Legend of Thrissur Pooram

Kerala is known as “God’s Own Country” not just because of the beautiful landscapes and greenery spread across the state but also because of the rich cultural heritage. Temple festivals are quite unique events, probably can be seen only in Kerala. Unlike many other religious festivals such as Deepavali or Shivarathri, these festivals are rather social celebrations than religious rituals. When a temple celebrates its own festival, people from the neighborhood gather there irrespective of caste and religion. In other words, the temple festivals are not confined to the temples but to the entire locality.

Thrissur Pooram, the largest temple festival in Kerala, which is regarded as the celebration of the state itself is held once in every year on the Pooram star day of Malayalam month Medam (April 14th to September 14th). The legend behind this festival is very interesting.

Earlier, “Arattupuzha Pooram” was the largest temple festival in Kerala. Arattupuzha temple is located about 10 kilometers south to Thrissur and the deities of all temples in and around Thrissur used to be taken to this temple on a specific day with a procession of caparisoned elephants. There at Arattupuzha, all such individual processions will join together and the people gathered there used to enjoy the traditional drums by hundreds of artists.

Once, some temples located in Thrissur could not reach at Arattupuzha on time due to heavy raining and they denied the chance to participate in the festival. Hurt by the denial, they came back and approached the then King of Princely State of Cochin, Raja Rama Varma (Better known as Sakthan Thampuran). Known for his bold decisions, the king arranged another festival on the premises of Thrissur Vadakkumnatha Temple.

He divided ten temples located in and around Thrissur town into two groups lead by two major temples, Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi. These two groups will assemble in the premises of Thrissur Vadakkumnatha Temple on the Pooram Star Day of Malayalam month for Thrissur Pooram.

Details of Thrissur Pooram

Thrissur Pooram is a seven-day festival and as many other temple festivals will start with flag hoisting. On the fourth day, there will be a “Sample Vedikkettu” which is a miniature display of firecrackers that are supposed to be displayed on Pooram Day.

The main festival is on the sixth day when the senior-most person of the Cochin Royal Family or his representative along with the chief priests of two temples, Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi visit the Vadakkumnatha Temple in the early morning and pray to Lord Shiva to remove all obstacles. By that time, small processions from different temples will start coming to Vadakkumnatha Temple. By noon the major participants, Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi will come to the Pooram venue in a procession of caparisoned elephants. Each will have fifteen elephants in their procession.

Now, both the team will get themselves arranged in the venue with 15 elephants on both sides facing each other. As the drum beats gain momentum, the mood will change from that of a festival to a competition. Both the sides will compete in displaying their artistic talents and imagination through the display of different types of umbrellas over the elephants. Once this event which is popularly known as “Kudamattam” or change of umbrellas is over, the pooram will conclude temporarily.

As midnight passes, the sky over Thrissur starts shining with the fireworks from both the teams. It will last until dawn. When the spectators start moving out of Thrissur on the seventh day morning, denizens of Thrissur started gathering there for the Mini Pooram which is considered as an exclusive festival for Thrissurians.

Legend of Thrissur Vadakkumnatha Temple

No introduction is needed for Thrissur Pooram, the grand festival which has become the symbol of Kerala culture and tradition. Procession of caparisoned elephants, the mind-boggling performance by hundreds of drum artists, and the sparkling fireworks of Thrissur Puram attract people from across the globe. This world-famous celebration is being organized at Thrissur Vadakkumnatha Temple every year.

The legend behind Thrissur Pooram and various rituals and customs related to the Puram festival will be discussed in another article. This is exclusive to talk about the legend behind the temple.

As told in many articles in this blog, Kerala has been carved out from the ocean by Lord Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and he donated the entire land to Brahmins as a solution to escape from the clutches of the sin of murdering his own mother.

After donating the land, Lord Parasurama visited Kailash. His intention was to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva for the people of Kerala. He requested the Lord to come to Kerala and to stay back there to protect the land and its people. Pleased with the devotion of Parasurama, Lord Shiva agreed. As soon as Parasurama left Kailash, Lord Shiva, along with his disciples and his companion Vrishabha started their journey to Kerala.

On the way, they traveled through a dense forest. The forest was so dense that even the sun rays will not enter inside even during mid-noon. All types of wild animals were enjoying a free life inside and the cruel animals became calm and bowed down on their knees as soon as they saw the lord traveling through the forest.

In between, they reached an open place, where there was a banyan tree standing alone. Many small birds were taking shelter on its branches and many small animals were eating the grass-grown beneath the tree. It was dusk and the birds, who have returned to their nestles after a long day’s flying in search of food started humming praises of Lord Shiva. Cows and rabbits enjoyed the song by moving their heads to both sides. A group of peacocks appeared there from nowhere and started dancing to the tune. Lord Shiva loved to be there in that serene atmosphere.

Understanding his master’s thoughts, Rishabha stopped there and the lord got down from Rishabha and sat beneath the banyan tree. This Banyan tree was believed to be there at the place which is known as “Srimoola Sthanam”. Even now there is a banyan tree there and the devotees will pay their respect there before entering the temple.

Parasurama came to know about the incident and he rushed to the spot. He constructed a temple in the open place near the banyan tree and consecrated the Idol inside it. He removed the power of Vishnu from it and placed it in a different sanctum sanctorum beside the one where the Shiva Linga has been placed. Then the divine power started emitting from both Vishnu and Shiva. Parasurama, blended both the divine powers with his tantric power and placed in another sanctum sanctorum in between the two and called it as Lord Sankaranarayana (Having power of both Shankara or Shiva and Narayana or Vishnu).

After a few days, Parasurama observed the divine power of Goddess Durga on the eastern side of the temple. He constructed one temple and consecrated Devi inside that. He also constructed another small temple on the northern side of the temple and placed Lord Vettakkorumakan (believed to be a partial incarnation of Lord Vishnu) for the protection of the temple.

It is believed that Jagad Guru Adi Shankara attained salvation at this temple. The legend says that after conquering the Gyan pita by defeating all scholars, he returned to his native place Kaladi and on the way back he visited Thrissur Vadakkumnatha Temple. He spent some days here. It is believed that he wrote the famous “Vishnu Padadi Keshasthavam” when he was here. One evening he was writing the 43rd of the line of the book. As he wrote the word “Padma” he breathed his last breath and attained salvation. It happened at Srimoola Sthanam. That is another reason for many to believe that Shankaracharya was a partial incarnation of Lord Shiva.

Ashwathama, son of Drona is an immortal being who did not have death. It is believed that he is visiting this temple regularly to get the blessings of Lord Shiva.

Vadakkunnathan Temple and Thrissur Pooram

Vadakkunnathan Temple in Trichur (Presently Thrissur) is more famous for the festival associated with the temple, Trichur Pooram. Procession with caparisoned elephants accompanied by the traditional drumbeats is the most attractive among various rituals during Pooram. ‘Kudamatam’ or changing the decorative umbrellas placed on the elephants participating in the procession is another attraction. Fireworks in the early morning also attract many people to this temple during the Pooram day.

A scene from Trichur Pooram

The deity in this temple, Lord Shiva in the form of Linga is believed to have been installed by Parasurama. The legend goes back to the creation of Kerala from the ocean. Parasurama went around the Bharatha Khanda and exterminated the kshatriyas 21 times. To get rid of the sin of killing so many people he conducted a special yagna and at the end of it, he decided to donate some fresh land to the Brahmins who participated in the yagna. He asked Varuna, the God of the sea to part with some land for this purpose and he agreed. Varuna told Parasurama to throw his ax from the top of Gokarna Hills (presently in the state of Karnataka) into the sea which was touching the foot of Gokarna on those days. He promised that he will withdraw from place expanded until the point where the ax falls.

Accordingly, Parasurama threw his ax into the sea and it fell on the pint where the present-day Kanyakumari situates. Varuna withdrew from there thus forming a fresh piece of land which is now called Kerala. After creating the land, Parasurama went to Mount Kailash to visit Lord Shiva. Parashurama was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and Shiva too respected his devotee very much. When asked about his indention for coming, Parasurama narrated the entire story and requested him to come and take abode in the fresh piece of land created by throwing ax. Shiva cannot reject the plea of an ardent devotee along with Goddess Parvathy, Ganesha and Muruka followed Parasurama.

When they reach at the spot where the present-day Trichur situates, Lord Shiva stopped walking and disappeared. Then Parasurama saw a divine Shiva Linga beneath a huge banyan tree. He started worshiping the same and asked the Brahmins whom he donated the land to worship that linga for their well being.

The practice of worshipping the linga under the tree continued for several centuries. Later Kochi King, under whose jurisdiction Trichur came on those days decided to build a temple and to shift the linga to that temple. The temple, which is an excellent example of the architecture of ancient Kerala, is believed to have built by Perumthachan of Parayi Peta panthirukulam. After the construction of the temple, when the process for shifting the linga started, they faced a great hurdle.

Some parts of the huge banyan tree had to cut to remove the linga from the place where it existed. The chances of falling the branches on the linga were more which should not happen. At that time a Brahmin, who has been taking care of the rituals for the linga so far came out with a unique idea. He agreed to bend above the linga so that the branches will fall on his top only instead of falling on the linga. To the surprise of everyone present there, not a single piece of the branch fell on that Brahmin. The linga has been shifted to the temple and started worshiping as Vadakkunnathan.

Although there are many festivals being celebrated in this temple including Maha Shivarathri, Trichur Pooram is the major festival that attracts visitors from all over the world. When most of the other festivals have legends associated with the concerned gods, Trichur Pooram has nothing. It has been started as a festival of people by the then Kochi King Shakthan Thampuran.

The surroundings around the temple (which is now famous as Thekkinkadu Maithanam) was a dense forest mostly with teak wood. People used to fear to go around the temple as there were many wild animals inside the forest. Besides, many antisocial elements also used this dense forest as their den. Shakthan Thampuran ordered to cut all the trees and thus to clear the ground so that people can move without any fear.

A legend associated with this incident says that when he started cutting down the trees, the oracle of the nearby Paramekkavu Devi Temple came there are asked him to stop the work. The oracle, who is believed to have evoked the divine power of Devi told the king that the forest is her father’s beard and it should not be cut down. Shakthan Thampuran, who was a daring king asked the oracle where she and her father was when the Tipu came there and looted many temples. This made the oracle angry and he started striking his sword on the forehead, a usual practice of oracles to show that the divine power has entered in them. Then Shakthan Thampuran told the oracle that oracle’s word is not sharp and better use his sword. Saying this, the king put his sharp sword on the head of the oracle and cut him into two vertical pieces.

After clearing the forest, he asked the local people to celebrate the pooram once in a year and everyone should contribute to make it a big festival. He instructed many practices that are to be followed during Trichur Pooram. Now the festival has become a festival of people of Kerala and it is being celebrated every year from April 14^th to May 15^th.

Surya Kalady, Another Master Tantrik From Kerala

Kerala is believed to have eight families engaged in Tantric rituals and all these eight families have been appointed by Lord Parasurama to perform tantric rituals as he taught them. Kalady, a Brahmin family residing in a small village Nettassery does not belong to these eight families, still had the luck to give birth to an all-time revered tantric, whom people used to address as ‘Surya Kalady’.

The surname of male members belong to this family was ‘Bhattathiri’ and as a common practice prevailing on those days, people used to address them as ‘Kalady Bhattathiri’. Once, a Bhattathiri went to participate in Thrissur Pooram, a great festival which has been celebrated even today in Kerala with grand fanfare. Thrissur, the place where this festival happens is about 200 kilometers away from his village and on those days when there were no motor vehicles, it used to take a weeklong walk to that temple. Hence he started almost ten days before the ‘Pooram’. He has been accompanied by a friend who was known as Nampoodiri.

After two or three days, they reached an isolated place and it has become dark by then. As it is not wise to travel during night time, they started searching for some houses to get a shelter for one night. Suddenly two beautiful women appeared in front of them with alluring smiles and asked about them. They narrated the story and mentioned that they are searching for a house to take rest in the night time. Then one of the ladies told them that their house is near and both of them are staying there alone apart from some servants. They also invited both travelers to their house.

Happy to have the company of two beautiful women for a night, both of them accepted the invitation and went to their house. There they received a royal reception by many beautiful maidservants and after taking bath all the four of them had dinner together. Then each of the men went to the room arranged for them and each one has been accompanied by a lady.

Although the Nampoodiri sat on the coat and asked his companion lady to come nearer him she did not do that. Instead, she asked her to remove the book which he kept on the coat. Nampoodiri was a staunch devotee of Goddess Durga and the book he was carrying were ‘Lalitha Sahasranama’ which contains one thousand names of Goddess Durga. Nampoodiri developed doubts about her behavior and listened to the adjoining room which was closed. He heard certain typical noise and the laughter of a lady and screaming of a man. Now everything became clear for him.

These ladies are Yakshis (the female evil spirits who appear as beautiful women to seduce men and finally kill them to drink their blood) and the one who went inside the room with Kalady Bhattathiri has killed him. The other one cannot come near the Nampoodiri because of the power of Lalitha Sahasranama. Somehow he spent the night and next day when he wakeup he did not see any sign of a house there, instead, he saw a huge palm tree. Fearing more attacks and sad with the demise of his friend, he decided to skip pooram and went back to his village and informed the family members of Bhattathiri about the whole incident.

Bhattathiri’s wife was pregnant at that time and after a few days, she gave birth to a boy child. In due course of time, he came to know about the fate of his father and decided to take revenge. He learned tantric rituals, especially for that purpose. After completion of his course, he underwent penance worshipping Sun God. One day Sun appeared in front of him in the form of an old man and handed over him a book that contains many holy hymns and powerful tantric methods. Since then the young Bhattathiri used to known as ‘Surya Kalady’. Days have passed and he practiced the rituals at different places and earned a reputation as the master tantric. This enhanced his confidence and finally decided to fulfill his wish. He started a special ritual where huge quantities of milk and ghee were offered to holy fire with chanting many holy and powerful hymns. With the power of those hymns, all the Yakshis in the world appeared in front of him. He asked them to reveal the truth about the killer of his father. Everybody denied their role. Then he asked them to pledge upon the holy fire. All except one took the pledge and when he asked that Yakshi once again, she agreed that it was she who killed his father. She fell on his feet and requested to pardon her. But, being blind with anger and revenge, Young Bhattathiri did not heed ears to her request. He burned her in the holy fire. Before losing her last breath, she cursed him that within forty-one days he will die of suffocation.

Bhattathiri did not take that curse seriously, instead started living as nothing has happened. After two or three days of this incident, King of Malabar invited him to his palace. The reason was that his wife is suffering from a strange disease. When Surya Kalady went there and checked up the patient, he understood that it was not a disease but the effect of an evil spirit entered in her body. He identified it as a ‘Gandharva’ (the male counterpart of Yakshi). He started his rituals and asked the Gandharva to come out of her body. He was not ready for that and he accused Surya Kalady of killing his wife yakshi. As he did not have any other way to satisfy his lust he entered this beautiful queen's body. But Surya Kalady was in no mood to listen to any excuses. With his powerful tantric rituals, he forcibly drove out the Gandharva form queen’s body. At that time the Gandharva too cursed him that he will die within seven days with the blockade of urine.

Although he left the palace with many valuable gifts, he started worrying about the two curses. Both the forty-first day mentioned in the curse of Yakshi and the seventh day mentioned in the curse of Gandharva falls on the same day. This fact disturbed him further. He decided to spend the entire day in a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. On the previous day of Surya Kalady’s arrival, a few devotees who have gathered at the temple along with the priests heard a voice from the sky saying that the temple should be closed before noon tomorrow and nobody should be there in the temple premises after the closing of the temple.

Believing those are the words of Lord Shiva, they did accordingly. When Surya Kalady came there, the temple was closed and nobody was there on the premises. He straight away went to the temple pond to get fresh. Suddenly he felt like get filled and went to the side of the temple for urinating but nothing happened. He came back to the pond and again he got the call of nature. This repeated several times and by continuously walking up and down the pond he developed suffocation also. He understood that the clutches of both the curses are getting tightened around his life. He felled on the steps of the pond and prayed to Lord Sun (Surya).

“I have done nothing which is not mentioned in that book. Then why I am suffering now?”

“Then he heard a voice from the sky asking him whether it is mentioned anywhere that he should whatever mention in that book. Realizing his mistake of becoming more selfish and using the holy rituals to satisfy his selfish motives, he begged the pardon. But by that time Sun God has turned to the other half of the globe leaving Surya Kalady to his fate.