Shakthan Thampuran and his Commanding Power

As mentioned many times earlier in this blog, Kerala has been divided into several feudal states and was being ruled by different kings. Kochi, the erstwhile princely state which covered part of Ernakulam and Thrissur Districts have been ruled by the kings of the Perumbadapp dynasty. Shakthan Thampuran was one of the prominent kings in that dynasty. His real name was Rama Varma and as he had a strong body and mind people used to call him Shakthan which means a strong person in the local language Malayalam.

Shakthan Thampuran was instrumental in starting Thrissur Pooram, the famous festival at Thrissur. The present-day “Thekkinkadu Ground around the Vadakkumnatha Temple was a dense forest, mainly consisted of teak trees. Many wild animals were living inside and people feared to go to the temple after the dusk. Although, Shakthan Thampuran used to stay at Tripunithura, the capital city, he used to visit Thrissur frequently. Actually Thrissur was the first capital of Princely State of Kochi.  During one such visit, he planned to cut down all the trees in the forest surrounding the temple allowing people to visit the temple even after dusk

As he was supervising the work, the oracle from the nearby Paramekkavu Devi Temple came there as if he has invoked the divine power of Goddess Devi. He shouted at the king

“This is the beard of my father and you should stop clearing it off.”

Shakthan Thampuran, who is well known for his determination, asked another question in return

“Where were you and your father when Tipu Sultan came and looted the temple?”

This question provoked the oracle and he shouted louder

“Hey, are you testing me? Then I will show who I am.”

Saying this, oracle started beating his forehead with his own sword. However, his sword was not sharp and failed to make any deep wounds on his forehead. Thampuran came nearer him and told calmly.

“It seems that your sword is not sharp. Even I have one with me and let us test it.” Saying that Thampuran placed his sword on the head of the oracle and pulled it down, cutting the body oracle into two pieces. Then he kept the sword back as if nothing has happened.

After clearing the forest off, he called the people and asked them to arrange for a festival so that people can assemble there in large numbers. That is the present-day Thrissur Pooram.

At that time, the Travancore Dynasty was on a spree to expand their country by attacking the nearby small countries but feared to attack Kochi as they are heard about Shakthan Thampuran. There is a ritual called Mura Japam at Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram and Brahmins used to assemble there in large numbers. It is more like a festival with free food served to all three times a day. Once, Shakthan Thampuran went there in disguise of a Brahmin to enjoy the festival. When he was having a bath at the temple pond, the king of Travancore identified him and sent his minister to bring Thampuran.

He came and met the king. On asking why he has come without prior information, Thampuran told that otherwise, he will not be able to enjoy the spirit of the festival fully. As per the request of King of Travancore, Thampuran stayed there for three days. One day, both the kings were chitchatting after lunch. They were sitting on the second floor of the palace. Then the King of Travancore enquired in a light mood whether there will be anybody who will jump down from the second floor. Shakthan Thampuran said there maybe somebody.

Then the King of Travancore asked his soldiers whether they can jump or not. Everyone has come near the balcony and nodded no after seeing the depth. Then Shakthan Thampuran looked at his soldiers who were accompanying them. Immediately one by one came near the balcony and jumped down. Everyone got injured in some way or the other and they all have been taken out for treatment. The next day when the King of Travancore visited them, he asked why they jumped even though they knew that they will be injured.

“At least we have a life now. We would have lost it if we were not ready to jump.” This was their answer which clearly shows the commanding power of Shakthan Thampuran.

There is one another example of his commanding power. Once he arranged a feast for Brahmins at his palace. They enquired them how the food was. Then one of them told that it was good and would be better if there is any dish with jack fruit. Jack fruit is a seasonal fruit and that was not the season for jack fruits. Still, Thampuran asked them to come for lunch the very next day too. He asked his successor whether he can arrange Jack Fruit for tomorrow. He expressed his inability as it was not the season. Shakthan thampuran turned towards his commandant and ordered that he has decided to offer lunch for the Brahmins tomorrow and all the dishes should be with Jack Fruit.

Within no time, the entire force started spreading across the country. They raided each and every house and farms and collected all the jack fruits available. The next day, Brahmins had a nice lunch with all dishes made with Jack Fruit.