Koodalmanikyam Temple is a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
in
Irinjalakuda Municipality
Irinjalakuda is a municipal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of
Irinjalakuda Revenue Division and Mukundapuram (tehsil), Mukundapuram Taluk. After Thrissur, this town has most number of administrative, law-enfor ...
,
Thrissur district,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, India . The temple comprises a main structure, a walled compound with citadels, and four ponds around the main structure one of which is within the walls. Koodalmanikyam Temple is the only ancient temple in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
dedicated to the worship of
Bharata, the second brother of
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
, however the idol is that of god
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
. "Sangameshwara" ("the Lord of the Confluence") is another name associated with the deity at Koodalmanikyam. The temple is one of four in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
that form a set called "
nalambalam
Nalambalam is a set of four Hindu temples in Kerala. In Malayalam, ''Nalu'' means "four" and ''Ambalam'' means "temple". These are the temples for the Rama and his brothers of Ramayana. There are around five sets of Nalambalams in Kerala, the ...
", each temple dedicated to one of the four brothers in the epic ''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
'':
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
,
Bharata,
Lakshmana
Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...
and
Shatrughna
''Shatrughna'' ( sa, text=शत्रुघ्न, translit=śatrughna, lit=killer of enemies) is a prince of Ayodhya, King of Madhupura and Vidisha, and a brother of Prince Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is also known as ''Ripudaman' ...
.
The
Thachudaya Kaimal
The Thachudaya Kaimals were a lineage of ruling chiefs in Travancore, now in the Indian state of Kerala. The Thachudaya Kaimal is a sacerdotal dignitary in Kerala and is considered the spiritual chief and temporal ruler of the Koodalmanikyam Templ ...
as "Manikkam Keralar" is the spiritual chief and the temporal ruler of the Koodalmanikyam Temple and its estates. The line goes back to antiquity and is mentioned in the sacred
Skanda Purana
The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest ''Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumaram, Kaumara literature, titled after Kartikeya ...
. The temporal rights over the temple, that is the office of the kaimal (as opposed to "Manikkam Keralar") and the office of "melkoyma".
History
The earliest historical reference to Koodalmanikyam Temple is found on a stone inscription attributed to the
Chera Perumal
Chera Perumals of Makotai, also known as the Perumal dynasty of KeralaThapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 331-32., or Cheraman Perumal dynasty of MahodayapuramNoburu Karashmia ...
king
Sthanu Ravi Kualsekhara dated 854/55 AD, leasing out vast extents of land for the temple. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that the temple must have been in existence for quite some time before this date and that even then Koodalmanikyam occupied a place of importance among temples of Kerala.
Koodalmanikyam temple plays a key role in the history of
Irinjalakuda
Irinjalakuda is a municipal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of
Irinjalakuda Revenue Division and Mukundapuram (tehsil), Mukundapuram Taluk. After Thrissur, this town has most number of administrative, law-enfor ...
as most land in and around the region belonged to the Koodalmanikyam Temple and the
Thachudaya Kaimal
The Thachudaya Kaimals were a lineage of ruling chiefs in Travancore, now in the Indian state of Kerala. The Thachudaya Kaimal is a sacerdotal dignitary in Kerala and is considered the spiritual chief and temporal ruler of the Koodalmanikyam Templ ...
s of
Travancore
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...
until 1971.
[http://www.godubai.com/gulftoday/articlearc.asp?aid=113418§ion=asia] The temple attracts devotees and tourists.
Rituals and festival
* The custom in most of the temples in Kerala is to have five pujas and three sivelis a day. But in Koodalmanikyam Temple there are only three pujas and no siveli. There is no usha puja and pantheeradi puja at this shrine.
* The deity is taken out for ceremonial procession only during the annual festival. There is no deepa-aradhana. This is the only temple without deepa-aradhana.
* Sticks and camphor are not used for the puja. The floral offerings to the deity consist of lotus, tulasi (ocimum sanctum) and thechi (ixora). But they are not grown in the temple compound. No other flower is taken for puja or for making garlands. Lotus garland is an important offering to the deity. A garland will be offered to the deity which does have not less than 101 lotus flowers.
Annual temple festival
* The temple holds its chief annual festival for ten days each year in the month of
Medam
The Malayalam Calendar is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, the beginning of the Kollam Era.
There are many theories regarding the origin of the era, but according to recent schola ...
(April/May). The first day of the festival is calculated by the appearance of the
uthram asterism and signified by hoisting a ceremonial flag (the start day falls one day after the famous
Thrissur Pooram
The Thrissur ''Pooram'' is an annual Hindu temple festival held in Thrissur, Kerala, India. It is held at the Vadakkunnathan (Shiva) Temple in Thrissur every year on the ''Pooram'' (pronounced ) day—the day when the moon rises with the ''P ...
festival in nearby
Thrissur
Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...
)
* Each day of the festival, a seeveli (procession of caparisoned
temple elephants) is held twice, once in the morning and once at night, to the accompaniment of
panchari melam
Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam (or simply panchari), is one of the major forms of Chenda Melam (ethnic drum ensemble), and is the best-known and most popular in the ' ...
(sacred music). Seventeen elephants take part. Two features of the seeveli are unique to the Koodalmanikyam Temple: first that two baby elephants are included in the procession, one standing on each side of the elephant carrying the deity. Second, while the headdresses ('netti pattam' in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
) of seven elephants are made of pure gold, the rest are made of pure silver. The last two days of the festival feature
panchavadyam
Panchavadyam (Malayalam: പഞ്ചവാദ്യം), literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka ...
(sacred music from an orchestra of five instruments), and the festival ends at the
thiruvonam
Thiruvonam is a Taluk town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu
Geography
Thiruvonam is located at . It has an average elevation of 36 metres (120 feet).
Demographics
A small town located south of Thanjavur, has pop ...
asterism.
Temple ponds
There are four ponds that are located in and around the temple. The largest of the four are "Kuttan Kulam", located outside the compound on the eastern side, and "Kulipini Theertham", located inside the compound. Kulipini Theertham is believed to have been sanctified by the sage (
maharishi
Maharishi is a Sanskrit word, written as "महर्षि" in Devanagari (formed from the prefix mahā- meaning "great" and r̥ṣi - sage, poet or a singer of sacred hymns), indicating members of the highest order of ancient Indian sages, po ...
) Kulipini, who held a great ritual sacrifice, a
yajna
Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...
, at the spot. Water from this source is used for rituals and ceremonies within the temple.
Priests are allowed to take part in the ceremonies after cleansing themselves at the Kuttan Kulam outside the temple and then have to take a dip in Kulipini Theertham before entering sanctum sanctorum. The pond outside the compound located at the western side is called "Padinjare Kulam" and the pond outside the compound located at the southern side is called "Thekke Kulam". These three water bodies constitute a significant area as much as the size of the temple itself. Except Kulipini Theertham the other three water bodies are open to the public.
See also
*
Temples of Kerala
This is a list of famous Hindu temples in Kerala ordered by district.
Alappuzha
Ernakulam
Idukki
Kannur
Kasaragod
Kollam
Kottayam
Kozhikkode
Malappuram
Palakkad
Pathanamthitta
Thiruvananthapuram
...
References
External links
Temple website
{{Hindu temples in Kerala
9th-century Hindu temples
Hindu temples in Thrissur district
Irinjalakuda