Attinkuzhi Amma, the Visible Divine Power

When you approach Hinduism peripherally, you will find quite a good number of Gods and Goddesses, but when you go in-depth, you will understand that there is only one god and it is omnipotent and omnipresent. According to the core philosophy of Hinduism, God is formless energy or divine power that controls the life in the universe. Various Holy Hymns and rituals are meant for attracting that energy, or for increasing the level of energy that already exists within us. Temples are performing as refueling centers as this energy will be stored on the idols with many rituals and chanting of hymns which will be transferred to us when we cleanse our minds and thoughts.

Even though God is formless, it will appear in front of them who have selfless and dedicated devotion in many forms. In the myth of “Akavur Chathan” of popular “Parayi Peta Panthirukulam” story, almighty is appearing in front of Chathan in the form of the buffalo. When critics are claiming such incidents to be an illusion, those who have experienced it cannot reject it so easily as an illusion as the experience left such a strong impact in their minds and thoughts.

Attinkuzhi Devi Temple is a medium-sized temple dedicated to Goddess Ma. Here the divine power presents in the form of Kali, daughter of Lord Shiva. This locality is situated between two rivers; Parvathi Puthanar on the western side and Thetiyar on the eastern side. It is believed that there was a small rivulet that connected these two rivers. As time passed, this rivulet disappeared leaving a big pit in its place. Hence the name came, Attinkuzhi. Attu means river in the local language Malayalam and Kuzhi means pit. Later this pit has been filled and many houses etc have come up here. Along with that a new temple also has been constructed here.

There are many instances when Ma Kali appeared in front of the devotees. The most popular story among them is the three instances of Kali appearing in front of the railway officials. On those days the track lying work was progressing in between the Veli and Kazhakkoottam stations in Thiruvananthapuram District. Railway officials were conducting a survey to decide the route. The major criteria in deciding the route are to avoid maximum turnings. Higher authorities have instructed the subordinates to make the route as straight as possible.

As the survey officials came near a huge banyan tree while conducting the survey for the railway tracks, they saw an old lady sitting beneath that huge tree. Although she was old and weak, they felt a divine glory on her face. If they want to mark that tree as a part of their survey, they will have to ask that lady to move from there. But, they could not say that as they started developing a sort of devotion for the divine glory present on her face. They stopped the work for the day and returned to their office. When they came the next day, they saw the same lady sitting there and this time the glory was more. They approached the lady calling her Oh, Mother. She smiled at them and then left the place.

Officials stood there for quite a time as if bound by some invisible power. They returned that day too without marking that tree. When it happened for the third time, they decided not to cut the banyan tree for laying the railway track. Hence they changed the route and took permission from the higher authorities on some grounds or the other.

As mentioned earlier, the idol in this temple is of Ma Kali, daughter of Lord Shiva. It is believed that she used to visit her father at Thrippappoor Mahadeva Temple. Many people claimed to have seen her going to this temple. One day a person got down at Kazhakkoottam Railway station and started his journey to his house by walk. It was midnight and there was enough moonlight. When he walked through the road on the southern side of the station, he saw a young lady, clad in white saree, walking ahead of him. He was curious to know who that lady was as it is not common for ladies to walk in midnight. He hiked his speed of walking to reach her, but she too increased her speed. So the same distance maintained till they reach 

Trippappoor Mahadeva Temple. Once reaching there, she entered the temple. The man got wondered and decided to be there to see what is going to happen. After a few hours, he heard the noise of someone taking a bath in the temple pond. Since it is too early for the priests to wake up and to have a bath, he went nearby the pond. As he reached the pond he saw the lady clad in the white sarees going inside the temple after having a bath and then leaving the premises. When she entered the temple and left the temple, the bells in the temple rang. Now he understood that it was Goddess Kali who came to visit her father.