Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman Temple
There is a Bhagavathi (goddess) temple which is for
the women like the famous Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple of Kerala is for men. It is
known as the Ladies Sabarimala temple. This temple is in a place known as Mandaikadu (also pronounced as Mondaikadu)
in the sea coast. The shore is covered with coconut trees. It is near to the
Colachel Port on the North East side. It is temple of 7th century, a
temple of 14 centuries (1400 years) old. As the name suggests the temple is
dedicated to Bhagavathi Amman. Women go to this temple with ‘vratha’ (a set of
rituals to be observed by devotees) and at the end of the ‘vratha’ they carry
an ‘iru mudi kettu’ (a cloth bundle with two bag like pouches) containing the
Pooja items and offerings, to the Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman, on their heads just
as men do in their worships to the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. As per the local
people the temple was renovated thrice.
Peculiarity (specialty) of Mandaikadu
Bhagavathiamman Temple
The deity in this temple is special and rare –
it is in the form of an ant hill (puttu) 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 Tamilnad. 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 Tamilnad. If I remember correctly this
area went to Tamilnad and the Malabar area which was under Tamilnad was
released to Kerala. The Mandaikadu Bhagavathiamman Temple is a very simple styled
one unlike most of the temples of Tamilnadu with the clay (mud) tile roof.
Offerings at Mandaikadu
Bhagavathiamman Temple
Those who want t 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.
Those who are handicapped offer
limbs made of silver to the deity for their cures.
Those who go with the prayer for
children offer cradles for their getting the blessings from the goddess for
children.
Those who feel that they are
affected by evil looks of bad persons offer crackers for relief from the effects
of evil looks.
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.
Some devotees place the food on
the floor and eat it after Pooja as prasadam. This prasadam and offering is
called the ‘man soru’ eating. Man means mud and soru means cooked rice.
The general belief f the devotees is that the goddess do not
disappoint those who go to her with sincere devotion with the requests.
Festivals of Mandaikadu
Bhagavathiamman Temple
The annual festival is known as the Mandaikadu Kodai. This falls in the month of March – April of the English calendar. The festival is celebrated for 10 days known as the Masi (Masi is the name of a Tamil calendar month) festival. During the festival the Tamilnad Tourism Department arranges photographic exhibition and other programs. This festival draws huge crowds of around 10 lakh people.
Apart from the above festival, Pournamis (Poornima),
Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays are important days in this temple.
Poojas are performed 4 times a day and the timings are
Morning
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5.00hrs
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Noon
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12.30hrs
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Evening
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18.30hrs
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Night
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20.30hrs
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The Holy trees for this temple are Bo Tree (peepal) and Neem tree.
How to reach Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman temple
The temple is situated in Mandaikadu village in Kanyakumari
District of Tamilnad on the sea shore neat to the Nagarcoil – Colachel State Highway.
It is about 4 km from Colachel, 5km from Thingalnagar, 22 km from Nagarcoil, 41
km from Kanyakumari, 70 km from Thiruvananthapuram and 100 km from Tirunelveli.
Bus facilities are available from Nagarcoil. Nearest Railway
Station is Iranial and Nagarcoil.
Nearest airport is Thiruvananthapuram and Madurai.
Accommodation facilities
The temple complex is having facility for staying. Charge may be
around Rs 100. At Nagarcoil lodges are available for charges ranging from Rs. 250
to Rs. 400
Legend about the Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman temple
His Holiness Sri Sanklaracharya was performing pooja to the Sri Chakra here with his devotees. One day the Srichakra did not turn as was the custom after the pooja was over. The Acharya stayed back here and he attained Samadhi in this place. The present ant hill grew in the place where the Srichakra existed at that time. Over a period of time the place was deserted and became like a forest area. Once when some children were playing in the area and hit the ant hill and they were injured. This news went to the then ruler of the area the King Marthanda Varma of Travancore kingdom. He came to know of the incidents and he ordered a temple to be built in this place and arrange for Poojas regularly. Gradually the temple became famous with the satisfied devotees becoming its advertisers.
