Kattakampal Kshetram is considered to be a Temple as old as 2000 years according to legends.It
is said the Temple is one of the 108 Temples created by lORD pARASURAMA in Kerala. The
speciality of this Temple is that in the Morning it is said to assume the role of
Dakshinamoorthi who provides Education,at noon as Ferocious Ghoramurthy who provides ways and
means for Sathrusamhara and in Evening as Ardhanareeswara who provides wealth
Besides,in the gateway,DeviBhadrakali &DeviKanyakumari shining as a Santha mooorthy
as well as Roudramoorthy sometimes are available.
As said earlier ,jhis Temple is one of the 108 Temples created byLord Parasurama.It is stronly
believed that Parasurama retrieved Kerala Bhumi from Sea and made it equal to heaven .One
day Parasurama started from Mhahendra Mountains in South to North with a view to visiting
His Punyabhumi created by Him.There was just dense forest towards north while He was walking
because there was no rulers of Kerala those days.While travelling through the Dense Forest he
saw Sasthavu was playing by hunting .Parasu Rama being an Avtar of Vishnu and devotee of
Shiva when he reached Kattakampal he sat for meditation.He using his Parasu{an Axe) digged a
Well for water and this well still exist here which is covered by rock for reasons unknown.As
divine sage Himself He installed a Temple here for Him to worship Shiva.
So goes the Legend how the Siva Temple existed in Kattakampal.
It is also said the sage employed a Bhootha to tell prpeople about His intention to instal a
Temple atKattakampal where he felt the presence of Shiva chaitanyam.The Bhootham assumed the
role as a hunter and spread the news among the village people.
People started coming to the Temple in groups and individually, Just like moonlight enhancing
light day by day the chaitanyam and number of devotees increased.Those days were the period
of ruling by Perumalkkanmar.One of the Local ruler lost his property and also felt lack of
children in their family worrying him & inorder to get children he decided to pray the
Kattakampal Thevar in the newly constructed Temple by Parasurama.
One day Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and told all his prayers would be heard favorably
if he goes to Kanya Kumari Temple and perform Bhajana there for a full Mandalam
season.Lord Shiva also told that Devi Kanyakumari (Bhagavathy)would grant all his wishes.
So according to the advice of Lord Shiva the Local ruler {King} departed to Kanyakumari for
praying the Kanyakumari Devi(Bhagavathy)with meditation for 41 days(a mandalam period).
In Kanyakumari Temple when the prayer for 41 days was in progress,after observing his devotion
and his dedication to Devi,the Devi in her Soumya moorthy form appeared before the King to
grant his wishes and told"Now I am pleased with your devotion.On the day of your ending Bhajan
here come with a pot containing Pooja Flowers,Gold&Akshatham{Punyaha theertham} and I shall
make my presence felt in the pot myself & you can return with the pot to the place where from
you have come.Later on when you reach the place everthing would happen as pure as
needed(Mangalam).Soit be"
As the Devi appeared to be in the maximum Santha moorthy form (Soumya devatha}.The kind had
doubt whether the Santhamoorthy Devi would be able to perform The Sathru samharam(Destroyal of
Enemies).The Devi realising his innerthought appeared again as Roudra Moorthy as Bhadrakali
to clear the doubts in the mind of the King.
Satisfied with the two forms of Bhagavathy as Durga &Bhadrakali, When his Penance was over,
the King came to the Devi Temple with a Pot containing what Devi had said.He performed all
offerings required and with humlblest prayer allowed the Devi to enter the
Pot(Avahikkal).Early Morning started his journey back to Kattakampal & entered the Shiva
Temple at Kattakampal fron the Southern side of agrahara of the the Temple and
Installed the Devi facing from Est to west with the permission of Lord Shiva.
Thus the installation of Bhagavathy with dual form of Devi(Durga} and Bhadrakali was
Completed on the south side of the Agrasala facing from East to west.Thus the Kattakampal
Bhagavathy with the Blessings of Lord Shiva came into existence long ago.The Thanthri Karma
for the installation of the Bhagavathy was performed by Thantrys from Thekkedam and Vadakkedam
Namboodiri illams at Porkkulam by using Pieces of Daru Trees for making Shivalinga shaped
Moola bimbam and rockmade Shilabimbam for archana were installed by them according to Vedic
methods.By installing the Bhagavathy the sanctity of the Temple was enhanced as though it
would later help eradicate darkness of the sufferings from the devotees.The Kanyakumari Devi
always spread the divine qualities expected from a Goddess and still remains as a medium to
help all devotees including poor and downtrodden who seek help from the Devi.In this context
if one likes to recite the song "Kudajadriyil Kudi kollum Maheswari
,Gunadayini.............Aadi parashakthi neeye" The song written by Shri K.Jayakumar for
malayalam movie "Neela Kadambu" which was never released, is eqally applicable to Kattakampal
Bhagavathy also known as Jagathambika.
PACHA NIVEDYAM:
There was a command from Devi Jagathambika that a Mahanivedyam made of 1001 Nazhi rice (a
measure in Temples)should be made for worship while the
Prathishta was in progress .However before the Ada could be allowed to get boiled the
Prathishta was over with the result that the ADA making process was not completed.Hence the
Mahanivedyam had to be restricted to Pacha Ada(WetAda)Later on this became a regular feature
of offering to the Jagathamba(Bhagavathy} of Kattakampal.
In KaTTAKAMPAL tEMPLE tHE MAIN DIETY IS lORD sIVA ccreated by Parasurama.Lord Siva is almost
lilke Lord Vadakkumnathan who observes the pooram without taking part Himself
The Temple is one of the 108 Temples created by Lord Parasurama.First Lord Siva was Installed
by Prasurama Later on Devi Kanyakumari was installed as Soumya moorthy of Jagadambika or
Bhagavathy As mentioned earlier the Bhagavathy can assume the Roudra Bhavam of Bhadra Kali
also,So there is Pooram and Thalappoli in big style here togetherr for Jagathambika.
Nowadays,the great Pooram is followed by the Kali and Darikan encounter. Starting accompanied
by Drums Melam from a place called Palakkal Parambu which is situated at north east side
of Kattakampal Temple.
The old Bhadrakali Temple was under a Pala tree .Kali after disappearing from Asoka Vanam
reached under this Pala Tree, says the legend.In those days the place was a thick forest of
Pala Trees.The Bhadrakali with an assumed name of" Asokaranya Rakshnini" was giving Darshan
from West to East.The Pooram also used to be held there.However, in view of the Ferocious form
of the Bhadrakali,people began to move away from the place.In times of Pooja rituals alone
people used to go there. There was a person who used to take the role of Darikan similar to
the role of Kathi in Katakali and others who had taken part in the Kali Darika encounter were
supposed have undertaken Vritha for long time before taking part in the fight.This kind of
rituals continued for long time unabated.However, it is said the person who did role of
Darikanis no more now.During After Noon Pooja(Uchapooja on the day of Pooram The Devi
Vigraham is to be kept in Nalambalam after due Ezhunnallippu is performed.It is believed
that then the Devi in Ugra roopam is ready for the Darka vadham.Thereafter there is also a
ritual performed for Lord Ganapathy before the actual encounter begins.The Kuruppanmar of the
Temple (who have taken perfect vritha)would come in front of the RoudraDevi in a procession of
caprisoned Elephants by disguising themselves as Kali and Darika.After exchange of Hot words
between Kali and Darika,Kali tells Darika to get lost for a day and come back again next
day.That night there wil not be any pooja other than the one after Aarattu.
The next day Darikan who is supposed to have lost the war comes face to face with Kali and
pleads for his life and not to kill him.Although Devi was pleased with Darika in view of
remembering her destined role to kill Darika, Devi again assumes her Ugra roopam and shouts
atDarika breaks apart his chest ,drink his blood and wears his "Kudal mala"in maximum anger
mood and cuts his head away to finally Kill him.Then blessing the devotees returns to Kailasa
ceremoniously. Then comes the ritual of Utram Pirannal.Thereafter the devi vigraha is taken to
Sreelakam to unite with the Moolabimbam.Next day the ritual of 25 Kalasam is performed.THIS
MARKS THE END OF THE POORAM FOR THE YEAR.
In olden days the Pooram was being held in the western Nada.But the Komaram who was
performing the role of Kali got extremely emotional and virtually killed the person who was
performing the role of Darika.This incident resulted in changing the Pooram from West Nada
to East Nada and is being held in East Nada every year.
This is the Kattakampal Pooram in brief.
{Courtsey:Shri Sankaran Nambidy of thekkootn Madham of
Kattakampal who is fondly called by every one Guruvayurammaman as he was a devotee of Lord
Vishnu of Guruvayur Temple & also to Kunnamkalath Radharishnan Nambidi who was kind enough
to part with the vital information on the history of the Great Temple}
Sreedharan mundanat ,
23rd of January 2018 at Thrissur.
oHM.NAMA:SIVAYA
AMME nARAYANA,DEVI NARAYANA,BHADRE NARAYANA
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