Nagarajar Temple

Overview

The Nagarajar Temple is situated Manjakombai (Manihada), which is 22 kms from ooty, Coonor (Nilgris District) via Kundha - Manjoor Road and 100kms from Coimbatore. The temple lies in a calm and serene location surrounded by fresh air which creates a perfect environment for worship and meditation.

About the Temple

The deity in this temple is considered a powerful and thus this temple attracted devotees from many other states. According to Myths, Lord Sri Rama is said to have returned to Ayodhya from SriLanka enroute Manihada Manjakombai. Therefore, as a symbol of marking this event, Sri Rama’s foot is worshipped here with a deep sense of devotion. There is yet another speciality attached to this temple. A live snake is believed to reside within the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Nagaraja. It is also believed that this snake had created an underground pathway or tunnel between the Nagaraja temple to the Heddai Amman Temple in order commute between the two shrines. Banyan tree is the holy tree of this temple while Santhanakulam is its holy spring.

About the Deity

The presiding deities of this temple are Lord Nagarajar and Goddess Hethaiamman. A separate shrine dedicated to Goddess Santhanalakshmi is also found in this temple.

History of the Temple

The people of Manjakombai began digging the ground for collecting sand in order to build a temple in the place. On digging for a few meters, they heard a sound and is said to have found a Nagaraja idol and a couple of caves beneath the ground. A rock is believed to have obstructed the construction work on further digging, which upon removal had revealed the presence of a live snake. A temple for the Goddess and Nagaraja were later raised in the same place. It is that snake which is still believed to be alive.

Festivals

The annual fire pit (generally called flower pit) festival is celebrated in the temple on May 1st and 2nd. On the days of fasting, every devotee must wear only yellow or red coloured clothes with a sacred garland around their necks. Women devotees should at the least have a red or yellow coloured towel adorning their necks. It is believed that a devotee, who walks on the fire pit when fasting, would receive the immense blessings of the deity. Their wishes and desires are said to get fulfilled. The crowd turn up for this festival easily exceeds fifty thousand. A large number of devotees throng the temple on new moon days too.

Significance

Pilgrims are attracted to this the temple due to its serene location and greenery, which makes this an ideal place for getting mental peace and happiness. On performing the necessary pujas in the Nagarajar shrine, devotees usually take a piece of white cloth and a lime to the shrine of the Goddess Santhanalakshmi. Going around this shrine, they tie a tiny toy cradle with this white cloth in the temple’s tree for child boon. There is also a belief that people addicted to liquor and tobacco are cured of these bad habits on offering heir prayers to the deities here.

Those childless couples, who were blessed with a child on worshiping this deity, usually undertake to walk on this fire pit as a mark of devotion and gratitude to the deity. Tonsuring is also done by the devotees as a mark of respect to this god. People affected by various Naga doshas (adversities in their horoscope due to snakes) offer milk to the anthill, which is considered scared. Following this ritual continuously on all the new moon days (amavasya) is said to relieve the person of Naga Doshas.

How to Reach Nilgiris

Airport

The Coimbatore airport is the nearest airport to the Nilagiri district, which is around 105 km from Ooty. This airport operates daily flights to and from cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin and Trivandrum. A number of private taxi services and buses are available from the airport to reach the desired location.

Railways

Being a hilly terrain, Ooty falls on the narrow gauge railway line connected to Mettupalayam which is about 47kms from the place. There is rail connectivity from Coimbatore and Chennai to Mettupalyam. One of the major attractions of Ooty is the famous toy train i.e., the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) that connects Ooty with Mettupalayam and Coonoor.

Road

Ooty is well connected to all the major towns and cities of South India. Frequent and regular bus services are available to cities like Coimbatore, Trichy, Bangalore, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Mysore, Palghat, Calicut, Tirupati, etc. Nearby places such as Coonoor and Kotagiri also have good road connectivity. For local transportation, auto rickshaws and taxis are available.

Temple Address

Sri Heddai Amman - Nagarajar Temple,
Manihada - Manjakombai, Nilgiris,
Tamil Nadu, India, Pincode – 643221.