HINDU TEMPLES OF KERALA
by
Uma Balu
Defining the temple:
Historically, the Hindu temple has been the place of
worship, social life, art, learning, hobbies, entertainment, religion,
and spiritual life of the local Hindus and some non-Hindus. It is the
sacred dwelling place of the Gods and the center of life for the
religious. The temple, as a focal point, has also been able to contribute
to the growth of a small village or town to a popular business center,
the heart beat of a whole area.
Times have changed, and Hindus are facing huge
challenges in Kerala. It is up to the global Hindus to preserve the
tradition. Twenty percent of the Indian-born live outside India, and it
may well turn out to be the responsibility of these non-resident Indians
to give back to the homeland, and provide for the upkeep of their
hometowns and temples so that their reverence can be maintained.
Parasurama:
Kerala Hindus generally believe that Sri Parasurama
created 108 Siva temples and 108 Durga temples in Kerala to protect the
land from being engulfed by the ocean. The Durga temples are said to have
the power to remove the obstacles of life.
Local cultures:
The diverse Malayalee communities have a general
culture, a specific culture unique to each community, and a temple
culture. In spite of the physical proximity to each other, the local
cultures have marked similarities and differences in their belief
systems, local myths, social life, temple art, religious life, spiritual
life, temple celebrations, entertainment, and priesthood. The one
commonality they all have is the strong, immovable faith in their local
deity. The differences are minor in the areas of local ideologies,
attitudes, and cultural aspects of life.
Local beliefs:
The local believers have strong faith in the special
power of the Supreme Energy of their deities. These powers range from being the
remover of obstacles to one who can work any miracles. Often, there is
the story of someone having a dream or vision of the deity, someone
eventually finding the deity by chance, and the temple built.
Traditions of the temples:
The traditions of worship followed in the temples
come from the original worship when the temple was built, methodology,
mantras, offerings, and the caste of the first priest. Some temples have
their own dhyana-slokas. Coconut is broken as an offering. Traditional
belief is that breaking a coconut will break the obstacles in life. In
some cases, a local king began a tradition of rituals and festivals
specific to a temple, and it continues for centuries.
Special worships:
Each temple has its daily worships and special
worships on the deity’s birthday and other special times of the
year considered auspicious to the deity. The tradition is often rooted in
the Bharatiya or local myths and legends.
Temple priests:
The selection of the priest depends on the original
tradition. Some temples assign only Brahmins. Others have both Brahmin and
non-Brahmin priests. Currently there is a shortage of Brahmin tantris,
resulting in demand for increased salaries. Tantris are authorized
priests not only to plan and conduct worships, but also to decide the
offerings the deity will accept (temples have rules as to what offerings
they will accept from the public). The tantris also train volunteers from
the community to perform selected rituals. Recently female priests were
introduced. If the trend continues, this may save neglected temples from
shortage of priests. Women priests may be the answer to priest shortage.
Festivals:
The tradition of festivals may have begun at the
origin of the temple. Reading of sacred books, lectures, special worships
with rituals, and chanting can be part of the special festivals. Annual festivals
may include the Kerala New Year’s Day, first harvest of the year,
principal deity’s birthday, cultural entertainment like Kathakali,
Ottanthullal, and dance performances with themes from mythology or about
the origin of the temple, or drawing a kalam, a huge figure of the
deity.
Myths and Legends:
Myths and legends about the temple, its origin, and
deity, and his/her vahanam may be as much for entertainment as to prove
God’s mystifying powers. The myths on the birth of temples seem to
emphasize principles of love, compassion, and giving exemplified by gods.
God’s animals:
In Hindu mythology, animals are sacred and
inseparable companions of deities. Almost every God has an animal as
his/her vehicle. It is believed that the idea is to promote animal
rights. The temples may have sculptures and paintings of animals, or even
live animals. The live animals may be crows (ancestors in disguise),
cobras (vital energies), bulls (prana), or elephants (macrocosm).
Physical features of temples:
The temples are unique, of different shapes, sizes,
built in different times, often age unknown. They have different deities
in their main shrines, and many auxiliary deities. The sizes of deities
vary. A temple may be a simple, unremarkable structure with a single deity
in a small shrine, or a grand, gigantic, elaborate building
scientifically constructed by the rules of ancient Hindu architecture. It
may be in a high walled compound, or have no wall at all. There may be
one or more outer walkways surrounding the shrine. It may or may not be
by the bank of a river.
Temple visit:
The temple visit can be an
emotional, intellectual and spiritual pilgrimage. A temple can be
understood completely only through ethnology and the temple’s
history. In Hinduism, it is impossible to separate religiosity from ways
of worship, art, learning, spirituality, and civilization. Like Hinduism
itself, the temple visit has to be experiential. The experience should go
far beyond the sensory level, of the incense, music, chanting, and lectures
in the temple. It is impossible to convey the higher experience; one has
to experience it to believe it. It is one of awe and reverence,
unexplainable. It is bliss, here and now, for the believer. Often, even
non-believers receive the same bliss.
Temples have always played
a very significant role in the Indian culture, and Kerala is no
exception. Some of the great books and scriptures were written in
temples. Every village in Kerala has at least one temple. The average
person’s worship habit is a step toward the path of devotion, the
path that will eventually lead to liberation. One can visit temples for
worship’s sake, or with no specific goal.
With each successive
generation, more and more knowledge on the whereabouts and other details
of temples are being lost. The upkeep of some temples is also in a sad
state of affairs. Currently, many Hindus do not visit temples regularly.
Families do not assert this requirement as in previous generations. The
Indian population in general is rapidly modernizing and westernizing
itself, caught up in globalization. A counter movement should be in
place, incorporating modernization as well as staying rooted and grounded
in the ancient wisdom of India derived from its abundance of culture,
traditions and civilization. Fortunately, the older generation inside and
outside India has always taken a keen interest in religious and spiritual
matters.
Three selected temples:
Kerala is second only to Tamil Nadu in the number of temples. Here
is a description of three Kerala temples. The selection is not based
necessarily on the temple’s popularity or the crowdedness by
visitors. With the many hundred temples, it is difficult to make the
selection. The descriptions of the temples come mainly from hear-say folk
lore from the local elderly, some temple devotees and some published
information. This account may be unverifiable, and there are conflicting
stories on the myths, but all versions are considered authentic, without
explanation. The local residents are the experts on their temples. Some
temples have web sites.
KADAMPUZHA
SRI PARVATI TEMPLE:
The temple is
located in the vicinity of Kozhikkode, about six miles from Kottakkal, in
the village of Kadampuzha. The deity, Sri Parvati, is Lakshmi, Saraswati,
Durga, and Bhadrakali all in one, as a kirati. She is made of pancha
loha. She is considered extremely powerful on
Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, the crowded days of the temple. The deity
is so small and unremarkable, hard to see on special days because She is
covered with thecchi (thetti,
chetti) flowers. The worshipper gets to see
only the wick lamps around Her. The best time to see the deity is early
morning before She is covered. The temple has its own dhyana-slokam.
The temple was originated by Kaladi
Sankaracharya approximately 818 A. D. The 108
Durga temples of Kerala are said to have the power to remove obstacles,
and Kadampuzha, being a Durga temple, is included in that category. This is one of the older temples not
situated by a river bank. The temple is not impressive in size, shape, or
location, but known for its power.
Birth of this temple:
When Pandavas
were living in the forest after losing their gambling feat, in the Mahabharata, one day Rishi Vedavyasa approached them. He advised that Arjuna should meditate on Lord Siva and receive the Pasupathastram, a special bow with powers. Arjuna began meditating, and soon the power of the
meditation was so high that the worlds (of awareness) began to burn down.
Many sages became very concerned and begged Lord Siva to give Arjuna his boon, but to no avail. So they turned to
Parvati, who appealed to Siva. But Siva said that Arjuna
is not ready, he needed to shed his ego and mature more before he can
receive the boon. Siva decided to reduce Arjuna’s
ego. He appeared to Arjuna in the form of a
savage barbarian from the hunting Kirata tribe.
Parvati also disguised into a similar female form.
In the meantime, the Kauravas had sent an asura
in the form of a wild pig. Siva the hunter and Arjuna
the warrior killed the pig. Each claimed to have killed the pig, and
demanded the meat. In this fight Arjuna
launched many arrows at Siva, but Parvati made sure that each arrow
became a thecchi flower as it touched Siva. It
is in honor of this incarnation of Parvati that this temple is built.
The story goes on to say
that Arjuna was in deep remorse for shooting
the arrows at God Siva who he was meditating on. He collected all the thecchi flowers (the arrows that had become flowers),
made a heap, and the heap became Siva. Arjuna
begged for forgiveness and Siva gave him the special arrow.
How the temple was installed and energized (Prathishta):
Adi
Sankara and his disciples were traveling
through Kadampuzha one day. It was dusk, and they saw a divine light. He
tried to approach the light, but it was too hot to approach. Sankara meditated on Narasimha
Murthi, and with the help of the Sudarsana chakra, he
approached the light. The light began to shrink and slowly disappeared
into a ditch. Sankara, being knower of trikala, realized that this was Parvati who
accompanied the Kirata Siva in the Pasupathasthram incident, and decided to do a prathishta for her. He summoned a local Brahmin, who
arrived with a Warrier (Warriers were
helpers of temple priests). The Brahmin did the first abhisheka
and puja.
The puja
was done after closing the ditch with a banana leaf, and using red thecchi flowers, which became a heap. The nakshatra was Kritika at
the time, in the month of Magashirsha. So this
is considered the birthday of this Parvati. It is still the most
celebrated day of the year at this temple, with worships of heaps of thecchi flowers.
Sankara
gave the ownership of the temple to the Warrier,
who had brought the first flowers to the temple, and was a poor, simple,
God-fearing devotee. Not only did the Brahmin not object, he helped the Warrier manage the temple.
The reverence and worships
have continued for centuries without break, so the power of the temple is
said to increase. Parvati is the protector of the village. The local
people have many stories to tell about her miracles.
Special Worships:
Two special worships are
unique to this temple, for alleviating problems and obstacles in the
individual and collective levels.
In the first one, a coconut
is broken by the priest inside the temple near the shrine. A devotee can
bring a coconut any time and the priest will do the worship. It is
believed the obstacles in the devotee’s plans and life will be
broken with the coconut-breaking.
The same worship is used as
repentance by those who have done acts of adharma.
The worship is also for vagrant individuals who want to leave their
current lifestyle. The second puja is
supposedly the dearest one to Parvati. She adores being covered with red thecchi flowers. This puja
is in memory of her transforming the arrows (of Arjuna)
into flowers. The devotee brings four big buckets (para)
of thecchi, one para
of rice to be cooked by the priest, and rice and milk to be made into
rice pudding. An optional feast is also customary.
Special performances in
the temple:
The story of Kirata incarnation of Siva and Parvati, which is the
story behind the origin of the temple, is performed in the Kathakali form
periodically, especially during the deity’s birthday.
(to be
continued...)
