Vayaskara Chathurvedi Bhattathiri

The concept of God, according to Hinduism is not of a powerful god staying somewhere away from the earth. Although there is mention about hell, heaven, etc in Hinduism, the core of Hinduism lies in the philosophy of ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ or ‘That is You, which means god is very much within us. All the rituals are aimed at enhancing the godly power within us. When the god is within us, certainly the devil too should be within us. Probably this concept might have played a lot in the creation of many myths and folklore where gods, devils, evil spirits, etc interact with human beings very closely. This may be the tendency of people to personify the divine power within themselves with all the human characters that resulted in a large number of myths. Here is an interesting myth where a Tantric falls in love with an evil spirit whom he had driven out of the body of a queen.

There is a tantric family, Vayaskara in the Kottayam District of Kerala, and the male members of the family used to be called Vayaskara Bhattathiri. Generations before there was a Bhattathiri in that family who has been called as ‘Vayaskara Chaturvedi Bhattathiri’ as he has mastered in all the four Vedas. He was a well known tantric too.

Once, Samorine, the king of the erstwhile princely state of Calicut invited Chathurvedi Bhattathiri to his palace. The queen has been suffering from a strange uneasiness for a quite long time and the king had tried many doctors and tantric to heal her ailment but went in vain. Then he heard about Vayaskara Chathurvedi Bhattathiri and decided to try him. That is why the king invited Bhattathiri to his palace.

Soon after his arrival Bhattathiri went to examine the queen and disguised the reason for her uneasiness. A yakshi (The word yakshi refers to a fairy woman who charms and finally drinks the blood of the victim) has entered in queen’s body and due to the negative energy created by her queen feels uneasiness. He decided to start the ritual immediately and all the materials required to perform the ritual made available by the king within no time.

The ritual started and sooner Battathiri could ward off from the queen’s body and she became normal. Happy with that the king presented many valuable gifts along with money to Bhattathiri. On the way back to his house he reached a village that was not familiar to him. By the time it has become dark too. Hence he enquired about any Brahmin household nearby and went to the one shown by a passerby. He asked permission to spend the night there and they allowed.

As he was walking all the way, Bhattathiri was really tired and he falls asleep fast. After a few hours, he woke up hearing a voice. When he opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful lady in front of him and asked who she is. She told him that she was the one who entered the body of queen and she falls in love with Bhattathiri and would like to live the rest of her life with him. However, she was not able to come nearer to him as he was keeping a book of holy mantras beneath his pillow. She requested him to take it out and keep it far. After taking her pledge that she will not kill him, he removed the book and the yakshi came near to him. They spend the whole night together and when Bhattathiri started his journey home the next day morning, she also accompanied him.

Even after reaching Vayaskara, they continued living as husband and wife, but she was totally invisible for all except Bhattathiri. In due course of time, she got pregnant and delivered a girl child. As soon as she took birth, she grew up fast to become a beautiful yakshi. After living some more days with Bhattathiri, mother yakshi got bored with him. As he was turning old, was not able to satisfy her lust. So she left him. However, Bhattathiri requested his daughter not to leave the home and to stay back there. He promised her that his next generations will worship her too along with their family gods and goddesses. She agreed.

Days passed and Bhattathiri went sick and he was lying on the bed expecting his death. At that time he called his son in his first wife near to him and narrated his relation with the yakshi and about his daughter. He asked him to keep her also in their family temple and start worshiping her. Still, the practice is continuing and the Yakshi Temple in Vayaskara, in Kottayam district of Kerala is being visited by hundreds of people even now.