Siddars, wise men and Sages were performing penance in this earth. They still exist in this place although without any form. Malaikodi is such a virtuous place. All three Murthis – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva reside here. There is a hill in Malaikodi called Kailasagiri. Lord Shiva resides here. In the Kailasagiri hill there is a waterfall called ‘Brahma Theertham’ and Lord Brahma lives here. This heritage location is within the district boundary limits of ‘Ariyur’ and Lord Vishnu exists here. All the elements of the three Murthis are here. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are three forms and they are the three Murthis. Knowledge, Wealth and Power seen in the forms of Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Shakthi are contained within the bounds of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Therefore if one says Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Shakthi or Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, it is all one and the same. The blend of all the Powers is Sri Narayani.
Malaikodi became Thirumalaikodi only after Sri Narayani entered this place. The Divine footprints have blessed the place and all are aware of it. When you see the form of Sri Narayani in Thirumalaikodi, it is easy to understand that the form of Sri Narayani is the confluence of the three powers. Sri Narayani has matted hair on her head. This represents Lord Shiva. She has the Shanghu (conch) and Chakra (Chakram) in her hands. This represents Lord Vishnu. The mudra in one hand is in the form of blessing (Chin mudra) which stands for imparting Knowledge and therefore represents Brahma. Thus, Sri Narayani represents the three Powers and three Murthis both in form and in inner strength and a number of people have come to worship and have been blessed. Malaikodi is the central point and Sri Narayani’s Divine blessing is protecting the entire world.
Malaikodi means the end of the hill or end of all the hills. ‘Kodi’ means ‘end’. Malaikodi remains the final confluence of all the hills. Anything that comes down from the top of a hill has to reach the end or the bottom. If you stand at the highest point of Malaikodi, you will be able to view hundreds of hills and hillocks all around. Some of them include Rathnagiri, Vallimalai, Parvathamalai, Kailasagiri, Theerthagiri and some more sacred hills can be seen. The sanctity of all the sacred hills come down and finally converges in this place and so, this place is known as ‘Thirumalaikodi’.
It is because of this, that many thousand years back, sages, rishis and siddars have stayed here and performed penance. It is as a result of such penance that Sri Narayani has chosen to descend on this earth in the form of Sakthi AMMA as an Avataar and is showering blessings on all. Even now it is believed that the sages and rishis are continuing to worship Sri Narayani in a formless manner.
Sri Mangala Narayani
When Sakthi AMMA came to Malaikodi, Poojas would start from early in the morning. It would start with the Pooja for the snake hill. After that Sakthi AMMA would impart messages to people. When people heard AMMA’s messages they felt that their sufferings were reduced. They were able to anticipate any problems that may arise and safeguard themselves from it. They shared the difficulties that have already been faced and received Divine blessings to overcome them in the future. Hundreds of devotees thronged the place. One day the devotees made a request to Sakthi AMMA.
“AMMA ! We surrender to you. We want to see your actual form. We do not know the form of Sri Narayani. So it is our desire to see it” was the request of all the devotees. One day, AMMA after a grand Pooja, invited one of the devotees to fill a big vessel with turmeric water and performed pooja for it. AMMA then asked the devotee to put his hand inside the vessel and reveal Sri Narayani. Everyone was awestruck… The Divine Goddess was seen with Shanghu (conch) in one hand, Chakra (wheel) in the other, a lotus Flower in the third and the fourth was in the posture of showering ‘blessings’. ‘Om Namo Narayani’ was the sacred chant that was piercing the air shooting towards the heaven. It is this Divine Goddess that Sakthi AMMA worships as ‘Mangala Narayani. ’A pair of eyes is not sufficient to see this Divine Goddess who is the embodiment of Beauty. She is auspicious in form and this Divine Mother is ‘Mangala Narayani’.
Swayambhu Temple:
In the middle of 1993, Sakthi AMMA made a Divine pronouncement in the presence of the devotees, “I am born in this earth in the human form of Sakthi AMMA. The sages, wise men and rishis have been performing poojas for a number of yugams now. They have performed innumerable yagams also for AMMA. They have sung the Vedic hymns and chanted the Vedas and have worshipped AMMA in many varied ways. ‘AMMA. You have to descend on this earth as an Avataar’ has been their request and not a day has passed without this request being made. Today even after AMMA has manifested as Avataar, they are still continuing the poojas in an invisible form. The poojas that they have been doing for a number of years has already helped the accumulation of Powers in this place. I am going to gather all the powers together in unison and emanate from the ground as a Swayambhu” said AMMA in the Divine message. This news appeared in all the newspapers and the information spread widely among people.
On 11th September 1993, at 6 pm in the evening, thousands of people and devotees had gathered together and Sakthi AMMA was also present. No one knew where the Swayambhu was going to appear. AMMA called seven unmarried girls. AMMA indicated a particular place and asked them to sit in a circle. Seven pots of turmeric water were placed in front of these 7 girls. AMMA did pooja for the seven pots with seven different auspicious items like, flowers, kumkum, sandal, neem leaves, turmeric and rice smeared with turmeric (Akshadhai). Each of the girls was then asked to get up and pour the water from the pot in the place where they were seated.
The girls did as they were told. When the seventh girl poured the turmeric water, the earth exploded and a milky substance came out. Following this, the Swayambhu rose upwards in the form a ‘Lingam’. The devotees’ delighted screams filled the air. AMMA built a temple in this place and made it a place of worship. The consecration (kumbabhishekam) of the Swayambhu temple was performed on 9th January 2000 by AMMA in a grand manner. A number of people worship the Swayambhu and gain happiness.
‘Swayambhu’ means ‘self emanating vigraha’ where the Divine reveals on its own and provides a vision to its devotees without anyone installing the vigraha.
Sri Narayani Temple
A ‘big’ temple was built and a magnificent and beautiful idol of Sri Narayani was created, consecrated and installed by AMMA. This temple is called the ‘big’ temple by the devotees and Sri Narayani is in a seated form and blesses one and all. One of the Chola kings Rajarajan built a temple for Lord Shiva in Thanjavur which has been referred to as the ‘the big temple of Thanjavur’. However, it is worthy to note that the devotees here refer to this temple as the ‘big’ temple even though the temple is small.
This temple’s Gopuram (temple tower) is in the octagonal (Ettupattai) shape. The temple has been majestically designed with Artha Mandapam and Maha Mandapam. With 750 Sivachariyars chanting the Divine Goddess’s mantra a hundred thousand (one crore) times, and with the installation of the ‘Sri Chakram’, the first ever and a unique temple for Sri Narayani was created here in Thirumalaikodi. The temple was consecrated on 20th January 2001 by Sakthi AMMA.
On Sundays it is Goddess Durga, on Thursdays it is Goddess Saraswathi and on Fridays, it is Goddess Mahalakshmi… these are the various types of alankaarams (decorations) for the Divine Goddess and people are able to see the different forms of Sri Narayani and are also blessed with all the three different attributes by ‘ Sri Narayani of the big temple’. Other than these three days, on all other days, the Goddess is seen as Sri Narayani. The melody of the Veena and the flute are always around the Divine form. When the music is not heard it is the turn of the chants of the Vedas. The sound of Nadaswaram also lingers on. Vinayagar (Ganesha), Tirupura Sundari, Mahalakshmi, Brahmi, and Durga are the retinue of deities that can be seen in the temple.
AMMA does Pooja for Mangala Narayani in the ‘Shanthi Mandapam’ every day. Witnessing this pooja helps us retain the Divine vision in our minds, which removes all the evil thoughts and purifies the mind.
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