Mathangeshvarar Temple

Sree Madhangeeswarar temple is a Shiva temple located in Kanchipuram,Tamil Nadu, India. This holy place has nine Shiva temples besides eleven Vishnu temples. Here, Lord Vishnu is present in the form of Mohini with conch and discus in ‘Ananda Mudra'. Mohini is the female form of Lord Vishnu while the symbol of bliss is Ananda Mudra. Madhangeeswari is considered Guru to Mother Saraswathi, who is the Goddess of Wisdom. She graces from a separate shrine where the devotees worship for high education boon. Children are brought here on full moon or Ashtami day – eighth day from the new moon day before the commencement of schooling. The first letter is written in honey on their tongue and begin Aksharapiyasam,i.e., starting education. Tying the un-stripped coconut is done along with offering pulse porridge-Pasi Paruppu Payasam as nivedhana by the people who seem to face delays in marriage . Ekadala Vimana is the vimana above the sanctum. Lord Valanchuzhi Madhanga Vinayaka is the Vinayaka in the temple. Mother Aananda Vadabadra Makali Amman Vadabadra Makali Amman is placed in a separate shrine on a swing in the sanctum. She is holding weapons in her eight hands. If the darshan is made while the swing moves to and fro, then it is considered lucky. Four lamps made up of ghee and sugar are lighted by the devotees on poornima-full moon days along with sarkarai pongal nivedhana, which is a sweet pudding. Sage Madhanga also has a shrine in the prakara. Ghoshta Lord Brahmma graces in a sitting in the shrine surrounding walls. The marriage of Lord Shiva and mother Madhangee was held at Tiruvengadu. No dowry was accepted by Lord Shiva from Sage Madhanga. It was considered a weakness of the Lord and the Devas along with other invitees from the heavenly world spoke critically about it. Lord Shiva expressed that it was a wrong practice and said that his own assets belonged to Mother Madhange. He sent Nandhi to bring them from Shivaloka to be offered to his bride. Recalling this event, two Nandhis are present in the temple. Facing the Lord is the Madhanga Nandhi while Swedha Nandhi faces the opposite side. It showcases the Nandhi bringing the gifts. Abisheks are performed to Nandhis during the Pradosha time which lies between 4.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. This darshan is considered very significant. To test the determination of Sage Madanga Lord Vishnu went to him while he was in penance as Mohini-an appealing woman.Sage knew the magic with his wisdom eye. Thus he opened his eyes to curse Mohini but then before he opened his eyes, Lord Vishnu appeared there with his conch and discus. He is portrayed in the temple in the same position. When Lord Shiva destroyed the yajna of Daksha,he did his furious dance called Rudra Thandava.During the thandava his hair touched 11 places on earth. 11 forms were taken by Lord Vishnu to soften the fury of Lord Shiva. As a remembrance, 11 Shiva temples were constructed here .Among them only 9 are left. 11 Vishnu temples are also in this place admired as Divyadesas. One time Lord Shiva devastated the whole earth by Jala Pralaya-floods. Unaware about it, Sage Madanga, Lord Brahmma’s son came down to execute penance on Lord Shiva but was unable to land on earth. He searched for the advice of Mahrshi Narada for a dry place. He was suggested to go to Swedha Vana by Naradha. Performing the penance here, he was rewarded with the darshan of Lord Shiva. Sage Madhanga requested the Lord to become a relation to him being the father of all Jivas. God told the sage that he would be his son-in-law at an appropriate time. He continued his penance. Once while the sage was taking a bath in the Manikarunai River on a Chitra Poornima day, he got a female child floating on a lotus leaf. He grabbed the child and brought her up. When she attained the marriageable age, Lord Shiva came and accepted Madhangee,the daughter of Sage Madhanga in marriage and granted darshan as Shiva-Parvathi. On the request of the sage God stayed here as Madhangeeswarar.