The ancient temple of Mangaladevi, which is 1,000 years old, is located deep within the Periyar Tiger Reserve forest. Here, the fabled Tamil woman Kannaki gave up all her resentment and became into the goddess Mangaladevi, who bestowed benefits on everyone on the planet. This beautiful temple of Mangaladevi has an incredible legend. Kovalan's loyal wife Kannagi accused her husband of stealing in retaliation for killing her innocent spouse. She allegedly set fire to the entire city of Madurai before making her way to the Suruli hills. From here, she and Kovalan travelled to Pushpaka Vimana, the heavens. The ancient Tamilakam King Chera Chenguttuvan built this temple of Mangaladevi here after being inspired by this tale. Chenguttuvan told the Kannagi narrative to Illango Adigal, a Tamil poet who went on to write the well-known book "Silappathikaram," which tells the tale of Kannagi and Kovalan. The temple's Pandyan architecture has earned it fame. Huge stones make up the temple's perimeter walls and the steps leading up to it. The temple's position atop the hill itself attests to the amount of work required to finish the building. In addition to Mangala Devi, there are additional idols can be seen there. As you enter the compound, you can see the idol of Karuppuswamy, Lord Shiva on the left, and a sanctorum dedicated to Ganapathy. This temple has a subterranean passageway as well. This passage is crucial to many stories. The locals claim that the route leads to the town of Madurai, while others claim that it will lead to the Pandya Kingdom.
