13
Feb

Uttrakosamangai, Rameswaram temple.  

Posted by Shamala Krishnan

  1. Uttrakosa mangai:




    The temple is one of 275 Important Siva Devera sthalam.


    The place is 15 kms SW of Ramanadhapuram.







    Main deity: Swayambu Linga known as Arul migu Mangala nadhar and his consort known as Goddess Mangaleswari Ammai.



    Sthala Vruksham of the temple is Ilayandhi and teertham Agni.



    Importance: Lord Siva preached the secret of vedagamas to Goddess Parvathy here and hence the place is known as Uttrakosamangai.



    Purana says thousands of muni’s penanced on Lord Siva in jyothi form. Mannikka vachakar was born in this place. There is a small sanctum for mannikka vachakar in front of Agni teertham.



    Inside the temple we see Maragadha Natarjar who is always covered with sandal paste. We can have, darshan of Natarajar without sandal paste on Thirvadirai day, in a year and abishekam is done only on that day which is unique.



    Instead of Navagrahas we see only Saneeswarar in this temple which is something different from the normal pattern.



    Mannikka vachakar sang hymns on Lord Siva of this place, and Arunagirinadhar sang Thirupugazh on Subramanyar of this place.



  2. Rameswaram:



    This is one of 275 Devara sthalam and one of 12 Jyothir Lingas.



    The place is 52 kms from Ramanadhapuram. This is an island. The temple dates back To Lord Rama’s time. Originally it was a tatched shed. The present structure that we see is the contribution of number of persons spread over centuries. The main sanctum was built in 12th century. The pride of the place goes to Sethupati of Ramanad.







    Main Deity is Lord Siva in the form of Linga known as Ramanadhar and his consort known as Goddess Parvathavardhini ammai.Teertham is Koiti teertham, Agni teertham, and Danushkoti are important ones.



    Purana says the Siva Linga in the main sanctum is of mud made by Sita for Rama to do Siva pooja. Hence the main deity is known as Ramanadhar. We find another Linga known as Viswanadhar which was brought by Hanuman from Kasi on request of Rama.



    The story is Lord Rama, to get rid of his brahamahathi dosha, due to the killing of Ravana, who is an ardent devotee of Lord Siva. He requested Hanuman to bring a Siva lingam from Kasi to perform the pooja.



    Hanuman was late, in getting the Linga and the auspicious time was coming to end, so Rama installed the Linga made by Sita and performed the pooja. Hanuman when he came with Siva lingam, he was not happy about what has taken place and he tried to remove the Lingam.His efforts were waste.



    He realised his foolishness, and to cool down Hanuman, Rama was kind enough to place the Linga Moorthy and named as Viswanadhar. He said one has to have darshan of the Viswanadhar first and then Ramanadhar. Even the temple pooja is performed in the same manner.



    As we enter the temple to right side we see Hanuman and Viswanadhar is seen inside the same sanctum.



    Importance: One who visits the temple fetch holy water of Koti teertham and do abishekam for Viswanadhar at Varanasi, and fetch water from Kasi and do the abishekam for Ramanadhar to complete the holy visit.



    There are about 64 teerthams around the temple. The bath here refreshes the mind and body. The water has medicinal values here. There are 22 teerthams in wells representing Devatas. One who visits the temple takes bath in all the teerthams and then they worship Lord Siva in the main sanctum.



    There is a spatika Linga for which they perform abishekam in the early morning hours only, and one has to purchase ticket for this seva. The corridor of Rameswaram is world famous. The corridor is supposed to be lengthy one, with pillars to either side in a row and it’s in Guiness Records.


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