Mangaladevi Temple – Doing A Tour Of Mangalore Could Not Finish Without A Trip To This Temple

MANGALADEVI TEMPLE

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MANGALORE

Sri Mangaladevi Temple is a Hindu temple in the city of Mangalore District of Karnataka State of India. The temple is at Bolara which is about three kilometers from the City Centre. The temple is dedicated to the god Shakti who is in the form of Mangaladevi. This is where the name of the city, Mangalore, comes from. This temple has high significance among the locals and was built in the ninth century.

The history of the temple dates back to the tenth century when two sages came to visit Mangalore from Nepal. The sages were named Machhendranatha and Gorakanatha. Hearing about the arrival of the two sages, the ruling king came to meet them. He offered all help and patronage and paid his respects to them.

Delighted by the humility of the King, the sages asked him for a piece of land to build a temple. The King came to know about the temple built by Parshurama which was the Temple of Mangaladevi. The sages then took the King to all the places which had historical importance and asked him to dig the place and build a temple.

The King did as he was asked to and a grand shrine of the goddess stood at the holy place. Since then, the temple attained special significance and has become a part of the history of the city of Mangalore.

The temple has an architecture which reflects the style of Kerala and has most of the structure made from wood. The Hindu god, Mangaladevi is in a seated posture inside the temple. A rectangular wall around the temple encloses all the shrines located inside the temple boundary. The central shrine has the image of the deity which can be reached through five steps.

The temple has a two-storied tower and special pujas are performed during the Navaratri festival. Special pujas are performed on all the nine days of the festival. A large number of devotees gather at the temple of the day of Dasara which is the tenth and the last day of Navaratri festival.

On the day of Dasara, the decorated goddess is mounted on a chariot and the grand procession moves to Marnamikatte, where the god Mangaladevi and Shamivriksha are worshipped. The devotees believe that the worship of the goddess brings them prosperity and happiness. The Vedic Brahmins perform various pujas and rituals on a regular basis.

The temple has a rich heritage, Keralian style architecture and a historical significance. The temple has easy access through buses and autos. Travelling to the ancient city of Mangalore will not be complete without a visit to this temple.

Darshan Timings

Morning00 AM – 10.00 AM

Noon: 00 Noon 1.00 PM

Evening:00 PM -8.30 PM. (Fridays till 9.00 PM)

Daily Pooja timings

6.00 AM, 1.00 PM, 8.30 PM and 9.00 PM on Fridays

By Air

Mangalore International airport is nearest airport and from there you can avail taxis or buses

By Train

Mangalore railway station is the nearest railway station to reach the temple.

By Bus

The temple can be easily reached through the best transport system available here. Get into the bus number 27, 27A, and 29A, to reach the temple

Mangi Tungi Hills – It Has Lots Of Caves As There Are Few Hills Only In India

MANGI-TUNGI HILLS

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NASHIK

Twin hills of Mangi-Tungi are situated in the picturesque Selbari range of Western Ghat, famous for medieval Jaina caves and icons carved on the rock face. These hills are the highest in Nashik district; Mangi reaching up to a height of 1,326 meters and Tungi up to 1,323 meters.

The hills are connected by a narrow ridge and the most interesting facet of the hills is their peculiar shapes. Conical-shaped, both these peaks have completely bare and perpendicular surfaces, which is what makes them so distinct. But apart from the hills in themselves, the site is visited by tourists around the year for the Jaina caves and hundreds of Jaina icons carved on the rock face of the peaks.

These caves and icons are believed to have been cut over a long period during the 9th to 15th century CE. The exploration of the caves begins with the two Jaina caves at a height of around 150 meters on the southern face of Mangi hill. These have about 80 icons.

Climbing up the hill, you reach the base of the Mangi peak, surrounding which are five caves and around 135 icons carved directly on the rock face. Crossing the narrow ridge between the peaks, you reach the base of Tungi peak, which has two caves and eight icons on the rock face. The caves per se are not as architecturally decorative as caves found elsewhere but the many icons will hold you spellbound. The walls are covered with rock-cut icons of Jaina deities and there also are large panels of scenes drawn from ancient legends.

Further from the caves, a climb up to the peaks takes you to caves which are simple rooms with crude pillars, built in some cases for supporting the roof. The icons inside the caves and on the rock face mainly consist of rows and rows of Jina figures along with a large number of figures of monks and some devotees.

There is a very narrow and precarious path around these peaks that one needs to follow to see the icons on the rock face but there’s nothing to fear since a parapet wall has been constructed for safety. The ideal time to see the caves is at the break of dawn when the first rays of sun light up the icons. Also, the view from the top is magnificent with the ranges of Western Ghats and rivers Mosam and Panjra flowing nearby.

This place is very old consists of two hills Mangi & Tungi are two cliffs of a single mountain these are named after two sisters Mangi and Tungi. Mangi is at a height of 4343 feet and Tungi is 4366 feet above the sea level. We can find 6 caves on the Mangi hill and 2 caves on Tungi hill.

The nearby forts of Kanchanpur and Mulher and the village of Mulher are of historical significance. Till Vikram year 1822, in this village which was a city, there lived hundreds of Jain householder families and the city was rich and prosperous. It is said that once upon a time, the local king as well as all his subjects were following Jain religion.

At the base of the mountain , now there are a total of three temples, two of Sri Parshvanath Bhagwan and one of Sri Adhinath Bhagwan. The place is a veritable treasure trove of ancient art. It would be difficult to describe this place in words.

The ancient artistic Jain idols of Tirthankars and saints together with exquisitely carved images of gods and goddess in dancing moods and postures of a great variety which are found here in caves are rarely to be seen anywhere else. From place to place here inscriptions are found in Sanskrit as well as Magadhi languages.

The best way to reach Mangi-Tungi is by road via Nashik, Satana and Taharabad. The nearest highway is State Highway 7. There are regular bus services from Taharabad to Mangi-Tungi.