Arulmigu Sri Masani Amman Temple | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Hinduism |
District | Coimbatore |
Deity | Masani Amman (Shakti) |
Festivals | Navaratri, Vijaya Dashami |
Location | |
Location | Anaimalai |
State | Tamil Nadu |
Country | India |
Geographic coordinates | 10°34′32″N76°56′05″E / 10.5755701°N 76.9348486°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Dravidian architecture |
Completed | before 1000 CE [1] |
Website | |
Official Website |
Masani Amman is a Hindu deity. She is primarily worshipped as a family deity (kuladevi) by certain classes in Tamil Nadu, where she is regarded as an avatar (incarnation) of Adi Parashakti. [2] Her chief temple is located in Anaimalai, Pollachi area, Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu state, India. [3] [4]
Arulmigu Sri Masani Amman Temple is a highly revered shrine situated in Anaimalai, which is located about 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Pollachi. At the confluence of the Aliyar River and the Uppar stream, the temple is built on grassland near the Anaimalai Hills and enshrines the sleeping goddess Masani Amman as the presiding deity. She is seen in a unique lying posture, measuring 15 ft (4.6 m) from head to foot. In her four hands she holds a damaru with a snake entwined around it, a fire bowl, a bowl containing kumkuma, and a trident. [5] Other deities worshipped in the complex include neethi kall (stone of justice) and Mahamuniappan. It is a popular belief that Masani Amman cures any illness if one walks around her trident, which is located in front of the main sanctum. [1] [6] She also provides relief from menstrual cramps. [1]
According to local tradition, during ancient times, Anaimalai was known as Nannur and the region was ruled by Nannuran, a wicked king who persecuted his subjects. He protected the fruits of his mango grove by instituting severe punishments for any who ate of them. One day, a woman unfamiliar with these measures ate one of Nannuran's mangoes, so he sentenced her to death. Despite public outcry against it, the woman was executed, and later Nannuran was killed by the villagers in a battle near Vijayamangalam. People believed that the woman had saved their lives by sacrificing herself and the people built a shrine to the executed woman and deified her. The stone where she was executed was later worshipped with ground red chillies as an offering. Its deity was originally called either "Masani" (meaning "mango" in old Tamil)[ citation needed ] or "Smashani" (Sanskrit for "graveyard", about the woman's untimely end), [5] depending on the version of the legend. Later, the deity came to be known as Masani Amman. [5] Masani Amman was later syncretised with the goddess Adi Parashakti. She was later associated with the goddesses Mariamman, Angala Devi, Isakki and Karumari.
Bhavānī is a manifestation of Adi Shakti (Durga). Bhavani translates to "giver of life," meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy. She is considered to be a mother who provides to her devotees and also plays the role of dispensing justice by killing Asuras.
Mariamman, often abbreviated to Amman, is a Hindu goddess of weather, predominantly venerated in the rural areas of South India. Her festivals are held during the late summer/early autumn season of Ādi throughout Tamil Nadu and the Deccan region, the largest being the Ādi Thiruviḻa. Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chicken pox. Mariamman is worshipped in accordance with local traditions such as Pidari or the Gramadevatai. She is considered as a guardian deity by many South Indian village-dwellers.
Anaimalai is a taluk in Coimbatore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Bhadrakali is a Hindu goddess. She is considered to be the auspicious and fortunate form of Adi Shakti who protects the good, known as bhadra.
Katyayani (कात्यायनी) is an aspect of Mahadevi and the slayer of the tyrannical demon Mahishasura. She is the sixth among the Navadurgas, the nine forms of Hindu goddess Durga who are worshipped during the festival of Navaratri. She is depicted with four, ten or eighteen hands. This is the second name given to the goddess Adi Parashakti in Amarakosha, the Sanskrit lexicon.
Devi Kanya Kumari is a manifestation of the Hindu goddess Mahadevi in the form of an adolescent girl. She is variously described by various traditions of Hinduism to either be a form of Parvati or Lakshmi. She is also worshipped as an incarnation of the goddess Bhadrakali by Shaktas, and is known by several names such as Shrī Bāla Bhadra, Shrī Bāla, Kanya Devi, and Devi Kumari.
The Sri Kamakshi Amman Temple is an ancient Hindu Temple dedicated to the goddess Kamakshi, one of the highest aspects of Adi Parashakti, the mighty goddess in Shaktism. The temple is located in the historic city of Kanchipuram, near Chennai, India. The temple houses one of the 108 Divya Desams of Vishnu and is called Tirukalavanur. The temple is dedicated mainly to Kamakshi and then to Vishnu in his form of Varaha. The temple is glorified by the 6th-9th century Vaishnavite Alvars in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. Its construction is credited to the Pallava kings, whose capital was in the same city. This temple, along with the goddesses of Madurai and either Varanasi or Thiruvanaikovil, are the important centers of Shaktism in the state of Tamil Nadu. The present temple is also known as Kamakoti Peetha or Kamakota Nayaki Kovil, where Tripura Sundari had settled after killing a demon. This ancient temple was mentioned in Perunaraatrupadai, an ancient Tamil literature that praises the renowned Sangam era. King Thondaiman Ilandiraiyan of the Pallava dynasty, who ruled Kanchipuram, constructed the temple. Kamakshi is worshipped in the shrine in 5 forms, one of them was a golden idol, which was transported to Thanjavur due to the Muslim invasions of Kanchipuram. There are no other goddess temples in the city of Kanchipuram, apart from this one, which is unusual in a city that has hundreds of traditional temples. There are various legends that account for this fact.
Isakki, also called Isakki Amman, is a folk Hindu goddess. The term Isakki derived from the Sanskrit yakshi, through the Prakrit yakki. Her veneration remains popular among certain Hindu communities in the southern Indian districts of Tamil Nadu, specifically the Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Salem districts. She is generally considered to be one of the 'village deities'. Village deities like her are believed to act as guardian spirits.
Angala Devi, also known as Angalamman and Angala Paramesvari, is an aspect of the Hindu goddess Parvati, primarily worshipped in the villages of South India as a kaval deivam, a guardian deity. She is often additionally considered to be an aspect of one of the Matrikas.
Periyachi is a ferocious aspect of Parvati in Hinduism. She is also known as Periyachi Amman and sometimes called as Periyachi Kali Amman as she is associated with the goddess Kali. According to some accounts, the deity is a Guardian form of the Mother Goddess, who is prayed to in order to prevent misfortune during childbirth. Periyachi is said to be the protector of children, and is associated with childbirth and pregnancy, and is a deity revered in Singapore, The Caribbean, Malaysia and Réunion Island.
Kondathu Kaliamman Temple is an Amman temple located at Pariyur near Gobichettipalayam in Tamil Nadu, India. There are other temples, namely Sri Amarapaneeswarar Temple, Sri Adinarayana Perumal Temple and Sri Angalamman Temple nearby.
Kannaki Amman is the deified form of Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil epic Cilappatikāram. She is primarily worshipped in Sri Lanka and Kerala, and in a minor way in few parts of Tamil Nadu. As a goddess of chastity, she is venerated by Indian Tamils and Malayalis, Sri Lankan Tamil Shaivites, and also by the Sinhalese Buddhists as Pattini Amma. In regional Hindu tradition, her tale is interpreted as the story of Durga demanding justice after the death of her husband, Kovalan, who is identified as a form of Shiva.
Keezha Sarakkalvilai is a small village in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu with Indian postal code 629002. It is an important pilgrimage and the site of the famous Bathirakali Amman Temple.
Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple is a Hindu temple in Tiruverkadu, a suburb of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Kiruthivakesvarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located at Soolamangalam near Ayyampet in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, India.
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Putlur Angala Parameshwari Amman Temple, also known as the Putlur Amman Temple, is a Hindu temple in Putlur, a village on the outskirts of Chennai, India. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Angala Parameshwari, an incarnation of Parvati, who is believed to have taken the form of a large anthill resembling a pregnant woman.