down   before the Goddess and parents request the Goddess to cure the disease.  Then after the child is cured the parents bring the child  again to the temple  during the festival  and fulfill  the  prayer oaths that  they have taken 

   Every year during the month of Vaikasi a grand festival  of eleven days is celebrated    to this Goddess. Daily Street plays depicting important stories of Maha Bharatha is acted  before the devotees, This is done so that   the uneducated devotees also know about the stories of the great Mahabharatha.