Thrikarthika::::::: “Thrikarthika, or Trikartika, is the festival of lights celebrated in Kerala on the Kartika Nakshatram (star) in the Malayalam month of Vrischikam (November – December). It usually falls on the full moon day in the month and on the day all the houses, streets and temples are well lit with traditional oil lamps. The festival is mainly observed in South Kerala. It is the birthday of Lord Subramonya. Special offerings and celebrations will be held on the day in Subramonya temples. Some people do claim that is dedicated to Shakti – popularly known as Bhagavati in Kerala. Some people claim it is an ancient form of nature worship. In the past people used to make use of the shell of Marotika to light lamps. Now the Marottika shell is widely replaced by clay diya (known as idinjil or chirathu) and candles. On Thrikarthika day after sunset several lights will be lit in small earthen vessels - chirathu in temples and houses. The sight of lights from a number of small vessels is really a fascinating. In South Kerala, torches made of coconut leaves will be lit and planted in paddy fields on this day. It is also a celebration related to Mahalakshmi. The stems of banana (plantain) and tender leaves of coconut tree are used to decorate the Thrikarthika lamps. The lamps are placed on the banana stems supported by coconut leaves. People who have domesticated animals also decorate the cowshed and other places used by animals. Special food is prepared using Tapioca, elephant yam and other tubers with lot of grated coconut on the day and is known as Kartika Puzhukku. The full moon night and the Thrikarthika lamps complement each other giving an awe inspiring feeling to the viewers. On the same day, the famous Kerala Deepam and the Tiruvannamali Mahadeepam is held in neighboring Tamil Nadu.” Chothanikkara Bhagawathi temple Chottanikkara Bhagawathi By P.R.Ramachander This is the most famous temple of Kerala where mentally disturbed people, come in thousands and get cured. This temple is 8 KM away from Thripoonithura a suburb of Cochin. There are two main temples here. One as soon as we enter is the temple of Rajarajeswari and the one behind it in a slightly lower elevation called Keezhekavu has Bhadra Kali consecrated there. The Rajarajeswari is worshipped as Goddess Saraswathi in the morning, worshipped as Bhadra kali in the noon and Durga in the night. This temple opens every day at 4 AM. People believe that Goddess Mookambika of Kollur attends the first worship here before going to her temple. Another peculiarity of this temple is that the Goddess is not fixed to the ground but rests on sand. Nearby her is the statue of Lord Vishnu. So the devotees always pray her together with her brother Lord Narayana and say Amme Narayana. It seems once the place this temple is located was a dense forest. There lived a tribal man called Kannappan, whose wife had died. Kannappan was a great devotee of Goddess Parvathy. He used to daily sacrifice an animal to his favourite Goddess. He had a cute daughter who was very fond of her pet, which was a cow. Since her father used to sacrifice cows, she kept her pet cow very near her and looked her after well. One day Kannappan could not get any animal to sacrifice to her Goddess. So he ordered his daughter to give her pet cow , for that days sacrifice. His daughter requested Kannappan to sacrifice her instead. The heart of Kannappan changed and he realized that he was doing a wrong thing by practicing animal sacrifice. He and the pet cow stayed near the temples Bali stone the entire night. In the morning, the cow herself had turned in to a stone. That place is called Pavazha malli thara (Place of the coral jasmine flower). People believe that pet cow of daughter of Kannappan was indeed Goddess Mahalakshmi. That day Lord Vishnu appeared before Kannappan and pardoned his sins and decided to be present in the temple along with the Goddess. That is how the concept of Lakshmi Narayana came in to this temple. The place where Kannappan used to sacrifice his cows is the location of the Keezhe kavil Bhagawathi. It seems this temple location was rediscovered accidentally by a low caste grass cutter, who found that blood was flowing out of a stone which she accidentally cut. That day the Brahmin of the Yedattu house came along with the puffed rice in a coconut shell and this was offered to the Goddess for the first time. Even today this system of offering puffed rice in a coconut shell continues. The Brahmins of Yedattu house became priests at this temple. It was Adhi Shankara who visited the temple , who brought in to the Statue the presence of Mookambika. It seems when Vilwamangalam Swamiyar visited this temple he saw a powerful halo of light over the temple pond. He instituted a search and the present statue of Keezhe kavu was found in the tank. There is also a story of certain Gupthan Namboodiri who was pursued by a Yakshi. It seems the Yakshi took a form of a pretty maiden and tried to entice the Namboodiri. Since Namboodiri was carrying a Devi Mahatmyam book, she was not able to do anything. But being attracted by her Gupthan Namboodiri wanted to leave the book, with his magician friend Kosapilli Namboodiri. The magician found out that the lady was a Yakshi. He gave Gupthan Namboodiri an enchanted towel. With the enchanted towel Gupthan ran up to the Chottanikkara temple. There he threw the towel outside and jumped in to the temple. The Yakshi who was pursuing him could catch hold of his feet. When Gupthan cried for help from the mother, she came out and cut the Yakshi in to pieces and threw her in to the temple tank. That tank is known today as Yakshikkulam or Rakthakulam. It is to Keezhe Kavu Bhagawathi that the mentally disturbed people turn to for a cure. They are brought tied to the temple. As soon as they see the goddess, especially during the Guruthi (anointing with red saffron liquid), they start jumping uncontrollably. At night after 8.30 Pm, there is a valiya Guruthi in which Guruthi from 12 huge vessels is poured over the Goddess. It seems if the mentally disturbed people see this Guruthi daily, the spirit which is affecting them will run away. There is also a pala tree, in which these people drive huge nails by knocking the nails with their foreheads. People who are having a weak mind and are easily scared are requested not to go to the Keezhekkavu temple. There are also temples of Lord Shiva, Ganapathi and Nagar in this temple. The major festival of this temple is in the month of Kumbam (February –march). The goddess comes out of the temple blesses all and after ritual bath (aarattu) goes back to the temple. In the same month on the Makha star day between 2 :Pm to 5 Pm, there is a observance of Makham thozhal People believe that if unmarried people do that , they will get married and if married people do that the understanding between husband and wife would increase. RAYIRANELLUR DEVI by N.S .PILLAI Rayiranellur brings home the name of Narayanathu bhranthan, a fabled crank. A resident of Chethallur Narayanathumangalam, he reveled in rolling lumps of rock to the 500 feet high hillock, Rayiranellur, and then let them roll down. The precincts of Narayanathumangalam used to come alive in the early morning hours with the vocalizations of holy mantras from the Vedas. After ablutions and prayer, Narayanathu bhranthan would set out to the hillock. After locating a suitable granite piece, he would perch on it and commence chewing betel, areca nuts and other ingredients. After obtaining in the mouth a rich brew and spitting it, he would get down his job. The chewing would infuse in him adequate stamina to perform his hobby, he believed. Chewing was held in esteem in this place. In Ambalapuzha temple, the idol is said to have been installed after ‘consecrating’ the spot with betel spit. Narayanathu bhranthan would erupt into joy as the rock started rolling down. Once he became tired, he would sit down and look at the heavens as though he were looking for his late mother. The onlookers presumed this to be madness. But, his action was pregnant with philosophical implications. For that matter, is the world free of eccentricity? There is lengthy list of human eccentricity. Man becomes mad in the name of religion, caste, power, money, factions, faith, eruditeness, art, literature philosophy, pride and what not! We have heard of a man who used to count in his evening stroll the lampposts and corrected the number, if he had gone wrong, by repeating the task! We have heard of a great philosopher who received the reprimands and beatings of his wife for devoting himself to the cause of human good! Do we not remember the man who walked the streets during daytime with a lit candle in search oh humans? Are we not cranky when we amuse at the misery of others? How can we categorize others as mad when we are ambitious to overwhelm the whole universe? So, there is a bit of madness in every one of us. When it transcends the forbidden limits, we would be taken to the clinic or asylum. Narayanathu bhranthan by his bizarre act of rolling the rock up the hilltop and letting it roll down unveiled the element of lunacy in us. We struggle to grab power and pelf, but to what effect? However we try, we may not succeed in retaining what we acquire. In an unguarded moment, they leave us like the granite piece that roll down from the hilltop. Only geniuses like Poonthanam and Ezhuthachan gained the philosophical insight into the apparently foolish acts of Narayanathu bhranthan. Worldly pleasures are ephemeral. Ezhuthachan is perfectly right when he said so. Narayanathu bhranthan belonged to the fabled pariah family of twelve. He had a link to the civilization that flourished on the banks of the Nila River. He was born in the forest. He grew up in the Chethallur natayanath residence. His father was a landlord and his mother a pariah woman. He never claimed any share from his father’s wealth. Growing with the sundry, he studied in Thiruvegapura. He spent his nights in the thickets and indulged in his hobbies in Thirunellur forest. He one day espied the goddess on the tree and when he rushed to her she tried to evade him. However, he succeeded in installing her idol in the forest. The nine footprints of the goddess are said to have been preserved in the forest and the deity consecrated on the ninth footprint. Narayanathu bhranthan cooked his food, with logs collected from the thicket, in the hearth he made in the forest. Kali, the goddess who tried to bless him was chased away. An enraged goddess swapped his elephantiasis affected left leg as the right one. Every one used to exclaim what a man he had been. His apparent follies concealed his mystic ideas. Rayinellur is near Thiruvegapura, between Valancheri and Koppam. The deity at the hilltop and the rivulet that meanders the valley are the attraction here. Rayiranellur had been the cradle of a bygone civilization. It had been the center of Vedic studies. Five of the renowned ‘band of eighteen and a half poets’, which adorned the court of the Kozhikode Samoothiri, was from Thiruvegapura. The granite piece that Narayanathu bhranthan used to roll up the hill is preserved in Narayanmangalam. The name Rayiranellur connotes the land (oor) of Rayira- an abbreviated form of Rajasekhara, Lord Siva.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 02:25:58 +0000
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