This Nizhal Thangal is west to

Swamithope Swamithope (alternate spelling Swamithoppe) is the name of a village that lies southeast of the City of Nagercoil, the capital of the Kanyakumari district, District of Kanyakumari in the State of Tamil Nadu, at the extreme southern tip of India. ...

. There was a zeouse devotee for Vaikundar during his period. During the last phase of the

Tavam Tapas (Sanskrit: तपस्) is a variety of austere spiritual meditation practices in Indian religions. In Jainism, it means asceticism (austerities, body mortification); in Buddhism, it denotes spiritual practices including meditation and se ...

, Vaikundar avoid speaking to anybody. So for giving message for the people Vaikundar blessed Mr. Swamiyadiyan of Eachan vilai, one of his devotee that, what ever Ayya think in his mind it will be heard by this man. Since he was booned to realize the thoughts of Vaikundar, he was called as "Varam petra Pandaram" – 'The booned mendicant'. Swamiyadiyan (Varam petra Pandaram) donated his land, ''Palvannanthoppu'', to Ayya and it was in this place the Nizhal Thangal of Chettikudiyiruppu constructed. 'Varam petra Pandaram' went to

along with his country-men and carried Ayya here in a cradle under a

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

umbrella. Ayya pointed the place for laying foundation stone with his rattan-cane for the Thangal. This was the first ever Thangal. There was then a

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

temple near this Thangal where 1001 goats are

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...

d. It was told that Ayya ordered that deity 'Parvathi' not to consent these sacrificial rituals. And then onwards those offering were stopped. A leaf-roofed structure with brick walls was constructed at the site where Ayya pointed. It was renovated in 1942 and a grand festival was celebrated in 1944 in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

month of

Avani Avani is a small village in Mulabaagilu taluk, Kolara district in Karnataka, India, about ten miles from Kolar Gold Fields. The village is located at 32 km from Kolara, the district centre and 13 km from Mulabaagilu, the Taluk headqua ...

. Festivals have taken place every year since then.

References

* K. Amalan, ''Ayya Vaikundar Punitha Varlaru'', Akilam Pathippakam, 2000. * G. Patrick, ''Religion and Subaltern Agency'', University of Madras, 2003. {{Ayyavazhi large Nizhal Thangals

See also

References