Mangaladevi Kannagi Temple is located in the Idukki district of Kerala bordering Tamil Nadu. Mangaladevi Temple is a historical temple located about 7 km from Pasiyankudi in Theni district and 15 km from Thekkady in Idukki district. It is located at an altitude of 1337 meters. Mangaladevi Temple is 2000 years old ruined stone temple. Built in the traditional Kerala style of architecture, the temple is dedicated to Mangaladevi (or Kannagi).
Legend
In the Tamil epic Chilapathikaram, Kannagi is also the wife of Kovalan, a merchant in the Chola portal city of Poompuhar. Kovalan fell in love with a dancer named Madhavi and suffered heavy losses in business. The couple moved to Madurai with the hope of reviving their business and regaining their lost wealth. When the merchant was ready to sell his wife's ankle in Madurai, the local goldsmith brought the anklet before the Pandya king and convinced the king that it was his queen's lost anklet. The king immediately passed the order to behead Kovalan without examining the suspect.
Enraged at the injustice, Kannagi entered the king's palace and broke her husband's ankle to establish his innocence. Her anklets had emeralds, and the queen's anklets were studded with pearls. The king was shocked and realized his wrong fate. He lost his life immediately on the throne and the queen also died on the spot.
Unable to control his anger following his personal tragedy, Kannagi cursed that he would burn down the entire city and set the city of Madura on fire. After that she walked for 14 days and entered the Chera kingdom, where she was reunited with her husband.
what is kannagi Kottam
The ancient Chera king Cheran Chenguttu built the temple for Kannagi. Tamil literary sources recognize this temple as 'Kannagi Kottam' (kotham means temple). Adjacent to this shrine is a Shiva temple. Cheran Chenguttuvan, the legendary Chilapathikaram, heard the story of Kannagi and built a temple in this valley to commemorate her sacred power. It is said that he is a saint. Chenguttavan's younger brother Ilango Adikal composed the Tamil epic Chilapathikaram. There the Kannagi cult was adopted from the entire Chera kingdom. As he could not go frequently to join the Kannagi Fort in the Kambham valley, he raised a temple for Kannagi at Kodungallur in Kerala and named the deity as Bhagavathy. The idol of Kannagi in Mangaladevi temple may have been taken to his capital and installed. The temple in Kambam Valley is dilapidated and neglected.
The State Epigraphy Department has found two inscriptions from this temple, both of which belong to 1. Raja Raja Cholan I (985 AD, 1014 AD) and 2. Kulasekhara Pandyan (1268-1308 AD). As the epigraphist views it, the first inscription is "shikhara" and refers only to Rajaraja Cholan I. The second inscription refers to the 'Ammane' of this temple as 'Puranagiri Aludaya Nachiyar'. Also found in a Perumal temple at Gudalur in Theni district. This is related to the mention of Kannagi as 'Mangala Madantai' in the Tamil epic Chilapathikaram.
Chitra Pournami Festival
Apart from Mangaladevi, idols of Shiva, Karuppuswamy and Ganesha also adorn the temple. Every year, thousands of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu climb the hill from Pasayangkudi in 1934 and gather at the Mangaladevi temple to celebrate the Chitra Pournami festival. The Chitra Pournami festival is celebrated in this temple on the full moon day of the Tamil month of Chithirai (April - May). The Theni (Tamil Nadu) and Idukki (Kerala) administrations will make arrangements for the festival, and the temple trust will provide provisions for distribution of free food and water. The state police of both the states organized joint patrols and set up barricades to control the crowd. At other times special permission should be obtained from the forest rangers to visit Mangaladevi.
How to Reach
The temple can be accessed from Kumuli (Kerala) via a ghat road which is 14 km by four wheeler jeep. The temple can be reached from Tamil Nadu by a steep trek from the Kumbam valley and on foot from the village of Pashyankudi in Theni district (approx. 5.6 km distance).