This temple is one of the temples connected with Mahamaga festival. It is situated in the heart of Kumbhakonam city. This is one of the Padal Petra Sthalam on the southern bank of river Kaveri. This is a East facing temple with three parikramas. The temple has a nine-tiered Rajagopuram. The temple is more than 1500 years old. The Shaiva saints Appar and Sambandar have sung hymns about this temple. The temple is one of the 51 Shaktipeethas. Shri Mangalambika Devi is addressed here as Shri Mantrapeetheshwari. This is the place where the Amruta Kalasha reached finally during the pralaya.
Mulavar: Shri Kumbheswarar, Shri Amrudeshwarar, Shri Kuzhajar
Devi (Consort): Shri Mangalambigai and Shri Mantrapeetheshwari.
Sacred teertha: Mahamagam tank, Potramarai kulam (well) and twelve other teerthas, Kaveri river
Kshetra Vriksha: Shami (Vanni in Tamil)
According to Kshetra purana, the Nava-kumarikas (nine rivers) who take bath in the Mahamagam tank, also take bath in the Putramarai kulam.
The Shiva Linga in this temple is believed to have been made by Shri Shiva Himself after the pralaya i.e. at the beginning of new Yuga. He made this Linga by mixing sand, nectar and broken pieces of the kalash. This Shiva linga is in the same shape as a pot i.e. broad at the bottom and needle shape as it rises. This peetham is also a Vishnu shakti peeth. As Shri Shiva was responsible for protecting the seeds (beej) for creation by keeping it in a kumbha, He is known as Shri Kumbheshwarar.
Other deities and shrines:
As we enter through the Rajagopuram, we come across balipeeth, dhwaja stambha and Nandi. In the first prakara, we come across the idols of 63 Nayanmars, Sapta-Matrikas, Kamadhenu and Bhava linga, Sarva linga, Eshana linga, Pashupathi linga, Rudra linga, Ugra linga, Bheem linga and Maha linga.
Koshta-moorthies:
Shri Dakshinamoorthy, Shri Bhairava, Shri Vishnu, Shri Chandikeshwarar in their usual positions. In the same parikrama, we come across idols of Shri Vinayaka, Shri Muruga, Shri Gajalakshmi, Shri Nataraja, Shri Somaskanda, Shri Keeratmoorthy, Shri Nalawar, Shri Veerabhadra, Shri Kashi-Vishwanath and Shri Vishalakshi, Shri Saraswati and Shri Jesthadevi. In this corridor, we come across a Ganesha idol known as Shri Valam Chuzhi Vinayaka whose trunk is curved towards the right. We also come across Shri Bhikshadanar, Akshaya linga, Sahasra linga, Shri Annapurni and Shri Mahalakshmi. When we enter 2nd prakaram, we come across the shrine of Goddess Parvati. We also come across the Shayana graha. In the 2nd corridor, there are idols of Shri Sattainathar, Shri Chandra, Shri Surya, Shri Vallabha-Ganesha, Shri Lakshmi-Narayan, Shri Vanni-Vinayaka, Shri Kumbh muni siddha. The idols of Shri Ashtabhuja Durga Devi, Shri Navaneet Vinayaka, Shri Kala-Bhairva, Shri Jwarakeshwarar, Shri Shasta, Shri Mahan Govind Dikshidar and Shri Nagambal.
Special features:
In this temple the prakaram is designed in such a way that when we do pradakshina in the prakaram, we do pradakshina of both – Shri Shiva and Shri Mangalambika Devi together. This is in keeping up with purana in which Shri Ganesha went around the parents in order to go around the Universe. Hence it indicates that, the pradakshina of the parents is equivalent to doing pradakshina of the whole world i.e. they are everything that is in the world.
As the Shiva Linga is made of sand there is no Abhisheka for the Shiva Linga. They apply, only punugu (civet – a cent) once in while. As the Shiva linga is very huge it is known as Mahalingam and it is inclined to one side. Abhishek is performed only to the base of Shiva Linga. There is a sculpture of a lion in the Navaratri mandap which is very unique. People take a dip in the Mahamagam tank before taking bath in the Putramarai kulam.
Shri Mangalambika Devi is dressed in a yellow silk saree and her face is smeared with yellow turmeric paste and she has tilak of red vermillion (kunku). Shri Mangalanayaki is also known as Shri Mantrapeetheshwari. There is a separate shrine for Shri Keeratmoorthy and special abhishek is done in the evenings for Shri Mangalambika Devi. We come across Shri Muruga, seated on his mount peacock along with his consorts, Shri Valli and Shri Deivanai. He has six faces but has only 6 hands instead of twelve.
There are fourteen holy teerthas associated with this temple namely – Mahamagam tank, Putramarai tank, Varun teertha, Kashyap teertha, Chakra teertha, Matanga teertha, Bhagawat teertha, Mangala teertha, Naag teertha, Kura teertha, Chandra teertha, Surya teertha, Gautam teertha and Varaha teertha. In this temple complex, there is one unfinished gopuram (knowing in Tamil as Mottaigopuram). The temple is sacred in all the three forms namely, Moorthy, Kshetra and Teertha.
In the Navaratra mandap, 27 constellations and 12 zodiac signs are sculptured in one stone. There is a piped instrument known as Nadaswaram which is made of stone.
It is to be noted that Shri Ganesha came here ahead of his parents.
Shri Muruga got his mantra upadesha from his mother at this place.
Festivals:
Almost all festivals similar to other Shiva mandirs.
Maasi (Feb-March): Maasimagam Brahmotsav on a huge scale. Ashwini nakshatra, flag hoisting indicating beginning of festival. 8th day special pooja for Lord and Devi. 9th day Chariot festival; 10th day festival – procession of panchamoorthis on peacock, mooshaka and rishabha.
Panguni (March-April): Float festival.
Chitrai (April-May): Saptasthanam festival
Vaikaasi (May-June): Thirukalyanam (wedding festival)
Ani (June-July): Thirumanjanam
Aadi (July-August): 18th day festival, festival on nakshatra Puram
Courtesy: Following sites
https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/ and
https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/
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