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Very little is known about its author, Mantreswara, who is believed to have lived in the 13th century CE. He was born Markandeya Bhattathiri in a family of Namboodari Brahmins in the Panchgiri village of Tirunelveli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The exact date of his birth and date of death is not known, some believe that he lived in the 13th century and some believe that he lived in the 16th century.

He was a devotee of Sukuntlambika Devi. He had traveled to far-off places in India in search of knowledge. He had renounced the world and had finally died in Tirunelveli; his date of birth and his date of death is not known.

According to one belief, Mantreswara was born in Shalivati in Tamil Nadu and according to another, he was born in Kerala. Whether he lived in the 13th century or in the 16th century remains undecided. His work, Phaladeepika, though very popular in South India and from a very long time in the past available in Southern languages script-versions came to light when its original Sanskrit version was published from Kolkata around 1925. At the very close of this text, Mantreswara confirms that

श्रीशालिवाटिजातेन मया मन्त्रेश्वरेण वै |
दैवज्ञेन द्विजाग्रेण सतां ज्योतिर्विदां मुदे || – Sloka XXVIII.5

He indeed lived in Shalivati, in present Tirunelveli, as a Brahmin astrologer.