In folklore, Age of Mandhata refers to an ancient time, even before Krishna and Ram lived on earth. As per the Mahabharata, Mandhata was the son of Ram’s ancestor, Yuvanashva. Yuvanashva wanted a child. But he consumed the magic potion that was meant to make his wife pregnant. As a result, it was he who became pregnant. He then delivered a son. The Ashwini twins drew him out of his father’s body. When he cried for milk, Indra cut his thumb. Milk oozed out and Mandhata suckled on it. To remind us of this incident, gods decreed that all children will suckle their thumbs. 

Mandhata was thus a man-child born of a man with men serving as the delivery nurse and wet nurse. This story is meant to show Mandhata as an extraordinary hyper masculine being, much valued in Tantrik tradition. This may be the reason why in later Hindu traditions Mandhata was linked to Shiva and we find Shiva temples linked to him in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, regions also linked with 64 yogini shrines.