The Mangla devi temple was built in the ninth century when Kundavarma, the most famous king of the Ahepa dynasty, was ruling Tulu Nadu. During his rule there were two holy saints of the Nath cult, Machendranatha and Gorakanatha, who had come from Nepal. By crossing the river Nethravathi they reached Mangalore. The place where they crossed the river is known as Gorakdandi.

As he came to know about the arrival of the two saints, the king came to meet them. He paid his respects and offered them patronage. They informed him that his kingdom needs to be sanctified. They requested him to grant some land so that they could build a hermitage and make it a centre for their religious activities under his protection and patronage. Thereafter he came to know that his land was dedicated to Mother Mangaladevi. These saints informed him that once upon a time there existed a temple in his land dedicated to her. The two saints took the king to the sites where these historical events had taken place. They asked the king to dig the place and relieve the lingam and the dharapatra symbolising Mangaladevi. Thereafter it was installed in a shrine along with Nagaraja for providing protection.

A grand shrine to Mangaladevi was built on the hallowed place. The two sages guided and supervised the execution of the work. Mangaladevi granted special favours to maidens, who worshipped the goddess by observing Mangaladharavrata and got their wish of a suitable husband fulfilled.

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