Mangaladevi Temple In Thekkady

There is a very interesting phenomenon behind the Mangaladevi Temple in Thekkady. It is believed that Kannagi, who was the wife of Kovalan, killed her husband, as an act of revenge. Later, she set the city of Madurai on fire. Then, she went to heaven with his husband in a Pushpak Vimaan. An ancient Tamil king known as Chera Chenguttuvan, who was very inspired with this story, built the temple of Mangaladevi.

Mangaladevi Temple is located in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. As a result, traditions of both the states can been seen clearly during the ‘pooja’ in this temple. This makes it even more pious. This temple is in a very dilapidated state.

Mangaladevi Temple opens only during the Chitra Poornima Day. For the rest of the year, this temple remains closed. Even then, many tourists and pilgrims throng to this temple just to get a glimpse of it.

During the Chitra Poornima annual festival at this temple, the temple and the neighboring towns see a heavy footfall of tourists.<readmore> The idol of the deity is decorated with flowers. Also, traditional pooja is performed by the priests. There is a huge rush of the tourists and pilgrims at the temple during the annual Chitra Poornima festival.

As an initiative to protect the ecosystem of the Wildlife Sanctuary, the forest department has made it compulsory for all the people visiting this temple to get a permission letter from the Wildlife Warden.