Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman Temple- Kanyakumari

Address

Mandaikadu Main Rd, Mandaikadu,

Kanyakumari district,

Tamil Nadu 629252

Amman

Bhagavathi Amman

Introduction

Mandaikadu Bhagavathy Temple is dedicated to the goddess Parvati (known as Bhagavathy) located in Mandaikadu Village near Colachel in the western coast of Kanyakumari District in the State of Tamilnadu. This temple on the sea shore is a sought-after pilgrim centre for both people of Tamilnadu and Kerala. The Temple is situated near to Nagercoil – Colachel State highway in Mandaikadu. This Temple was built in Kerala tradition in very simple style. Holy trees for this temple are Bo Tree and Neem. Pujas is performed four times daily. The Temple is believed to be 2000 years old. This Temple is administrated by the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department of Tamilnadu.

Puranic Significance

Sabarimala for Women:

Shankaracharya attained Samadhi here:

His Holiness Sri Shankaracharya was performing Srichakra Puja with his Kerala disciples here. One day the Chakra did not turn back after the puja was over as usual. The Acharya stayed here itself and attained Samadhi. It is on this spot where the Srichakra existed, the anthill began to grow. It is believed that this idol is increasing in size by every year. Children playing this side and hitting the anthill were injured. Marthanda Varma, the king of Kerala came to know of these developments and built a temple and performed pujas regularly. Gradually, the temple assumed significance among the devotees.

Growth of Sand Hill:

Few boys who were playing with a palm fruit dropped it inadvertently on the hill. Immediately blood began to ooze from the hill. Scared by this turn of events the children ran to bring the elders to the spot. The elders believed that this was Bhagavathy who was guarding the area and began lighting a lamp daily at the temple. Soon one day there was an incident. A few people were entering the village at midnight. Knocking at the doors of the villagers, they asked them to provide them some food as they were very hungry. The villagers however, were not very hospitable and directed them to the temple nearby to find their own food. Dusk was fast approaching and the village was on the fringes of a dense jungle on the coast. So, the people were scared. Still they went to the temple and said “Mother please gives us some food.” Miraculously they heard a voice that said “go take a bath and return, you will get food.” They dutifully did what they were told and Bhagavathy is said to have fed them herself. After a sumptuous meal, they slept in the temple premises. The next morning when they woke up they had a vision of the goddess smiling benevolently at them. Immediately, they left several valuables they had brought with them in a sack and left. Meanwhile the King of Travancore had a vision of Bhagavathy in his dream. She told him to build a temple for her with the money left by the travelers. Next day the king visited the place which had appeared in his dreams and fulfilled the wishes of the goddess. However, as he began construction of the temple, the sand hill continued growing in size. They had to demolish the temple twice because of its gaining height. So, the king implored the goddess not to grow in height. But the goddess said that it would not be possible. However, she said that she would grow only the size of a grain each year. It is believed that to this day the sand hill is growing in height each year

Beliefs

Those who want to get married with good spouse or where there is delay in marriages, the devotees offer silk cloths and mangalsutra to the goddess with a prayer. The handicapped offer limbs made of silver for cures. People also offer cradles in the temple for getting children. Crackers are fired to relief from the impact of evil looks and effects. Some use to have the food placed on the floor and eat it. This is known as Mansoru Eating. Devotees suffering from incurable or terrible headaches offer an item like a kind of pudding made out of rice flour, sugar/jaggery and water called Mandaiappam and take part of it as prasadam. The general belief of the devotees is that the goddess do not disappoint those who go to her with sincere devotion with the requests.

Special Features

Mandaikadu Bhagavathy Amman Temple is known as a Sabarimala for Women. The 15 feet tall anthill is the Bhagavathy Amman. Women visit the temple with the Irumudi (a bundle containing puja items for the Goddess) as men go to Sabarimala. The goddess of this temple is also linked with Akilathirattu Ammanai, the holy text of Ayyavazhi. Though Bhagavathiis mentioned in Akilam, its view of the goddess is different from that of the other views.

The deity in this temple is special and rare – it is in the form of an ant hill (putru) with 5 heads. At present the height of the ant hill is about 12 feet and the belief of the local people and others connected with the temple is that the ant hill is growing gradually. The face of the goddess is at the upper end of the ant hill. There is a Srichakra (holy disc) near the ant hill on ground level.

It is a temple built in Kerala temples style though it is in Tamilnadu. It may be because the entire District of Kanyakumari was in Kerala and at the time of States reorganizations parts of the areas were exchanged between Kerala and Tamilnadu. The Mandaikadu Bhagavathy Amman Temple is a very simple styled one unlike most of the temples of Tamilnadu with the clay (mud) tile roof. The Holy trees for this temple are Bo Tree (peepal) and Neem tree.

Festivals

The Kodai festival at Mandaikadu is a major festival celebrated in March every year. Pilgrims from southern parts of Tamilnadu and Kerala take part in the celebration. This temple is also commonly called as “Women’s Sabarimala”. Devotees worship Bhagavathy Amman for fulfillment of their expectations. The 15 feet tall anthill is the Bhagavathy Amman. Since this temple is Sabarimala for women, they visit the temple with the Irumudi (a bundle containing pooja items for the Goddess) as men go to Sabarimala. She is also believed to rule the nine planets or the Navagrahas in one’s astrological chart.

References

https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com