PAYYANUR PAVITHRA MOTHIRAM PART 2 Dear friends,
This is the 2ndpart of the posting about Payyannur and Pavithra mothiram. I thank all themembers for positive responses about first part of the posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 25-8-2010. Reposted on 24-1-2021 after editing and updating. R. Gopala Krishnan 6. Payyanur History Payyanur is one of the ancient civilized places in Kerala.This north end town of Kerala claims a rich and glorious heritage. Thearchaeological remaining excavated from Payyanur and nearby places proves theexistence of a civilizedcity in this area centuries ago In AD 1293 theworld famous traveler Marco Polo, has visited this place and had given a very good impressionabout Ezhimala port, which was called by the name “Heli”, now Payyanur. Centuries backPayyanur was a part of the Ezhimala Kingdom. King Nandan who ruled this Ezhimala was very famous and mighty. The books written during the times describeabout this country and this king with much importance. Later Ezhimala became under the regime of theChera Dynasty and thereafter the Mooshaka Dynasty. Ramanthali was theheadquarters of the Mooshaka Dynasty. My note- I had a lady Assistantengineer from Ramanthali while in Trivandrum. She used to tell about the famoustemples there. She was a varisyar and her family had Kazhakam in the Ramanthali Bhagavathi temple. Later duringthe regime of the Kolathiri Dynasty Payyanur was a part of Kolathu Nadu ruled by the Kolathiri Rajas based inChirakkal near Kannur. Duringthe British Rule, Payyanur was considered as a "farka" which in termis a part of the Chirakkal Taluk. Till theformation of the Kerala State in 1957 Payyanur remained in the Malabar Districtof the Madras State. The famous scholar and author Dr. Herman Gundert, WillimaLogan, the Malabar District collector during the British Rule who wrote MalabarManual had visited Payyanur and did a lot of studies on the rich heritage ofPayyanur. During thepast the city centre was Kachil Patanam (present Kavvayi) was the main townbecause of the waterways through Kavvayi River and it was big Seaport. It was the administrative as well as businesscentre during that time. According tohistorians ships from China and other countries used to visit this port andanchored in the nearby river Changoorichal. Kavvayi retained its position evenduring the rule of British East India Company also. They established the firstMagistrate court and Registrar’s Office in Kavvayi only. Later Kokkanisseri became the city centre. The main road, which starts from Perumba,divided the town into two. The south ofthis road was called Payyanur village and the north Kokkanisseri village. Thebusiness centre was calledKokkanisseri Bazaar. Later the namePayyanur became common and thus thedeveloped city of today came into existence. My note- There is Tamil Brahmin (Kerala iyer) settlementalso at Payyannur. Probably attracted by the business, Tamil Brahmins alsosettled there. This information is from my Lady Assistant Engineermentioned. I have not visited the place other than by just five minute bus stopping on a trip from Kasargode to Calicut. 7. Pavithra Mothiram PayyanurPavithram or Pavithra Mothiram is internationally famous like" AranmulaMirror "or "Ambalapuzha Palpayasam". It is very divine. Pavithram means pure.Traditional Pavithram is made out of Dharbha with special twisting and tyingarrangement and worn in the 2nd finger during performing Vedic orholy rituals in the Hindu tradition. The formationof Payyanur Pavitram is closely related with Payyanur Sree Subrahmanya Swami Temple. According tothe legends, Pavitram made of gold was recommended to avoid the inconvenienceof making it many times a day for the various poojas and rituals. Payyanur Pavithra Mothiram is a uniquelycrafted ring shaped like a knot and considered being a sacred ornament.Usually Payyanur Pavithram is being made of Gold and Silver. The Pavithram isto be worn on the right ring finger by the person performing Vedic Karmas. It is believed that this ringwill bring luck and grace to anyone who wears it with the deep devotion. It is believed that the Pavithram brings the "TrimoorthiChaithanyam" (the vigour or the effectdue to the presence of the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). The person who wears Pavithramas well as the Goldsmith who makes it has to have to impose some sort ofself-control or discipline over himself. They should be pure vegetarian and shouldn'ttake alcohol and should keep way from immoral activities. If Pavithra bangle wore by women, theyhave to remove the ring during the period of menstruation. According to tradition, the Pavithram, before handed over tothe customer, is taken to PAYYANURSUBRAMONIA/ PERUMAL TEMPLE for special poojas and a part of the costof the ring will be given to the temple as an offering. Payyanur Pavithram isbeing exhibited in many of the museums of India as well as abroad. Pavithra mothiram is available made with golden fibre and soworshipped is available with Kerala Jewellers at Pondy bazaar Chennai. It is very costly and weighing too much. So I preferred to purchase pavithram engraved mothiram fromthem once. 8. Payyanur and Astrology Payyanur is very famous for Astrology and its well-knownAstrologers. Payyanur beingthe land of Astrology is linked with the Sree Subrahmanya Swami Temple. In Hindu puranas, Lord Subrahmanya is believed to be the Godof Astrology. Lord Subrahmanya isconsidered as the lord of Sun, Moon, planets and all the stars in Hindumythology. So absolutely there is no doubt why Payyanur, theSubrahmanya Puri, has become the land of Astrology. Sankaranathan Unithiri was the famous astrologer of Payyanurwho was the chief advisor of the royal durbar of Rana Ranjith Singh, lion ofPunjab. He also served asthe chief advisor to the Maharaja of Travancore. The golden era of Jyothisham (Astrology) of Payyanur isconsidered as the second half of 19th century and 20th century. People from different parts of Kerala as well as Karnatakadaily visit the astrologers of Payyanur to seek advice, to know their futureand to get their horoscopes analysed. The number of people visiting Payyanur toget the astrological calculations made by the astrologers with the help ofcowry and the position of the planets is the proof for the expertise and honesty of thisscience. Some of the present day astrologers serve as familyastrologers to many of the leading politicians, film stars and other VIPs. The Payyanur RegionalCentre of Kaladi Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University offers BA and MA coursein Jyothisham (Astrology) 9. Payyanur panjamgams Another feature of the Payyanur's tradition of Sanskrit,Astrology and Mathematics are the two "Panjangams" published from this town, namely,Uthara Malayala Panjangam by Pundit VPK Poduval and Desamitram Panjangam byKanapram Narayanan Namboothiri. The mostly circulated calendars of Malayalam likeMathrubhoomi, Malayala Manorama, Deshabhimani, etc. is prepared by none otherthan VPK Poduval. 10 Sree Muchilot BagavathiRamanthali and Theyyam MuchilotBagavathi is one of the most popular deities worshipped in North Kerala. Thereis a practice for supplying food to thousands of devotees in connection withthe Muchilot Bagavathi Theyyam. Highly decorative figure of Muchilot Bagavathiattracts the minds of devotees and the men of aesthetic sense. In Cherukunnuand Kannapuram Muchilot Bagavathi Theyyam performed yearly. Theyyam danceis performed during Kaliyattam. There was an excellent movie by name “Kaliyattam” acted by Suresh gopiand Manju varier first screened about 10 years back. 11. Tidambu Nirtham ThidambuDance, a famous temple art of North Malabar area, now spreads throughout theKerala and also in some parts of Karnataka. In Thidambu Dance, the dancer takeson head the deity of corresponding god of particular temple. The dancerdecorates the deity with clothes, flowers, gold and other ornaments. TheThidambu Dancer begins the dance along with Chenda melam (Drum beat). The stepsof the dance are in accordance with steps of the vadyam. The dance begins withone rhythm and ends with other rhythm. I could once see theTidambunirtham performed by priests in Doordasan channel. One has to personallysee to enjoy it. Brahmasree Puthumana Govindan Namboothiri (44), resident ofPuthumana Illam, Chemmattam Vayal, and kanhangad is a famous thitampu nrithamartist (expert) at temples. He has performed at almost all the temples (around200) in north Kerala for the past 25yrs. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1750856860.3725529.1611468862823%40mail.yahoo.com.
