Thiru Uthirakosamangai is a Village located in the Ramanathapuram district , it is nearly 17 km away from the Ramanathapuram main bus stand .
The Sri Mangalanathar – Magaleshwari Temple in the Thiru Uthirakosamangai is the main attraction among the tourists and the pilgrims .
This temple is specially worshipped by devotees for marriage and child related problems . It is one of the rarest shiva temple possess the three forms of worshiping lord shiva ie Moorthi (Deity), Virutcham (Tree) and theertham (Sacred water) .
It’s an ancient temple and has been said worshipped even before Ramayana times .
There is a seperate sannidhi of emerald Natarajar its applied with sandal paste and only once in a year during the arudra of markazhi maasam (thiruvadurai star month of mid December to mid January) removed and do abhishegam (cleansing the idol with water milk curd sandal powder tender coconut water) and then alangaram ( decorate with clothes and flowers ) and do arathy (showing diyas) .
The poem Manickavasagar sung praising this Lord is the Palliarai pooja (ritual before they close the temple) song followed in all Lord Shiva temples till now .
Its believed that Lord Shiva comes here to rest at night being his favourite place .
Manickavasagar, the 9th century Tamil saivite saint poet has revered Mangalanathar and the temple in his verses in Thiruvasakam.
Sthalapuranam
The antiquity of Sri Mangalanathar-Mangaleswari temple dates far back. Mandodhari (wife of Ravana) was very adamant that she would marry only a Shiva devotee and did not mind waiting for the choice. She prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva, asked the sages in the Ashrams to take care of one of the Veda Script (Agamas) as He was going to grace Mandodhar and told them that He would take back from them then on His turning back. The Lord appeared before Mandodhari as a child. Ravana who came there touched the child knowing It was Lord Shiva. Lord tested Ravana by changing Himself as fire. All the places in the world were caught in the fire. The sages, unable to protect the book given by the Lord fell in the fire tank nearby (Agni theertham) and died.
But sage Manickavasagar courageously withstood the fire and saved the scripture. The Lord graced Mandodhari’s wish and helped her wedding with Ravana. The Lord graced Manickavasagar granting His Linga form. The sage is still in the temple in the Linga form. The Lord is a Swayambu Linga appearing from the Ilandha tree. This is the only temple having a Nataraja idol made of Emerald .
The Ilandha tree dated more than 3000 years old .
This temple we saw during our Rameswaram visit .
The Myths and Secrets of Uthirakosamangai Mangalanatha swamy temple.
Yali with stone ball inside its mouth
There exists a separate shrine for the Goddess Mangalanayaki. The facade of the temple is with a seven tiered gateway tower. Near the entrance, there exists a statue of the mythological creature called Yali. It is with the face of lion with human’s body. A huge stone ball rolls around inside this yali’s mouth, but no one can take the ball out which is an engineering mystery.
This temple is considered to be one of the very ancient Hindu temples which Tamil literature describes as “Mann Mundhiyo Mangai Mundhiyo?” meaning “Did the mud (mann) come first or is the Mangai (The Female Deity of the Temple)?”. This is the place where Siva transferred the secrets of Vedas to Parvati. Uthiram means (upadesam) kosam (secrets) Parvati (Mangai) hence this place is known as Uthira Kosa Mangai . Strangely, this temple is not a Paadal Petra Sthalam.
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