Angadipuram

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
type = village
native_name = Angadipuram
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district = Malappuram
state_name = Kerala
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Angadipuram is a village and important pilgrimage center located 1.5 km from Perinthalmanna, Malappuram District of Kerala, south India. Angadipuram is famous for its two temples, the Thirumandhamkunnu Temple and the Tali Temple. [cite web
url=http://malappuram.nic.in/tour-attractions.html
title=Malapurram Tourist Attractions - Pilgrimage Centers
publisher=Malapurram.nic.in
accessdate=2006-10-13 ]

The Thirumandhankunnu Temple was built by the easrtwhile kings of Walluvanad. The goddess Bhagavathi at the temple is the family god (kuladaivam) of the Valluvokonathiris. This temple has been gaining prominence of late. The village is one of the biggest in the malappuram district. It is filled with traditions and a flourishing tourism business.

Angadipuram Temple

The Legend

A long time ago, Raja Mandhata, a scion of Surya Vamsam, renounced the throne of Ayodhya and started roaming about the entire Bharathvarsha as a Sanyasin. When he reached a village called Angadipuram, in the present District of Malappuram in Kerala, he felt attracted by the beauty of the place. In those days it was a deep forest full of wild animals and thick wild vegetation. It is said that in those forests, all the animals lived in perfect peace.To Mandhata Maharishi the place appeared divine. The symphony of the sweet chirping of birds, the musical rustling of tree leaves in a light breeze, the tintinnabulation of a miniature water-fall, where a stream with crystal clear water tumbled over uneven rocks, all made him love the place. He went up on a small hillock in the middle of the verdant scene and settled there to do Tapas, thus enhancing the divinity of the place.After a number of years of penance, Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and asked Mandhata Maharishi what was his wish. The Maharishi said he wanted nothing. However, if the Lord wanted to give him anything at all, then perhaps he could give him the best Shivalingam of the world so that he could do daily puja in front of it. Shiva replied, flustered, "The best Shivalingam is with Parvathi (Durga), so how can I give it to you?" But Mandhata Maharishi insisted that he wanted nothing else.How could Shiva disappoint his dearest devotee? So, without the knowledge of Parvathi, he gave the same Linga to Mandhata Maharishi. With extreme devotion, the Maharishi installed the lingam on the hill.The next day Shri Parvathi found the Lingam missing in the morning. Shiva told her that it was handed over to a devotee and now he could not take it back from him.However, if she wanted, she could try to get it back from him. Shri Parvathi immediately ordered Bhadrakali to go and retrieve the Lingam. Bhadrakali, together with her Bhoothagan (soldiers), went to Angadipuram and negotiated with the Maharishi for getting back the Lingam.She did not succeed in her efforts and decided to use force. The soldiers sent arrows at the Maharishi. In return, the Maharishi's disciples started throwing some wild fruit at the Bhoothagan. Each fruit appeared like a Shivalinga to them and so they ran away.Then Bhadrakali came to the Maharishi and started pulling at the Lingam. The Maharishi held it very tight with both of his hands. In the tug-of-war, the Lingam broke into two.All the three gods (Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva) appeared in front of Mandhata Maharishi and blessed him. The broken Shivalinga is still there and even now a ritual is enacted on the particular day (mid-October) when two groups, one at the bottom and another at the top of the hillock, throw a fruit (Attanga) at each other. After the Samadhi of the Maharishi, the place remained neglected for a long time and the area became a thick jungle again.Long after these happenings, some forest dwellers accidentally came to the same spot. One of them started sharpening his knife on a stone there and a few drops of blood oozed out of it. The group immediately ran to the king and informed him about this mystic incident. The King with his assistants immediately rushed to the spot and on investigation by those skilled in such matters, he found that Devi's (Durga) presence existed in the place.The King arranged for daily puja there and entrusted the work to two Brahmin families. These families were Panthalakode and Kattilamittam. When the temple (Thirumandham kunnu) was erected later, these two families were made the Thanthris of the Temple. They had all the powers to decide about the pujas and the ways of Worship.

The Myths

Long ago, a member of the Samoothiri family married a lady from Valluvanad. After he ascended the throne, he used to conduct 41 days of kalampattu to "Vettakkoru Makan". Once his queen jokingly told him "Instead of conducting daily kalampattu to Vettakkorumakan, if you conduct one Kalampattu to my mother (Bhadrakali), she will reach the kalam here on the third kottu (drumbeat)." This statement irritated Samoothiri and he shouted "I shall conduct the kalampattu to Bhadrakali tomorrow itself, and, if as you said, Bhagavathi does not come to kalam, I will cut off your head". The queen did not expect Samoothiri to take her words so seriously. She started praying to the Goddess. That same evening, both the thanthris at Thirumandhamkunnu had Darshan of Bhagavathi in their sleep. The Goddess instructed them to conduct Athazhapuja at about 3 pm next day. On that day, after the puja, people found one Komaram (An Oracle of the temple) taking Devi Darsan, and then running through the southern corridor. The oracle (a representative of Devi herself) reached the place at Kozhikode, where Kalampattu was taking place. He jumped to the "Peedhom", removed the Utayata (Bhagavathi's dress), and sat on it. He sat there till the Kalam pattu was over. Immediately after, he performed a ferocious dance and asked Samoothiri loudly, "Are you testing me?" Samoothiri immediately prostrated before him, and apologised. Pacified by his sincerity, the Oracle stated, "I am happy you have realised your mistake. Hereafter remember this incident, by arranging daily puja at Thirumandhamkunnu as done today" and the Komaram suddenly disappeared.Samoothiri was never able to defeat the army of Vallukanari, even though Vallukanari had fewer soldiers. A surprised Samoothiri asked Sree Villwamangalam Swamiar the reason for this. The Swamiar asked Samoothiri to touch him by one finger, close one eye and then look at the battlefield. When Samoothiri did so, he saw "Bhadrakali" ie Thirumandhamkunnilamma attired in red garb with sword and shield, standing by the side of Vallukanari and directing the battle. Later, Samoothiri, in the garb of a Sannyasi (Bhikshu) did tapas for 41days at Thirumandhamkunnu and this pleased the Goddess. When Bhagavathi asked what he wanted as varam, he said he wanted Sakthi to conquer Valluvanad. The goddess said the whole of Valluvanad belonged to her and it was to be ruled by her devotees ie Vallukanaris. However, she promised half her strength to Samoothiri. Because of this help, Samoothiri built the "Thiruvalayanad Temple" in the model of Thirumandhamkunnu Temple and installed Bhadrakali there.

The Pooram Festival

The Pooram festival is conducted in the month of April-May. The deity is taken out in a procession and bathed twice in the stream daily. This continues for eleven days.About 3-4 months before the starting of the Pooram, there is daily Kalampattu at the temple. The assigned Kurups draw the kalam and one of the pujaris of the temple conducts the puja every night.On the first day of the Pooram, the temple flag is hoisted on the big mast in front of the temple by the Thanthri. After the Pandiradi puja (When the Sun's shadow measured 12 feet, as measured by the human foot.). The Thanthri takes out the deity and climbs on an elephant which is properly caparisoned and decorated. After a few circumambulations of the temple, accompanied by musicians playing on drums and pipes, the procession starts its downward journey from the Northern Gopuram down the steps of the temple. After the procession reaches the foot of the hillock, the Thanthri alights from the elephant and takes the deity down to the stream. The deity is given an elaborate ritual bath. This normally takes more than an hour. The musicians keep time with the rituals. The deity is then taken back to the temple.This ceremony is repeated on all the eleven days, twice daily, except on the tenth day, when the deity is taken out for a ritual re-enactment of a hunt.The Pooram is characterised by fireworks every night, and cultural programmes daily, like classical music, dance and drama.

The Thanthris

The Thanthris in a Kerala temple are authorised to not only conduct the pujas at the temple but also decide how the rituals should be conducted. They can decide which are the offerings which the Deities will accept. Normally the temple accepts all offerings required to conduct the daily pujas at the temple, like flowers, garlands, nivedyam, oil for lighting the lamps, items required for decorating the Deity like a crown, ornaments, dress and the items required for bathing the idols etc.Some families of devotees offered to collect flowers and garlands for the temple daily. With the approvals of the Thanthris, they have been doing it regularly and also taking on the responsibility for cleaning the suburbs. Some others offered to beat the drums during pujas and began carrying out this duty with devotion. The Thanthris appointed the pujaris at the temple and instucted them as to how to conduct the pujas. The Rajas of the place very seldom interfered in the works of the Thanthris. Since the Thanthris were god-fearing, they carried out their responsibilities with the fullest dedication. In those days, the Namboodiris of Kerala were well versed in the Vedas and knew the rituals of conducting the pujas. The rituals were different for different dieties like Shiva, Krishna, Durga etc.Some people say that in the olden days Pujas were conducted by non-Brahmins also. It is said that a caste called "Kurup" used to do the Bhadrakali Puja at temples. The Kurup's method of puja was to draw a fine figure of Bhadrakali (called kalam) on the floor using coloured organic powders (made of powdered rice, green leaves, etc). He would then sing the glories of Bhadrakali (or the particular Devi of the temple). After the puja, the Kurup would erase the kalam with the proper rituals.Recently "Mata" Amritanandamayi has organised pujas in certain temples by her lady disciples. It can be said that women are perhaps more suitable to do proper puja, provided they are properly trained for the rituals, since they are already show devotion to their husbands and children throughout their life. This may also save many temples, which are now deserted due to the high cost of engaging Brahmins. In the present consumerist society, it is not surprising that the Brahmins are interested only in the rich temples (which again are rich because of the belief of people that by giving something to the gods, they will have their wishes fulfilled).

The Devotee Musician

There once was a great Devotee of Thirumandhamkunnilamma at Angadipuram. His name was Neralath Ramapuduval. He was born about 30 km away from Angadipuram. Since his uncle was the hereditary drum beater at the Temple, Rama Puduval in his boyhood days came to live with him.Rama Puduval had a great talent for music. In order to learn music, he went and lived with different teachers. From one teacher he mastered Sopana Sangitham. This is normally sung in temples. Although many of the ragas are similar to Karnatic music, it is sung in a different style. From another Uncle he mastered the Edakka (a light and sweet sounding drum with thin leather ends, the tension of which can be continually adjusted by the singer's left hand pressing and releasing the threads used to tie the two ends together. It has the shape of a damaru. He also mastered the Veena.Later he went to Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and learnt Karnatic Music. Even though he considered Chempai as his great Guru he was always devoted to Sopana type of music, which is the music sung during Kathakali, Mohiniattam and in temples during Pujas. In spite of his being a great musician he did not earn much. He roamed about the countryside singing voluntarily in temples, without taking anything for these services.For a short period, he lived like a mild eccentric, but after treatment for a few years he became normal. Recognition came very late to him ie when he was about 78 years old when he was awarded the Sangeeth Natak Academy award. He remained throughout his life, a great devotee of Thirumandhamkunnilamma. Most of the days one could see him in the temple and he used to leave the temple only after all the pujas late in the night. The local people say he was always accompanied by the divine mother whenever he returned from the temple.

How to get there

Angadipuram is on the main road from Palghat (Palakkad) to Calicut (Kozhikode) via Perinthalmanna. Angadipuram is a railway station on the Shornur - Nilambur railway line. It is about 50 km from the Calicut (Kozikode) airport. There are plenty of buses running from Palghat to Calicut. Angadipuram is mid way between the two cities. And there is only one train running between Shornur and Nilambur. This station is again midway between the two stations.

Reference notes