The amazing feature of the Meenkulathi Bhagavati Amman Temple is that the devotees firmly believe that bathing in the tank full of fish (Meen: Fish / Kulathu: Pond) will cure all chronic ailments.
Another unique feature of this temple is that the shadow never falls on the ground.
The beautiful legend-based history of Indian temples is a rich source of India’s spiritual past and present. This southern temple is no exception.
It is the only temple in India to appear in one of the issues of the Indian Medical Journal and also in the Lancet, the most authentic medical journal in the world.
Both newspapers did not approve of the extraordinary divinity or special powers of the temple, but accounts of 34 cases and claims in all appeared in the newspapers.
Some of them are given below:
A chronic bronchitis patient was relieved of his ailment after bathing in the pond.
The water in the tank is believed to have certain attributes that can cure leprosy. The water sample was sent to the UK and found to have medicinal properties.
Skin diseases are cured after using this water.
A school of fish serves as a water purifier. So the water in this tank is medicinally favorable.
Continuous bathing in this water can cure the problem of brittle bones due to calcium in the water.
Like Ganges water, this water is also not polluted even after many years.
One thing is remarkable. Many Indian temples like the Meenkulathi Bhagavathi Amman temple or, for that matter, shrines of any religion and faith, have the property of curing people of their ailments. It could be a factor of faith or sheer luck. But this happens.
Why do we visit the temples?
To quote Father Abraham Kovoor from Sri Lanka, who remained a rationalist, not a lifelong unbeliever:
“We lesser mortals are beggars. We go to temples and visit numerous shrines, not for any spiritual benefit but for our worldly needs. We go to church, temple, mosque, etc. with a litany of our personal problems and affairs. We we bow down and beg the deities and ask for miracles. Miracles rarely happen. But we get a kind of mental satisfaction and that mental satisfaction ultimately works as a cure or panacea for our mental and health problems. “
-From the essay ‘Sanctuaries: our last resources’
It is really strange that our minds create imaginary images of divinity and we get the results accordingly. Well, in order not to belittle the idea itself, one should speak reverently of religious sites, as these are the collective manifestations of people’s holistic religious needs and requirements.
The point is: the entire country is dotted with magnificent temples and shrines from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and the atmosphere itself is charged with divine energy.
It is worth mentioning that the Meenkulathi Bhagavathi Amman Temple is listed in the top 100 temples for Hindus in India, although that does not mean that followers of other religions cannot have a darshan.
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