Masānī Ammān: History, Timings & Visitor Guide

Masānī Ammān is open every day, usually from early morning to late evening with a break in the afternoon. Darshan and aarti timings change with the season and on festival days.

• MorningOpens early morning (around 5 to 6 AM)
• AfternoonShort break around midday at many temples
• EveningEvening aarti around sunset, closes by about 8 to 9 PM

Ask the temple office on arrival for the day's aarti schedule.

Dress Code & Temple Rules

• DressModest, traditional clothes covering shoulders and knees
• FootwearRemove before entering; use the shoe stand
• PhotographyNot allowed inside the sanctum
• Not AllowedLeather items, tobacco, alcohol, non-veg food
• QueueFollow queue lines and staff instructions on festival days

According to local tradition, during ancient times, Anaimalai was known as Nannur and the region was ruled by Nannan, a wicked king from the Ezhilmalai dynasty who persecuted his subjects. He protected the fruits of his mango grove by instituting severe punishments for any who ate of them. One day, a woman unfamiliar with these measures ate one of Nannan's mangoes, so he sentenced her to death. Despite public outcry against it, the woman was executed, and later the local people rebelled and Nannan was killed by the Chera king Kalankaikanni Narmudi Cheral in a battle near Vijayamangalam. This is mentioned in the Kurunthokai, where Nannan is given the title "Pen-kolai-purintha Nannan" (meaning "Nannan, who committed the muder of a woman" in Tamil) for killing the woman in modern-day Anaimalai.

People believed that the woman had saved their lives by sacrificing herself and the people built a shrine to the executed woman and deified her. The stone where she was executed was later worshipped with ground red chillies as an offering. Its deity was originally called either "Masani" (meaning "mango" in old Tamil) or "Smashani" (Sanskrit for "graveyard", about the woman's untimely end), depending on the version of the legend. Later, the deity came to be known as Masani Amman. Masani Amman was later syncretised with the goddess Adi Parashakti. She was later associated with the goddesses Mariamman, Angala Devi, Isakki and Karumari.