Egowriamman Mandir is a Hindu Mandir at Vallam in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. There is a two-headed statue of Mother Ambika in the mandir, sitting on a lotus-shaped Peeta. One face is ferocious, with long, sharp teeth showing her destructive side against demons. The other face is calm, smiling and graceful, protecting the devotees and righteous people from evil. The Mother has different weapons in each of her eight hands and also a parrot representing Mother Parvathi. The Chakra, an important form of Shakti worship, is installed under the feet of the Mother.
I visited this nice temple on 14.02.2025, along with Shakti mandirs like Punnainallur Mariamman and Bangaru Kamakshi Amman.
The opening hours of the mandir are:
Monday to Thursday, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM
On days with a full or new moon, the opening hours are 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM
The mandir is located at Thanjavur-Trichy Road in Vallam, approximately 12 km from Thanjavur.
The mandir is situated at the beginning of the road leading to Alakkudi.
According to legend, there once lived an asura named Thanjasuran in Thanjavur who was an ardent Shiva devotee. Due to the power of his penance, he received a boon from Shiva that ensured that he could not be killed by human beings, Deva, or Trimurti. After receiving this power, Thanjasuran began committing many atrocities.
To put a stop to them, the Devas made a plea to Shiva. Shiva, in turn, asked His consort Gowri to kill Thanjasuran. Gowri killed the asura, who had come in the guise of an ox, by decapitating him. Thanjasuran lost the body of the ox, and his mortal body then fell to the ground as he died. Due to Gowri’s anger, the region in which the killing took place was affected by drought and famine. Shiva advised Gowri to calm herself to save the people. After that, everything returned to normal.
The people started worshipping and performing puja to Gowri, who later came to be known as Egowri. The day the demon was killed was the last Friday of the Tamil month of Adi. The deity was known as ‘Vallatthu Pattaraki’ during the period of Parantaka I, Kalapidari, and Kaitthalappusa Nangai during the period of Rajaraja I. She was also called Vallatthukkali (Kali who belonged to Vallam). It is understood from inscriptions that the mandir is also known as ‘Karikarl Chola Maakaal mandir’ and ‘Vikramachola Vinnakaram’.
After entering through the main gopura, Vinayaka, Subramania, Lingam, Katthavarayan, Chandikesvarar, Varahi, Pratyangira, Saptamatas, and Naga are found. In the outer prakara, Madurai Veeran is found along with his consorts. Karuppasamy, Lada Sanyasi and Katthan are also found there. The Kumbhabhishekham took place on 16 September 2013.
In the Artha mandapa, there is an inscription of Parantaka I from the 40th year of his rule, which suggests that the mandir was built during the 9th century CE. According to the inscription, the Maham mandapa, consisting of garbhagriha and artha mandapa, was built by Sevappa Nayak and his son Achuthappa Nayak in 1535 CE.
New Moon and Full Moon festivals are held in the mandir on the last Friday of Adi month and during Aadi Perukku (July–August). On the day of Aadi Perukku, the festival is also held at the Vallam Bazaar Street Mariamman mandir. During the festival, Egowriamman, Mariamman, and Aiyanar come around the town as processional deities.
Ma Gauri Amman Vrata is considered to be an ancient Vrata, and even Rishi Pathnis like Ma Arunthati and Ma Anusuya once observed it! As per Mahabharata, due to the advice given by Rishi Narad, Ma Draupati has also observed this famous Vrata for a few years, for the welfare of the Pandavas.
This Vrata is mainly observed to get a beautiful appearance and to get a suitable life partner as well as to attain all kinds of prosperity in this world. After knowing about the significance of this Vrata from Ma Gowri, it is believed that even Ma Indrani still observes this Vrata once a year, to get more beauty and to get the grace of Ma Shakti Devi. This Vrata also helps her loving consort Indra Bhagavan to win in the battles!
This Vrata is mostly observed by the females, and those who observe this Vrata would get the grace of Ma Gowri Devi as well as they would get the grace of the Trimurti.
“OM SRI EAGESWARI YOGESWARI GNANESWARI NAMO NAMAHA”
–R. HARISHANKAR
