The Meenkulathi Temple is located in

Pallassena Pallassena or Pallassana is a village and gram panchayat in the Palakkad District, state of Kerala, India. It is close to Kollengode Town and Koduvayur and beside the river Gayatri, one of the tributaries of Bharatapuza. It is primarily not ...

, a village in southern

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 ...

Origins

MeenkulathikkavuPallassana Pazhayakavu website
/ref> is the oldest temple in Pallasena. Tradition has it that centuries ago three families belonging to the Veerasaiva Mannadiar clan worshipped the goddess

Meenakshi Meenakshi (Sanskrit: ; Tamil: ; sometimes spelled as Minakshi; also known as , and ), is a Hindu goddess and tutelary deity of Madurai who is considered an avatar of the Goddess Parvati also referred to as Durga. She is the divine consort of ...

as their deity. An acute drought in

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be of si ...

(

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

) drove them to seek greener pastures. One of them took a stone from there along with their other possessions. Worshipping their stone as their friend, philosopher and guide, they trekked to several places before reaching Pallasena. Enchanted by the forests surrounding the villages they settled there and prospered in the diamond trade. Whenever they went on business, they offered their customary prayers to the family deity. An aged member of their clan went for his customary bath before leaving on a trip home. He left his valuables and a palm leaf umbrella in the care of two youths. When he came back, he was shocked when he could not lift the things he had left with the youths. An

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

said that Meenakshi had manifested herself under the umbrella and that was why it could not be moved. Huge crowds came there to witness the miracle. The place came to be known as Kudamannu. The present

Meenakshi temple Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundaraswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, ...

and the adjacent temple tank were constructed over the next four centuries. A Thirumandiram was written as a testimony to the event. The Mannadiar clan has grown into 110 manais (veedus) . They conduct

Navarathri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is ob ...

Pongal Pongal may refer to: * Pongal (festival), an annual Tamil festival * Pongal (dish) Pongal, also known as pongali or huggi, is an Indian rice dish. In Tamil, "pongal" means "boil" or "bubbling up". The two varieties of pongal are ''chakarai pong ...

and

Bhairava Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव ) or Kala Bhairava is a Shaivite and Vajrayāna deity worshiped by Hindus and Buddhists. In Shaivism, he is a powerful manifestation, or avatar, of Shiva associated with annihilation. In Trika system ''Bhairava ...

festivals.

Buildings

The structure is built in the

Tamilnadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language— ...

style. It is constructed in such a way that the shadow of the wall never falls on the ground. There are two entrances, one in the north and the other in the west. The temple tank is next to the western entrance. Crossing the ''

Dwajasthambam The dhvajastambha (ध्वजस्तम्भ) refers to the flagstaff erected in front of the ''mukhamaṇḍapa'' (front pavilion) of a Hindu temple. The ''dhvajastambha'' is usually built within the temple walls (''prākāra''). They are t ...

'' made of

teakwood Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

and covered with

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

. The

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ''M ...

contains a large idol of Meenakshi Amman. Devotees are not allowed to wander around the garbhagriha. Around the main idol, the '' saptha maathas'' (several female deities -

Brahmi Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such ...

, Maheswari, Kaumari, Vaishnavai,

Indrani Indrani (Sanskrit: इन्द्राणी, IAST: ''Indrāṇī, lit.'' Indra's queen), also known as Shachi (Sanskrit: शची, IAST: ''Śacī''), is the queen of the devas in Hinduism. Described as tantalisingly beautiful, proud and ki ...

Chamundi Chamunda (Sanskrit: चामुण्डा, ISO-15919: Cāmuṇḍā), also known as Chamundeshwari, Chamundi or Charchika, is a fearsome form of Chandi, the Hindu Divine Mother Shakti and is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses).W ...

and Varahi) are installed. There are separate shrines for

Ganapathi Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

Veerabhadra Virabhadra (), also rendered Veerabhadra, Veerabathira, and Veerabathiran, is a fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva. He is created by the wrath of Shiva, when the deity hurls a lock of his matted hair upon the ground, upon hearing of the self- ...

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around co ...

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

Rakshasas Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma wh ...

and

Ayyappa 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 t ...

. In the adjacent hill called Vamala there are shrines for

Muruga Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

, Siva, and Shasta.

Events

, Karthigai,

Mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

Vilakku,

Maasi Maasi is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, on the eastern part of Saaremaa Island, Estonia. It is located just northwest from Orissaare, the administrative centre of the municipality. Maasi is bordered by Väike väin Straits on its no ...

Thiruvizha, Pallivettai and

Pooja are the most celebrated events in the temple. The eight-day

maasi Maasi is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, on the eastern part of Saaremaa Island, Estonia. It is located just northwest from Orissaare, the administrative centre of the municipality. Maasi is bordered by Väike väin Straits on its no ...

festival includes

Ottamthullal Ottan Thullal (or ''Ottamthullal'', Malayalam: ഓട്ടൻ തുള്ളൽ) is a recite-and-dance art-form of Kerala, India. It was introduced in the eighteenth century by Kunchan Nambiar, one of the Prachina Kavithrayam (three famous Mal ...

and

Kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

programs depicting scenes from the

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 ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

. It is customary that the deity's sword and lamp are taken in procession by the descendants of the youths who stood guard over the valuables and the palm leaf umbrella. Though the Mannadiar clan is given a privileged place in the activities of the temple, members of the entire community participate in the conduct of the temple festivals. The unique structure of the temple and its mode of worship have gained immense popularity among the natives of the village. Devotees firmly believe that the bath in the tank (known for its abundant fish) rids one of all chronic ailments.

References

External links

*http://meenkulathitemple.in/ {{Hindu temples in Kerala Hindu temples in Palakkad district Bhagavathi temples in Kerala

Origins

Buildings

Events

See also

References

External links