QUES ANSW DIVINE 67 Dear friends,
These are informationposted by members compiled as QA by me in 1998’s-2004’s and stored in mycomputer. At this date I have no information of the members posted. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, Former AGM Telecom Trivandrum dated 07-12-2021 Q1 it is told the expenses for the tiruppothu arattu inChengannur temple is connected with Colonel Munro .What are the details of it? A1 Colonel Munro was the Resident-Divan of Travancoreduring the reign of Rani Laxmi Bai (1810-14). It was he who organized the takeover of almost all thetemples in Travancore by the Government. Once in thisconnection he was camping at Chengannur with his family. While checking thetemple accounts to regulate the various expenses he came across the items against Triputtu. Hecould not help laughing at the naivety of the people. "How can a metal deity get itsPeriods?" he mused. "It is not only absurd but alsoobscene," he said and cut out the budget provision for the ritual with astroke of his pen. Q2 Is there a tradition thatSripadmanabha swamy at Trivandrum is worshipped by Indra and Chandra? A2 Yes. There isa tradition that the God of the templeis believed to have been worshippedby Chandra and Indra. Q3 What are the details of Bhadra deepamand Murajapam in Pdmanabha swamy temple at triandrum? A3 There arethe 'Bhadradipams' of seven dayduration celebrated twice a year. At the end of twelve suchBhadradipams, that isevery sixth year, there is a major celebration called the 'Murajapam' (chanting of Manthras). The Travancore Maharaja, MarthandaVarma, had conducted many wars against petty principalities, which were scattered. == The first such Murajapam was held in 1750A.D., to expiate the sins of war and annexation of territory. The 'Laksha Deepam'(festival of lights) around the temple, marks the conclusion of thecelebrations. Q4 it is told the expenses for the tiruppothu arattu inChengannur temple is connected with Colonel Munro .What are the details of it? A4 Colonel Munro was theResident-Divan of Travancore during the reign of Rani Laxmi Bai (1810-14)……Refer answer 1 At the same time the Devi had her period. For the first timethe ceremonies connected with it were suspended The people felt disappointed. But the Colonelalso learnt his lesson. Hiswife started to have heavy blooding and their children took ill. SO serious they became that it is onrecord that the maharani of Trivandrum made solicitous enquiries about theirhealth through a letter sent with a special messenger. Munro's clerk conducted a secret prasnam, which revealedthe wrath of the deity. He advised his master accordingly. Munro repented for his thoughtless action andmade an amends by not only restoring the expenses for the fun but also by himself donating asum of Rs. 706/- for celebration of the first Triputtu of every year.his stillcontinues. Needless to say that his wife and children recovered from theirillness. Q5 Do there is any legend Chengannurconnected with Dakshayaga? A5 Yes. There is a thinking onthose lines. Daksha showed disrespect to Siva, his in-law, by not inviting himto ft sacrifice he performed. Because of this, his daughter, Sati, who attendedit dis-regarding Siva's advice was also slighted. Resent the insult to her andher husband she immolated her by jumping into the sacrificial fire. The grief-stricken Siva carrying the char of Sati wandered here and there indesolation. To relieve him from this situation, Mahavishnu with the aid ofSudarsana chakra cut Sati's body into pieces. Where her limbs fell the place acquired Siva's Chaitanya. At Taliparambu the head fell, atChengannur, the yoni mandala or the female reproductive organ, which explainswhy the Devi gets her monthly periods here. It is significantthat at both these places the image of Siva is Swayambhu or self-born. Q6 What is Oath at Chengannur west Nata? A6 There is a hole in the wall atChengannur west nata. The man taking the oath had to insert his finger in thishole and then swear. If he utters any falsehood woe to him and a serpentstrikes him dead instantly. Because of this no one is prepared to swear here.The very term "Chengannur west nada" thus became synonymous terror. Q7 Name the nambudiries in the famous story ofChottanikkara Rakthakulam .What is the other version than coming to Chottanikkara? A7 Recollect the story of Guptan Nampoothri coming to see Kathakali atChottanikkara temple and young Itrusu variasayar joining…. Guru-Kosapalli Achan NambudriSishyan-Guptan Nabudri… But the Mother Goddess caught the Yakshi by the hair, cut her head and threw it in thesouthern tank. As a result the water became red like blood. This tank istherefore still called Rakthakulam (blood tank). There is however another version with a slight variation. Accordingto this Guptan Nambudiri was going to Triprayar for the Pooram festival when hemet a beautiful woman walking alone in the night. At the temple, it was Kalloora great magician who met him and pointed out he was in the company of afiendish girl. Then followed the same advice: torun to Chottanikara. He gave him some pebbles to be thrown behind his back till he reached thetemple. Therest of the story is the same. Q8 Everybody knows about the sastha at Chottanikkaratemple. Do minor cases are mental problems prayed here?What is the story ofSastha there? A8 Usually minor cases are disposedof at the nearby Sasta shrine. A nail is driven into one of the pillars in front and theexorcised spirit is thus bound preventing it from affecting others.Chottanikkara On the north-east side of the maindeity is. Dharma Sasta shrine. Here he is depicted not as Brahmachari as isgenerally the case but as a grihastha with his two wives, Purna and Pushkala There is a legend aboutthe advent of Sasta in the Chottanikara temple. Once Bhagawati went in procession toMeppazhur Mana for para (offering of a measure of paddy). On the way somerowdies harassed those accompanying the procession. Hence while returning theMeppazhur Nambudiri provided escort by sending his family deity, Dharma Sasta who, however,continued to stay at Chottanikara serving the goddess. Q9 What is the nailing at Palamaram and Guruti in chottanikkara temple? A9 One or more nails offered by thepriest, depending on the severity of the case, is thrust into the paala tree on the northside of the shrine by the devotee with the fist and also hitting the headagainst it. After partaking of the guruti liquidthe devotees carry it home and bury it in the four corners of the house andinside to ward off evil spirits. My note- For those not familiar to Chottanikkara Devi temple. Thereare two deities one is on the upper road side and another a few steps below. The one atheight is called Melkavu, one at lower level is called Keezkavu. Guruthi isperformed only in keezkavu. Q10 What is the speciality of chotanikkara devi? A10 The vigraha, which faces east isof laterite, three or four feet high and is said to be self-born. It has no well-defined shape. Itcan be seen only in the morning when the nirmlyam (previous day's flowers,garlands etc.) is removed. Alongside the Devi, to her right, is another image Vishnu-in granite. This is about two feet highspringing from the same pedestal. They together are called Lakshminarayana.Hence the popular chant of devotees. "Amme (Mother) Narayana," "Devi Narayana","Lakshmi Narayana," etc. The spot where the goddess appearedfirst is the present Pavizhamallithara on the south side of the temple. Q11 What is the legend about the valia vilakku atEttumanoor temple? A11 The celebrated Valia vilakku orthe lamp, which you have to worship first before having darshan of the maindeity. This lamp is said to have beeninstalled in 1545 A.D. and itswicks have been burning ever since. An important vazhivadu or offeringis pouring oil in this lamp. It can contain nearly 3 liters of oil. As every devotee pours oil, the overflow iscollected in a huge vessal placed below the lamp. The spillover thus collected is somuch that it is sufficient for the annual festivals of the temple Making vowsafter worshipping to this holy lamp liberates people possessed by evil spiritsalso here. There is a story behind this lamp. The present lamp we see is the onerenovated in 1542 A.D. Soon after, one evening, some temple servants werestanding in front of the West tower and passing their time chitchatting. Atthis juncture a bell-smith came and placed reverently a beautiful lamp beforethem. With folded hands, he requested them to keepit for the temple use and give him something for the night's gruel. At this oneof the servants admired the beauty and fine workmanship of the lamp, He thoughtit glittered like gold and wondered who could pay for it. He added that if itwere lighted it would be very auspicious for the temple. Another among them spoke ratherlight-heartedly to the boll-smith's request to pay him something. Said he: "Ettumanurappan onlytakes from his devotees, he never gives." Yet another remarked: "It isalright, we can buy the lamp. Who will fill this up with oil? Surely it won'tburn on water." To this, the poor bell-smithreplied: "Who knowsthe divinity of the Lord? If He wills this will burn even without oil orwater. In any case if it is hung inside the temple any devotee will pour oiland it will be kept burning." As he said this, someone from insidethe temple came running took the heavy lamp inside and fixed it in the presentlocation. Soon there was thunder and lightning. Some closed their eyes unableto see the lightning, while a few fled for safety. After the thunder and lightning stopped, everybodywas surprised to see the beautiful lamp burning brightly with five wicksand full of oil. Q12 Every body know about the 7 ½ Ponnana of Etumanoor.What are the details of it? A12 A unique sight on the eighth andtenth day of the festival at Ettumanur is the exposition of the seven and half elephants of gold- Ezhara ponnana. These elephants were offered to the deity by the then rulerof Travancore, Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, as atonement for thedestruction of temple property caused ' in his campaign to annexe territoryafter territory. These were made of gold weighing seven andhalf thulams (one thulam 28 lbs.). Each of the seven elephants is two feet high and theremaining one is of one feet only-hence they are together calledseven and half elephants. They are supposed to represent the guardians at theeight points (Ashtadikpalas). The tradition was that if eight elephants were made,one had to be given to Ettonnesseri lllam. Therefore only seven and halfelephants were got finished, seven of the same weight, height and size and theother as a baby elephant. A large number of people flock to the temple duringfestival days to see these golden elephants. Q13 Who has installed deity at Ettumanoor? Who hasreconstructed the temple? A13 Legend has it that it was the Sage Khara who installedSiva at Ettumanur. It was the same Khara who installed the Shivalinga at Vaikomand Keduthuruthi as described in the Chapter on Vaikom temple. It is alwaysheld meritorious to have the darshan of these three temples on the same day. Oncea Pandyan King caught by an evil spirit,Allthe medical treatment, possessed Chanda Bhaskara and mantras were of no avail.So he prayed to the Deva of the Ettumanur temple and recovered from his afflictionmiraculously. It is saidthat it was he who constructed the Ettumanur temple. VilwamangalathuSwamiyar entrusted the administration of the temple to AsthamangalathuMoothatu. Later it devolved on eight illams called Ettonnesseri, Mangathu,Pattamana, Ayunganikkal, Chirakka, and Punnekkel etc., which are around thetemple. Thus the Place to be known as Ettumanakalute oor i. e. the place ofillams which ultimately became Ettumanur. Q14 What is the speciality of each daskamof narayaneeyam? A14 Thus the poet Melpattur narayan bhattathiri closesthe last dasaka of Narayaneeyam praying to the Lord to bless him and likewise all those who recite thishymn with "ayur-arogya-saukhyam", longevity, health andhappiness here (in this world and now) and final deliverance thereafter. Q15 Who is the authorof famous book Jnanappana? A15 PoonthanamNampoothiri- Jnanappana or Song of Wisdom is one of the mostmoving works of poetry, simple and profound at the same time. Q16 What was the relation between Vilwamangalam andKururamma? A16 Vilwamangalam and Kururamma who werecousins were two blessed souls who had visions of the Lord Q17 Do any curingof diseases are well known recently from Guruvayur? A17 Yes. In modern times, the well-known saint and scholar, UpanyasaChakravarti, the late SengalipuramAnantharama Dikshitar was cured of his leprosy by praying toGuruvayurappan. Thelate Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar lost his voicesuddenly at the peak of a concert he was giving at Suchindram. Several doctors triedto cure him but to no avail. In despair he resorted to Guruvayurand wrung out his heart to the Lord. He regained his voice and lived many moreyears to regale packed audiences with his inimitable concerts. Q18 What are the details of Vishnu temple at Trichambaram? A18 According to the Mushakavamsa, ahistorical mahakavya in Sanskrit composed by Atula, which narrates the historyof Mushaka kingdom till the 11th century A.D., King vallabha II is credited with having renovated theVishnu temple at Trichambaram. This indicates that thetemple had been in existence much earlier than the 11th century A.D. Incidentlly, Mushaka country (whichlater came to be known as Kolathunad, North Malabar, ruled by Kolattiris, King Valabha was also a generous patron of learning. It was he whobuilt the port of Valabhapattanawhich later on got corrupted into Valayapattana and then intoValarpattana, i.e. the modern, Baliapattanam, a picturesque town on thepalm-fringed, coast off North Malabar, which you pass while travelling fromCannanore to Taliparamba. There are two peculiar customs observed here, which reinforce the beliefthat the deity here represents the Lord after Kamsavadha. One is the offering of naivedyaimmediately after the sanctum is opened for the day every morning. The belief is Krishnaafter killing Kamsa went to his mother Devaki and asked for food stating thathe was very hungry after the ordeal. It is to commemorate this event thatthe ritual of offering food the first thing in the morning-is observed. Theother is the prohibition of elephants being taken anywhere near thetemple. It may be recalled that the royal elephantKuvalayapida charged Krishna and Balarama while they were entering the palaceof Kamsa. Since this incident Krishna had developed hatredagainst elephants. For this reason no one dares taking an elephantnear the temple although elephants are very much part of all other Keralatemples where the deities are mostly carried atop these animals in procession. My note- Same legend about first Nivedyam on opening of sanctum is told in Tirivarppu temple nearKottayam.My lateperiamma(father side )belonged to Tiruvarppu. Q19 what is the height of namakkalhanuman? A19 Sri Hanuman is in front ofSALAGRAMA rock with the height of 18 feet at Namakkal Q20 At what ageSankaracharya left the mortal body? A20 After performing the last ritesfor his mother, Sankara again resumed his spiritual mission. He is believed tohave reached Kedar in the Himalayas and disappeared at the age of 32, after giving finalinstructions and benediction to his beloved disciples. -- 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/1573546508.31510.1638830307991%40mail.yahoo.com.
