Palkulangara Devi Temple (

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 ...

: പാല്‍കുളങ്ങര ദേവി ക്ഷേത്രം) is a Hindu temple in Palkulangara, Wikimapia

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

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 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 ...

. This place is around 1 km from Pettah junction, 700 m from West Fort junction and 1.5 km from Chakka bypass junction. It is about 1.5 km to the west of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The temple is under the control of Sree Palkulangara Devi Temple Trust. The temple is an excellent example of Kerala Vasthu Vidya. The abode of Sree Palkulangara Devi is one of the most ancient temples in Kerala. There is also a

kavu Kāvû is the traditional name given for sacred groves across the Malabar Coast in Kerala, South India. Kavus are notable for Theyyam, the centuries-old ritual dance. Snake Groves A Sarpa Kavu (meaning ''Abode of Snakes'') is a traditional n ...

in the temple.

History

Legend has it that the main

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

was installed by

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

. After installing the

, Arjuna sent an arrow to the ground and it made way to a pond of milk, and the milk from the pond was used for Abhisheka. Palkulangara means the banks of the pond of milk (Pal - Milk, Kulam - Pond, Kara - Banks). The pond is in the back of the temple.

Ancient Recordings

This temple is also recorded in the stories of

Nala Nala (Sanskrit: नल) is a character in the ''Vana Parva'' book of the ''Mahabharata''. He was the king of Nishadha Kingdom and the son of Veerasena. Nala was known for his skill with horses and for his culinary expertise. He married prince ...

and Damayanti. There is a section in which

asks his messenger swan to visit Palkulangara Devi and take the blessings of the Goddess en route to delivering the messages to his lady love Damayanti. The existence of this temple is recorded in many ancient scriptures.

Deities and Sub-Deities

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 ...

in her manifestation as

Tripura Sundari Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरा सुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Lalita is a Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of supreme goddess Mahadevi m ...

along with

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

are the main deities in this temple. One important aspect of the temple is that

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 ...

manifests as the Temple Bhagavathi and Kali as Oorutu Amma, both being avatars of Adi Parashakti. Karthika is considered as the star of the deity. There are many upadevathas (sub-deities) adjacent to the temple, and it has been remade, according to the Deva Prashnam by expert astrologers recently. The main upadevathas on the premises are: #

Ganesha 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 d ...

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 ...

as the All Father. # Nagaraja # Nagayakshi #

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 t ...

# Brahma Rakshasa # Veerabhadra as the brother of the main deity #

Navagraha Navagraha are nine heavenly bodies and deities that influence human life on Earth according to Hinduism and Hindu astrology. The term is derived from ''nava'' ( sa, नव "nine") and ''graha'' ( sa, ग्रह "planet, seizing, laying hold of, ...

as Oorutu Amma, the sister of the main deity

Darshan

* Morning: 5.30 AM to 10.00 AM * Evening: 5.00 PM to 8.00 PM

Festivals

The festivals in this temple are: * Meena Bharani Mahostav — Annual festival that falls in the month of Meenam * Mandala Vratham — Festival in connection with the annual

Utsavam Utsava (), also referred to as Utsavam, generally means a festival or celebration or any joyous occasion, mostly associated with Hinduism. It also carries the meaning of delight, merriment and pleasure. The Sanskrit word ''utsava'' comes from t ...

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 ...

* Vinayaka Chathurthi — Pooja to

* Pooja Vaypu — Identical to Dussera festival (Saraswathy Pooja and Vidyarambham) * Karthika — Kazhchakula Samarpanam, Navakabhishekam, Karthika Pongala, Annadhanam (all months) * Ayilya Pooja — Milk, flowers etc. offered to serpent god and special rites. Monthly Pooja in Ayilyam day except in the months of Mithunam and Karkidakom. * Ayilyolsavam — Nagaroottu and Sarpabali in the month of

Thulam 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 ...

* Ramayana Parayanam and Bhagavathi Seva — All days of Karkidakom (evening) * Vavu Bali — In the month of Karkidakom

References

External links

GeoHack - Palkulangara Devi Temple

{{Hindu temples in Kerala Hindu temples in Thiruvananthapuram district Devi temples in Kerala