Thazhamon Madom is the family of the

tantri Thantri or Tantri is the Vedic head who stand's in a top room in religion of Hindu. Thantri is person who set rule in temples, they are the authority in the temples of Kerala and temples in coastal Karnataka in southern India. It is a positio ...

s of

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 ...

. The members of this madom are the head priests of Sabarimala temple for many years. This madom is in Mundencavu in

Chengannur Chengannur (also spelled Chengannoor or Chenganur) is a Municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala State, India. It is located in the extreme eastern part of the Alappuzha district, on the banks of Pamba River. Chengannur is north of ...

of central

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 ...

. The ''Padi Pooja'','' Udayasthamana Pooja'' and ''Kalasa Poojas'' cannot be conducted unless the Tantri is present during the ceremony. The tantri, or his representative is required to be present at the temple premises whenever the temple is open.

History

History the origin of these families dates back to the time of

Sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

Parasurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjivi, Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who ...

. After reclaiming the land of Kerala, he decided to install temples all around, and needed

s to conduct the rituals. He went to the region that is current

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and identified two brothers for the job. In order to test the supremacy of the two

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

s, the sage asked them to cross a river. The first nambuthri walked over the current to the other bank. But the second nambuthri stopped the flow of the river and walked through the river bed. Seeing this, Parasurama was pleased with them and granted them the following titles. The Brahmin who walked over the water was called Tharananelloor (In traditional

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 ...

, Tharanam means to cross), the other priest was called Thazhamon (the one who walked on the sand below the river). The sage also bestowed the title Kandararu to the Thazhamon family. The eldest tantri Kandararu Neelakantaru, died on 19 December 2005. Kandararu Maheshwararu died on 14 May 2018. The present tantris are Kandararu Rajeevaru, Kandararu Mohanraru and Kandararu Mahesh. They take yearly turns to discharge the responsibilities.

References

{{Reflist Culture of Pathanamthitta district