.png)
Earlier this year in March, I had the opportunity to travel to Peruvanam along with Aashan and seniors from other branches of Kalavadhyam Academy. While they were all scheduled to play at various temple poorams, I as a fresher joined them to experience the melams in close quarters, soak in the divine vibes of the temples and also help the seniors in any way I could (being the waterboy at melams or helping Maniettan with kitchen duties ;)).
One of the first performances by the group was at the Urakam Ammathiruvadi temple. I was intrigued by the tamizh sounding names ‘Urakam’ and ‘Ammathiruvadi’ and wondered if there was a Tamizh connection to this temple. During this entire trip, the temple that struck me most was the Peruvanam Mahadeva temple (I shall write about it another time!). To my ignorant mind the Urakam temple just seemed like another Devi Kshetram. However, like most A.R. Rahman music that grows on you over time, this temple has begun to grow on me - taking a significant place in my mind and heart.
During the Sunday Chenda classes, Aashan would make occasional references to the trip - the melams and the temples that we visited. In one such class, Ramettan (a fellow student) also joined in to talk about the Urakam temple where his family traditionally held the ‘Pandham’ (torch) during the temple rituals. After a brief chat, Aashan announced that he’d talk about the Urakam temple and its legend in a later class. However, I couldn’t wait as my curiosity to know more about this temple and its deity grew. I read several books and researched several websites. This story that I am about to share with you all is a retelling of the legend of the Urakam Ammathiruvadi temple as written by Kottarathil Shankunny in his book ‘Kshetra Kathakal’.
Legend has it that Sage Parashurama created Kerala by throwing his axe to reclaim land from the Arabian sea. After he created Kerala, Sage Parashurama established 64 gramams (villages) and Peruvanam comprising Urakam and other places was
one of these original villages. Sage Parashurama also brought brahmins from outside Kerala to settle in this newly created land and rechristened them as Nambudiris. For the eternal glory and prosperity of Kerala, these Nambudiris decided that they had to go to Kancheepuram, appease goddess Kamakshi through their devotion and penance and bring the Goddess to Kerala. The Nambudiris chose ‘Thiruvalayannur Bhattathiri’, ‘Kizhottukkara Namboodiripad’ and ‘Komarathu Menon’ to undertake this journey to Kancheepuram. These men reached Kancheepuram and prayed to Goddess Kamakshi with a lot of devotion. The Goddess, pleased by their devotion appeared in front of them and granted them a boon. They humbly requested that the Goddess come along with them to their homeland Kerala and the Goddess granted them their wish by accompanying them to Kerala.
The three men happily undertook the return journey back to their homes. On reaching home, the Thiruvalayannur Bhattathiri left his Ola Kuda (Umbrella made from Palm leaf) outside and went in to bathe and freshen up after this long and arduous journey. When he came back to pick the umbrella, he couldn’t lift it. No matter how much he tried, the umbrella wouldn’t budge. On consulting the astrologers, Goddess Kamakshi’s presence was found in the Umbrella. She had made the trip from Kanchipuram to Kerala on Bhattathiri’s umbrella. For some time, prayers and offerings were made to the Umbrella itself.
Then one night, when the Thiruvalayannur Bhattathiri was asleep, he saw a dream in which a divine voice commanded him to build a temple for the Goddess on the western side of where his illam (house) currently stood and to give away all his wealth for the maintenance and upkeep of the temple. The divine voice also instructed the Bhattathiri to walk a day’s distance towards the north of his illam where he’ll come across a fortune twice his current wealth and also a statue that must be brought back and established in the temple in place of the Umbrella. Believing that Goddess Kamakshi herself had come in his dream, the Bhattathiri did as instructed. He built a temple within the premises of his illam, established the statue there and on an auspicious day performed rituals to have the Goddess manifest in the statue.
A few days after building the temple, the Bhattathiri walked some distance towards the north and reached an illam/ house where he decided to rest for the evening. The Nambudiri of the illam was an ailing old man without any children. As fate would have it, the Nambudiri requested Bhattathiri if he could adopt him as his son. Bhattathiri recollected his dream and happily agreed to be adopted. This illam is the famous ‘Poomully Mana’ and as was seen in the dream, this illam was twice as rich as Bhattathiri’s illam. Because of the Devi’s blessings, the Poomully Mana continues to be a prosperous illam even today and its current members are all descendants of the Thiruvalayannur Bhattathiri. The Poomully mana still plays a significant role in the rituals of the temple - the daily nivedyam after the Devi’s abhishekam is offered in the name of the Poomully Mana.
However, since the temple was originally built by
Thiruvalayannur Bhattathiri, this temple began to be known as the ‘Thiruvalayannur Bhagavathy’ temple. Over time, since this temple and the Bhattathiri’s illam were in the place called ‘Urakam’, the goddess here began to be known as ‘Urakathamma’ and the temple ‘Urakam Ammathiruvadi’ temple. Even today, within the premises of the Urakam temple, on the eastern side, there stands a granite platform around a huge jackfruit tree. It is believed that this used to be the courtyard of the Bhattathiri’s house and that the Jackfruit tree stands where the Bhattathiri had placed his Umbrella on his return from Kanchipuram. Since the Goddess traveled from Kanchipuram on Bhattathiri’s Umbrella, the ola kuda holds a significant place in all of the temple rituals. During poorams and other rituals, when the goddess is taken outside on a procession, she is accompanied by a specially made silk umbrella which also has a palm leaf umbrella under it.
It is also believed that the two other men ‘Kizhottukkara Namboodiripad’ and ‘Komarathu Menon’ who accompanied ‘Thiruvalayannur Bhattathiri’ also brought back Goddess Kamakshi with them and that they also established temples for the Goddess. The place where the Namboodiripad established the temple is today called ‘Pisharikkal’ and the other temple established by the Menon is in a place called ‘Pallissery’. Though the three men brought back the same Goddess, the goddess in the ‘Pallissery’ temple is in the form of ‘Bhadrakali’ and the rituals in this temple even today reflect the ferocious ‘Bhadrakali’ form of the Goddess.
Though it was purely instinctive, I now understand the connection between the Goddess in Urakam and Kanchipuram Kamakshiamman in Tamil Nadu (the Tamizh connection as I call it). Equipped with all this knowledge about the origins of the Urakam Ammathiruvadi temple, I am sure to experience the goddess’s love, power and divinity in a much more profound way during my next visit to this temple. Also, as a student of the Chenda, I soon hope to offer my prayers to Urakathamma by performing in a melam at the temple pooram. Until then I pray to the goddess that she grants me the will & perseverance to practice the Chenda under the guidance of my Aashan.
Written By:
Vijay Nair (Chenda Student, Kalavadhyam Academy, Sarjapur Branch)