Mangesh Temple, Mangeshi – Legends

Mangesh Temple, Mangeshi – Legends

Mangesh:

Lord Mangesh is an incarnation of Lord Shiva. The name Mangesh is not used for Lord Shiva anywhere else in India. The ancient legend states that Lord Shiva once lost everything he had in a game of dice with his wife Parvati. He decided to go into self-imposed exile and arrived in Goa. Parvati, unable to stay without Lord Shiva for long, came looking for him in the jungles of Goa. Lord Shiva decided to play a prank to frighten her and disguised himself as a tiger which attacked her.

Parvati cried out for help in terror, 'Trahi Mam Girisha' (O Lord of Mountains Save Me). Lord Shiva immediately turned himself back into his normal form and the two were united. But the cry for help, and the words 'Mam Girisha' became associated with Lord Shiva. In the course of time, the words got corrupted to Manguirisha or Mangesh. A Linga was left to mark the place where the legend occurred was discovered by a local shepherd and eventually a temple was built to house Lord Mangesh.

Mangesh Linga:

Mangueshi Temple hosts the Kuladevatha (family deity) idols of a section of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins. Saraswats claim their origins from the Punjab region, where the mythical Saraswathi river existed. They were brahmins consumed fish (so uncommon in other brahmins of the region) probably because of their river bank inhabitation. When the river Saraswathi began to dry, they migrated towards greener pastures like Kashmir, UP, Rajasthan.

Some of their branches migrated eastwards viz towards Bengal (which was then known as Gauda). Hence they came to be known as Gauda Saraswat Brahmins. The Mangesh Linga is said to have been consecrated on the mountain of Mangireesh (Mongir) on the banks of river Bhagirathi by Brahma, from where the Saraswat Brahmins brought it to Trihotrapuri in Bihar.

Later due to Islamic persecution, they again shifted location towards Bihar and eventually moved southwards, towards Goa. They carried the Linga to Gomantaka and settled at Mormugoa, on the bank of Zuari river present day called Sancoale and established their most sacred temple there. However due to Portuguese persecution, some of the Saraswats again shifted base to adjoining regions of coastal Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Parasurama gift to Saraswat Brahmins:

As per legend, the land of Goa was created by Sage Parshuram. He conducted a Yagna.  He invited the Saraswat brahmins to participate in the rituals. In return he donated portions of Goa to them. Each tribe of different gotras received different regions as gram daan.