Mangala Devi Temple, Mangalore – Legends

Mangala Devi Temple, Mangalore – Legends

Mangala Devi:

As per legend, Vikhasini, the daughter of Hiranyakasipu wanted to avenge the death of his father at the hands of Lord Vishnu. To achieve her goal, she desired to have a son with Lord Shiva who would be powerful and competent enough to challenge Lord Vishnu and destroy him. To realise her wish, she started performing intense penance on Lord Brahma. Pleased with her penance, Lord Brahma appeared before her and asked her to wish for a boon. She wished for a powerful son who could slay Lord Vishnu.

Lord Brahma rejected her wish stating that Lord Vishnu is immortal. However, she would get a brave and invincible son from Lord Shiva. Lord Brahma visited Kailash and informed about his boon to Vikhasini. Lord Shiva along with Lord Brahma went to the abode of Lord Vishnu and expressed his displeasure. Lord Vishnu pacified Lord Shiva that everything would be rectified when the time comes. Meanwhile, Vikhasini disguised herself as Goddess Parvati and had a union with Lord Shiva.

Once, the union was over, she left for her kingdom. She feared that the devas would harm her unborn son during her journey to her kingdom. She buried her foetus inside the Earth. Eventually, a great demon was born and was named Andasura by Vikhasini. She briefed Andasura about the annihilation of Hiranyakasipu by Lord Vishnu and asked him to seek revenge for the death of his grandfather. He attacked the Devaloka and conquered it.

The devas along with Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and Brahma went to Adi Parasakthi for help. She agreed to destroy the demon for the welfare of the devas. Meanwhile, Andasura was searching for Lord Vishnu in the celestial world. Sage Narada directed him to a place where Goddess Parashakti, disguised as a beautiful maiden was waiting for him. Enamoured by her beauty, the demon came close to her and tried to misbehave with her. Goddess Adi Parashakti got furious and slew him with the trident.

She addressed the devas and the gods that Lord Vishnu would incarnate as Parasurama and annihilate the 21 generations of evil Kshatriyas. Further, he would perform penance at the place where she killed Andasura. Parasurama would build a shrine with Linga and a Dharapatra. The shrine was lost due the vagaries of time and remained hidden under the earth. Veerabahu, the king of Tulunadu was childless. He made Bangaraja as his successor. Bangaraja ruled his kingdom in just manner and brought immense prosperity to the region.

One day, Goddess Mangala Devi appeared in his dreams and informed him about the shrine under a mound where the Nethravati and the Phalguni rivers intersect. King Bangaraja along with Saint Bharadhwaja rediscovered the shrine and constructed a small temple around it. However, again nature took its course and the temple was hidden under the earth. During the ninth century CE, Kundavarman, the most famous king of the Alupa dynasty was ruling over Tulu Nadu.

During his rule, two saints of Nath sect namely Machindranath and Gorakhnath from Nepal reached Mangalore by crossing the Nethravati river. The place where they crossed the river came to be called as Gorakdandi. They chose a place at the banks of the Nethravati where Sage Kapila had his ashram once. On hearing their arrival, the king visited and paid homage to the saints. Pleased with his humility, they informed him about the presence of the hidden ancient shrine built by Parasurama.

The saints showed him the place and asked the king to dig the place. The Lingam and the Dharapatra symbolizing Mangala Devi were retrieved and installed in a grand shrine built by Kundavarman. Even today, the two temples of Mangala Devi and Kadri have maintained their connection. The hermits of Kadri Yogiraj Mutt visit Mangala Devi temple on the first days of Kadri temple festival and offer prayer and silk clothes. The city of Mangalore derives its name from the main deity of the temple, Mangala Devi.

Mangalore:

As per legend, a princess named Parimala / Premala Devi from Malabar renounced her kingdom and became a disciple of Matsyendranath, the founder of the Nath tradition. He renamed her Mangala Devi after her conversion to the Nath sect. She came to the region along with Matsyendranath. She fell ill near Bolar in Mangalore and died eventually. The Mangala Devi temple was built in her honour at Bolar by the local people after her death. Thus, the city got its name from the temple.