SREE MANAPPULLIKKAVU BHAGAVATHY TEMPLE,YAKKARA, PALAKKAD-FORWARD Dear friends,
I had mentioned Ireached Manapulli kavu temple after Deeparadhana, since I proceeded afterdeeparadhana at Kasi viswanathaswamy koil at Kalpathi to Manappulli. I got aninformative write up about the temple. I thought of forwarding the same. GopalakrishnanDated 24-5-2022 ManappulliBhagavathy temple, famous for the grand Vela festival, is located at the heartof Palakkad town in a serene backdrop of a village called Yakkara. This is anaesthetically appealing temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagavathy, considered to be Lord Siva’s daughter,Bhadrakaali, born out of the sacred “Jada” or Lord Shiva during Dakshayaga. Legend: The templemythology is that once, Neelan, an Asura was giving lot of disturbances to thepeople of this area. People complainedabout his miseries and menace to sage Parasuraman and he advised to take up thematter with Lord Paramasiva. Paramasiva by incarnationtook the form of Bhadrakali and killedNeelan. After this, Bhadrakali became tobe worshipped as Manappulli Sree Bhadrakali Amman. This deity is a very powerful deity believedto shower prosperity, to ward off miseries, fulfil all desires, protect fromall evils of her true devotees. The temple issituated in a calm and serene place, has a beautiful pond on the southside. Separate sannadhies are there forLord Ayyappa, KalaBairavar on the out side of the main shrine. Inside the shrine there are sannadhies forLord Ganesha, LordMuruga etc. Sthala Puranas saysthat this originally belonged to a famoussaintly Kerala Brahmin family Mattapalli Bhadrakali Mana. The Brahmins lived on thebanks of rivers and performed Yagas on the river beds and this place was calledYaga-Kara. Thus, this areawas known as Yagakkara and later it tookthe present name of Yakkara.The temple is located on the East Yakkara. It is believed that the deity Bhagavathy Amma was on the West Yakkaraand later on shifted to East Yakkara and the Brahmin devotee used to performhis prayers and Pooja to thedeity at the kitchen (Madappalli) in his house. Later on Temple was built there and thetemple Madapallikavu was known in course of time asManappallikavu Sree Bhagavathy Amman of Yakkara. It is believed thatthe sword used by Mother Bhagavathi to defeat and destroy the demons is stillthe float tank. During the Velafestival, an event of Mother Bhagavathi taking out the sword from the Tankcalled Velichapadu is celebrated. Adevotee possessed with the influence of Mother Bhagavathi dives into the tank,bring the sword and place it in the shrine of Mother for pujas. Feeding of the devotees also takes place onthis day called VelaOottu. During this festival,15 elephants stand in a line with playing of Pancha Vadyam, Pandi and PanjariMelas. Significance ofIdol: Mother ManapulliBhavathi with Her dark complexion is facing north. She is holding trident, skull, sword andarmour in Her four hands. She is in herbest attire wearing jewels. She has thethird eye on the forehead as Lord Shiva and four sharp long teeth. Those subjected to injustice pray to Her forrelief. It is said that Her long teethrepresent four Vedas. My note- The original deity is small and can beseen in the sanctum corner from a particular area from the side of the temple. My wife knew about it from somebody and showed it to us. She was visitingfirst time the temple Every day there arethree main poojas to the deity. One canhear the bursting of Vedi (Kathina) at the time of Deeparadhana (aarathi) everyday on three occasions. The sound isheard for about two to three kilometers and everyone is mentally reminded ofthe poojas at the temple as a constant and ever living Force. The templeprocessions are conducted generally with about seventeen elephants and the main deity withfull flower decoration and ornaments will be taken. Manapulli vela festival is famous in thistemple during which time firework displays, panchavadya performances, Ootamthullal, Kathakali dances, Discourses and various cultural arts areperformed. Nithya Seva to the deity is performedas per stipulated schedule which is displayed near the temple office counter. MANAPULLIKAVU VELA: Manapullikavu Vela isa Festival honouring the deity at Manapullikavu called 'Manapulli Bhagavathy'. Thefestival is celebrated between last week of February and first week of Marchbased on the Malayalam Calendar year. The celebration starts with'Kodiyettam' (flag hoisting on a bamboo pole) which declares the 'Vela'(Festival) hasstarted. After the Kodiyettam, a week full of pooja ceremonies and eveningswith colourful cultural programmes are organized by the 'Vela Committee'(Festival Committee) which all ends with the grand day 'Manapullikavu Vela'. Lots of devoteesfrom various parts of Kerala and other southern states of India come forworshipping Bhagavathy on this auspicious day. The Vela day starts early withpoojas to the Bhagavathy continuing with all day poojas. Chanthattam The 'ChaandhAbishekam', one of the important pooja during the day attracts flocks ofdevotees. 'Vedikettu' (Firework) is also an important attractive element of thefestival which is organized in the evening around 9 PM and early morning by 4AM. The Vela day isdeclared as Local Holiday which shows the importance of the festival.There are many other festivals celebrated in Palakkad district. ManapullikavuVela consists small velas from other desams. Velas from WestYakkara, Vadakkanthara, Vennakkara, Koppam are some of them. These small velascome together to make the final show. Plenty of chariots (bull carts and othermotorised vehicles) take part in Manapullykavu Vela. Website The temple now hasa website (http://www.manappullybhagavathydevaswom.com) where it offers onlinepuja booking for its devotees spread across the world. Website also has awealth of information about the temple. By Team Devaayanam at September 06, 2016 -- 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/240185714.1627126.1653372751828%40mail.yahoo.com.
