Mangueshi Temple
Encyclopedia
Shri Mangueshi temple also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
:श्री मंगेशी मंदीर) is located at Mangeshi
Mangeshi Village
Mangeshi is a village in Priol, Ponda, Goa, India. Mangueshi/Mangueshim are other variations for the same name.-Main Attraction:The temple of Shri Mangesh is set amidst natural beauty and pleasant surroundings...
m in Priol
Priol
Priol is a village in central Goa, in western India.It is situated in Ponda Taluka, north of the city of Ponda. The Mangueshi Temple is located northwest of the village.From Mardol Priol is around 2km, Mardol is on Panaji-Ponda highway...
, Ponda taluk
Ponda taluk
Ponda taluk is a comunidade of Goa, India. Ponda taluk is part of North-Goa district. Ponda taluk is almost in middle of Goa state. Ponda taluk hosts many educational institutes and industries . The Belagavi - Panaji Highway passes through this taluka.-External links:**...
, 1 kilometer from Mardol
Mardol, Goa
Mardol is a census town in Ponda taluka, North Goa district in the state of Goa,India.The Marathi- and Portuguese-language radio playwright and short-story writer Ananta Rau Sar Dessai lived and practiced medicine in Mardol....
close to Nagueshi
Nagueshi
Nagueshi or Nagesh is a form of Lord Shiva worshipped by Hindu Goans in India. The temple lies in verdant surroundings in the Ponda district of Goa. Unlike many other Hindu temples of Goa which were shifted out of the Velha Conquistas the Nagueshi Temple is at its original place. It has, however,...
, 22 km from Panaji the capital of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
and 26 km from Margao
Margao
Margao and commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is the administrative headquarters of South Goa district and of the Salcete taluka.- Etymology :...
.
Deity
The temple is dedicated to Lord Mangueshi, an incarnation of ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
.
He is a kuldevta
Kuldevta
Kuladevata or Kuladevi, also known as Kuladev and Kŭladaiwat, stands for "family deity, that is either a god or a goddess" within Hinduism, as distinct from personal ishta-devata and village deities...
of many Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
specially of Saraswat Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s. He is also referred to as Saib (The Lord of Goa) by Hindus.
The Mangesh Linga is said to have been consecrated on the mountain of Mangireesh (Mongir) on the banks of river Bhagirathi by Lord Brahma , from where the Saraswat Brahmins brought it to Trihotrapuri in Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
. They carried the linga to Gomantaka and settled at Mathagrama, the present-day Madgaon, establishing their most sacred and ancient temple of Mangesh on the banks of the river Gomati or Zuari as it is called today. Lord Mangesh is worshipped here in the shape of a Shiva linga. According to the legends Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
had manifested in to a tiger to scare Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
. Paravati who was paranoid at the sight of the tiger went in search of Lord Shiva. Parvati was supposed to say "Trahi maam Gireesh" but instead out of nervousness she said: "Trahimangeesh".
Shri Mangueshi is the Kuldevta
Kuldevta
Kuladevata or Kuladevi, also known as Kuladev and Kŭladaiwat, stands for "family deity, that is either a god or a goddess" within Hinduism, as distinct from personal ishta-devata and village deities...
(family deity) of many Goud Saraswat Brahmins.
History
This temple actually had its origins in Kushasthali CortalimCortalim
Cortalim is a village in Saxtti , Goa, India.The original Magueshi Temple stood in this village before it was destroyed by the Portuguese. The village is today mainly Christian....
, a village in Saxty (Salcette
Salcette
Salcette , is a taluka of South Goa District in the Indian state of Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called Sashti , which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However, it also includes the taluka of...
) which fell to the invading Portuguese in 1543.In the year 1560, the Portuguese started Christian conversions in Salsette taluka, the Saraswats of Vatsa Gotra felt insecure and shifted the Mangesh Linga from the original site at the Kushasthali or Cortalim on the banks of river Aghanashini (Zuari) to its present location at Mangeshi in Priol village of Atrunja Taluka, on May 1, 1560 A.D. (according to Hindu calendar - 1482 sakha) then ruled by the Hindu kings of Sonde of Antruz mahal (Ponda), to prevent certain destruction. After remaining in the house of a temple priest for sometime, Sri Mangesh deity was finally installed in its present site at Priol. The original site was a very simple structure, and the current structure was only built under Maratha rule, some 150 years after it had been moved. The Peshwas donated the village of Mangeshi to the temple in 1739 on the suggestion of their Sardar, Shri Ramchandra Malhar Sukhtankar, who was a staunt follower of Shri Mangesh. Ironically, just a few years after it was built, this area too fell into Portuguese hand in 1764, but by now, the Portuguese had lost their initial religious zeal and had become quite tolerant of other religions, and so, this structure remained untouched.
The 400-year-old Shri Mangesh temple dedicated to Shiva stands out with its simple and yet exquisitely elegant structure. The temple is noted for the pillars which are considered to be the most beautiful among the temples in Goa. There is a prominent Nandi Bull which is considered to be the Vahana (Vehicle) of Shiva. A beautiful seven-storeyed deepstambha (lamp tower), stands at the gates in the temple complex. The temple also has a magnificent water tank, which is believe to be the oldest part of the temple.
The Sabha Griha is a spacious hall which accommodates over 500. The decor includes the chandeliers of the nineteenth century. The central part of the Sabha Griha leads to the Garbha Griha where image of Mangesh resides.
The temple has shrines of Parvati and Ganesha. The other deities in the temple are Nandikeshvar, Gajana, Bhagavati and the Gramapurusha Deva Sharma of the Kaudanya gotra. Other features to see here are the ancient stone devatas housed in the subsidiary shrines to the rear of the main building are Mulakeshwsar, Virabhadra,Saanteri, Lakshminarayana,Suryanarayan,Garud and Kala Bhairav.
Daily Routine
Like most temples in Goa, Mangueshi Temple too has a large number of pujas being performed daily. Every dai in the morning Shodshopchar pujas, namely Abhishek, Laghurudra and Maharudra are performed. This is followed by Maha-Aarti at noon and Panchopchar pooja at night.Monday is the weekly festival and on this day idol of the deity is taken out for a preocession in Palakhi accompanied by music before the night Aarti.