Sri Mangalanathar Mangaleswari Temple at Utharakosamangai also called as Uthirakosamangai temple in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.
Mangalanatha Swamy temple, is a Shiva temple in the Ramanathapuram district which is an ancient temple , and the current construction is thought to have been built at various periods by Pandya rulers, Achutappa Nayak (1529–1542 CE), Muthuveerappar, and other Ramanthapuram monarchs.
The hymns of 9th-century saint Manickavasagar and 15th-century saint Arunagirinathar have exalted the shrine.
The temple is considered very sacred!
Uthirakosamangai temple timings
Sri Mangalanathar Mangaleswari Temple is open from morning 6.00 AM to 11.00 AM and then from 4.00 PM to evening 8.00 PM.
Uthirakosamangai temple address
The famous Mangalanathar temple is near Ramnathapuram in Tamil Nadu. Below is the temple address:
Ramanathapuram Road, Utrakosamangai, Ramnathapuram Dsitrict Tamil Nadu 623533
Uthirakosamangai temple contact number
Below are the contact numbers which are available on internet. Request you to verify it once.
+91 4567221213 , +91 9442757691
Uthirakosamangai temple history
According to the legends, Mandodhari (wife of the Lanka Samrat Ravana) was very adamant that she would marry only a Shiva devotee.
And hence, she went to Lord Shiva and prayed to him. Lord Shiva ordered the sages at the ashram to take care of one of the veda writings (Agamas) and promised to deliver it to him when he returned. And he came to grace Mandodhari,
Lord Shiva then appeared before Mandodhari as a child. Ravana who came there touched the child as he knew that the child was Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva tested Ravana by changing himself into fire form. And because of this all the places around the world caught in this fire.
But the sages failed to protect the book and died. But, sage Manickavasagar courageously withstood the fire and saved the book.
Then Lord graced Mandodhari’s wish and Mandodhari married Ravana.
Lord Shiva changed sage Manickavasagar into Shiv Linga and it is said that the sage is still in this temple in the Linga form.
Also There is a 6 ft (1.8 m) tall maragatha Nataraja idol carved out of emerald inside the temple.
The temple has a seven-tiered rajagopuram. There are separate shrines for Mangalanathar in the form of linga. A hall of Saharasralinga has thousand linga enshrined in it.
The temple is considered very sacred along with Ramanathapuram, Sethu Madhava Theertham and Lakshmana Theertham.
The emerald image of Nataraja is anointed with sandal paste round the year except on Tiruvathidirai festival day when special worship is done.
It is believed that even small vibrations can damage the image and hence no percussion instruments are used during worship.
The front hall has linga made of spatika, that is anointed with cooked rice every afternoon.
There is another nice story associated with this temple.
As per Hindu legend, one upon a time, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma contested for superiority. Then Lord Shiva appeared as a flame, and challenged them to find his source.
Brahma took the form of a swan, and flew to the sky to see the top of the flame, while Vishnu became the boar Varaha, and tried to find its base.
Neither Brahma nor Vishnu could find the source. Lord Vishnu conceded his defeat. But Lord Brahma lied with the help of a thazhamboo (a flower) and said he had found the pinnacle.
As a punishment, Shiva ordained that there will not be any temple on earth dedicated to Lord Bhramha and that all Shiva temples will not use thazhamboo for worship.
But this is one temple, where thazhamboo is allowed for worship . Manickavasagar, the 9th century Tamil saivite saint poet and nayanar has revered Mangalanathar and the temple in his verses in Tevaram, compiled as the fifth Tirumurai.
Arunagirinatha, a 15th-century Tamil poet has composed Tamil hymns which glorifies Subramanya in the temple.
As per Hindu legend, Subramanya was awarded the Airavata (white elephant) of celestial deity Indra at this place.
Uthiram means – upadesam (teaching) and Kosam means rahasiyam (secret) and mangai means Ma Parvathi.
It is the place where Lord Shiva taught the secrets of veda to Parvathi and it is the place where Lord shiva gave dharshan to saint Sri Manikavasagar.
It is believed that Goddess Parvathi is worshipping Lord Shiva here. This temple is mentioned in 38 places in Thiruvasagam , the famous Shiva hymn.
How to reach Uthirakosamangai
Ramanathapuram has a railway station and is well connected to the major cities of the Country via Express / Passenger Trains.
Ramnathapuram has bus station which is well connected to major parts of Tamil Nadu.
You can also reach Uthirakosamangai via train or bus from Chennai or Madurai.
Other nearest railway station- (SRT)SATUR , (VPT)VIRUDUNAGAR JN, (CVP)KOVILPATTI
- Thirupullani to uthirakosamangai distance – Around 10 Kms
- Ramanathapuram to uthirakosamangai distance – Around 20 Kms, 30 mins of driving time
- Chennai to uthirakosamangai distance – Around 540 Kms , 10 to 12 hrs of travel time
- Bangalore to uthirakosamangai distance – Around 550 Ks , around 11 to 12 hours of travel time.
- Hyderabad to uthirakosamangai distance – Around 1100 Kms
- Rameshwaram to uthirakosamangai distance – Around 80 Kms 3 to 4 hrs of drive.
