Legend of Thirunelli Punarjjani Guha, The Cave of Re-Births

According to Hinduism, the ultimate salvation is when you will not have to take birth on this earth. In Palakkad district of Kerala, there is a cave which will provide salvation if you creep in through it. Located about six kilometers northeast of the famous Thiruvilwamala Temple, this cave attracts hundreds of devotees. However, it is not possible to creep in through the cave every day. Only on an auspicious day (Ekadashi or Malayalam month Vrischikam), devotees gather here to perform the serene ritual. Although many women devotees will visit this cave, they will not creep in through it. Only men are performing this act.

One will have to walk about a kilometer through the steep hillocks filled with sharp rocks and bushes to reach here. Although there are thick bushes around this cave, it is a matter of surprise that no reptiles are found here.

The rituals start with the performance of a special pooja at the cave face by the priest of the nearby temple. Then he will take a bath in the small spring near the cave which is called “Papa nashini” or the destroyer of all sins. He will creep into the cave first. Then the devotees follow him after taking a bath in the “Papanashini”.

The opening of the cave is quite large enough that a man can enter inside by walking, but as he keeps on moving, the height of the cave will gradually decreases and at first, he will have to kneel down and then to crawl. As he reaches the end of the cave he will have to lie down on the floor with on his back and to move slowly. Here the floor is a bit wet and the entire cave will be in total darkness. One will have to catch hold of the legs of the person who is moving in front of him to move in the right direction.

At the end of this struggle, the light will be seen from the opening on the other end of the cave which will bring immense pleasure in the minds of devotees. Once the journey through the cave is completed, it is believed that all your sins are being pardoned. In other words, from then onwards, you will be leading a new life without any sins. In that way also the word “punarjjani” or re-birth which has been given to this cave is meaningful.

The legend behind this cave and this ritual go back to the period of Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He lost his peace of mind with the guilty feeling of killing many Kshatriyas and his own mother. In order to escape from the clutches of those sins, he underwent a penance in the forest nearby this cave. During that time, it is believed that he had crept in through this cave one hundred and eight times and thus he got relieved from all his sins. This myth about the cave leads hundreds of devotees on a particular day every year to this cave.