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Maalikapurathamma
Maalikapurathamma ( ml, മാളികപ്പുറത്തമ്മ) is a goddess enshrined in a small temple at Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. Maalikapurathamma Temple is visited after darshan of Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. Malikapurathamma Temple is in front of Manimandapam. The Pandalam royal family and their associates worship Malikapurathamma as a mother. Usually, everyone in the Pandalam royal family who visits Sabarimala stays in Malika (meaning a small palace) behind Manimandapam. Long before this deity was placed on Malika for this deity was called Malikapurathamma. Usually in Kerala, the deity named as abode (Chottanikara amma, Attukal Amma) Ayyappan Swami grew up in Pandlam Palace at the age of 12. Ayyappan Swami worships Malikapurathamma as the goddess of pandalam family. Maalikapurathamma is this concept of the family of the goddess Madurai Meenakshi, the goddess of the Pandalam royal family. Offerings Thengai Urutt (rolling of coconut) is an important ritual per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabarimala
The Sabarimala Temple (; ml, ശബരിമല ക്ഷേത്രം) is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimage sites in the world with an estimate of over 10 to 15 million devotees visiting every year. The temple is dedicated to a Hindu ''Brahmachari'' (Celibate) deity Ayyappan also known as ''Dharma Shasta'', who according to belief is the son of Shiva and Mohini, the feminine incarnation of Vishnu. The traditions of Sabarimala are a confluence of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and other Śramaṇa traditions. The temple is situated on a hilltop amidst eighteen hills at an altitude of 1260 m (4,134 ft) above sea level, and is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. The dense forest, part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, around the temple is known as Poongavanam. Temples exist in each of the hills surrounding Sabarimala. While ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ayyappan
Ayyappan an incarnation of dharma sastha, also called Manikandan, is a Hindu deity popular in Southern India, He is considered to be the epitome of dharma, truth, and righteousness and is often called upon to obliterate evil. Although devotion to Ayyappan has been prevalent earlier in South India, his popularity rose only in the late 20th century. According to Hindu theology, he is the son of Harihara (Vishnu in the form of Mohini, and Shiva).Constance Jones and Ryan James (2014), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase Publishing, , page 58 Ayyappan is also referred to as Ayyappa, Sastavu, Hariharasudhan, Manikandan, Shasta or Dharma Shasta and Sabarinath. The iconography of Ayyappan depicts him as a handsome celibate ( Brahmachari) deity doing yoga and as an epitome of Dharma, who wears a bell around his neck. In the Hindu tradition popular in the Western Ghats of India, he was born with the powers of Shiva and Vishnu to confront and defeat the shape-shifting evil Buffalo demoness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betel
The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plants are cultivated for their leaves which is most commonly used as flavoring in chewing areca nut (betel nut chewing). Etymology The term betel was derived from the Malayalam word ''vettila'' via Portuguese. Distribution ''Piper betle'' is originally native to South Asia and in Southeast Asia, from Island Southeast Asia (Philippines, Timor-Leste and the Lesser Sunda Islands, and Peninsular Malaysia) to Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar). Its cultivation has spread along with the Austronesian migrations and trade to other parts of Island Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, Micronesia, South Asia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Réunion Island, and Madagascar. It has also been introduced during the Colonia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makaravilakku
Makaravilakku is an annual festival held on Makara Sankranti in Kerala, India at the shrine of Sabarimala. The festival includes the Thiruvabharanam (sacred ornaments of Lord Ayyappan) procession and a congregation at the hill shrine of Sabarimala. An estimated half a million devotees flow to Sabarimala every year to have a darshan (vision) of this ritual this day. Legend Lord Sri Rama and his brother Lakshmana met Sabari, a tribal devotee, at Sabarimala. Sabari offered the Lord fruits after tasting them. But the Lord accepted them gladly and whole-heartedly. The Lord then turned and saw a divine person doing tapas. He asked Sabari who it was. Sabari said it was Sasta. Rama walked towards Sasta and the latter stood up to welcome Rama. The anniversary of this incident is celebrated on Makara Vilakku day. Agents behind the Makaravilakku Makaravilakku, is a part of a religious ritual that is practiced in the past by the Malayaraya tribe who are believed to be the descendants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makara Jyothi
Makara ( sa, मकर) is the name of a zodiac sign in Indian languages known as Capricorn in English. "Jyoti" means "light" in Sanskrit. Thus "Makara Jyoti" (also spelt as Jyothi) means "Light of Capricorn". The Sun appears to move from one zodiac constellation to another every month and the day on which Sun changes the constellation is called Sankrānti ("transit") in Sanskrit. Makara Sankranti ( sa, मकर संक्रान्ति, ml, മകര സംക്രാന്തി, kn, ಮಕರ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿ, ta, தைப்பொங்கல், te, మకర సంక్రాంతి ) is the Sun’s transit into Capricorn (Makara) constellation that usually occurs on 14 January every year and is a very important Hindu festival celebrated all over India in various forms. Uttarāyaṇa, the six-month period when the sun travels towards the north on the celestial sphere, starts on Makara Sankranti and ends on Karka Sankranti (around 14 July). On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pettathullal
Pettathulal, also known as Petta Kettu, is a historic ritualistic dance held annually on the 27th of Dhanu at Erumely, in the district of Kottayam, in the Indian state of Kerala. It is performed during the Mandalam - Makaravilakku period (November, December and January) among thousands of devotees. It depicts the joyfulness of people over the slaying of Mahishi by Lord Ayyappa. Two groups actively participate in the ''thullal'', one from Ambalappuzha and other from Aalangadu. The Ambalappuzha group starts their journey to Erumely on the 22nd of Dhanu and a couple of days before the ''thullal''. They visit the Manimala Bhagavathy temple on 25th Dhanu and perform an ''Aazhi pooja.'' Before the Ambalappuzha ''thullal'', a ''Krishna parunth'' (sacred eagle) flies around in the sky. It is believed that lord Vishnu himself arrives from Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna temple on his mount Garuda to witness the ''thullal''. Pettathullal is a symbolic representation of a community against the upr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narayana Guru
Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality. Biography Narayanan, né Nanu, was born on 20 August 1856 to Madan Asan and Kuttiyamma in an Ezhava family, in the village of Chempazhanthy near Thiruvananthapuram, in the erstwhile state of Travancore. His early education was in the gurukula way under Chempazhanthi Mootha Pillai during which time his mother died when he was 15. At the age of 21, he went to central Travancore to learn from Raman Pillai Asan, a Sanskrit scholar who taught him Vedas, Upanishads and the literature and logical rhetoric of Sanskrit. He returned to his village in 1881, when his father was seriously ill, and started a village school where he taught local children which earned him the name ''Nanu Asan''. A year later, he ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
