Lord Ganesha or Ganapathi, the Hindu god with the elephant face
is considered as the divine power that removes all obstacles in our way. Hence,
special offerings for Lord Ganesha will be done before starting any serene
things. Ganapathi Homam is a regular ritual being conducted in almost all
temples before starting other rituals. Usually, it has to finish before sunrise. A tank will be made using bricks and the floor of it will be polished
using cattle dung. The chief priest will chant holy hymns and pour pure ghee in
the holy fire lighted inside the tank. Different food articles such as coconut
pieces will be offered to the god and the remaining will be distributed among
the devotees as Prasada. Devotees accept this Prasada as a symbol of blessing
from god.
There is a Devi Temple in Pazhayannoor in Ernakulam district
of Kerala which is regarded as the family deity of the royal dynasty that ruled
the erstwhile princely kingdom of Kochi. Ganapathi Homam was a regular thing in
this temple too. Kalloor Namboodiri, the members of the famous tantric family
in Kerala, Kalloor Mana have the right to perform this ritual in this temple.
Usually, the young people belonging to this family used to go there to perform
Ganapathi Homam.
Once, all the young members have to go to different places
on different works and there was nobody to perform the Ganapathi Homam at
Pazhayannoor Devi Temple. Hence the head of the family decided to go there and
to perform the Homam. However, he was not able to wake up early morning.
Secondly, he could not chant hymns loudly so that the devotees present there
can hear it. Finally, he never distributed the Prasada among the devotees,
instead, he used to offer entire thing to the holy fire.
The changes in the daily rituals made the devotees unhappy
and at first, they approached some youths from the priest’s family requesting
them to come and perform the Homam. They rejected the request saying that it is
the head of the family who had to take a decision on this matter. Then the
devotees approached the King and narrated the entire incident.
At the same time, one of the prominent personalities in that
area encountered Kalloor Namboodiri and insulted him of performing the
rituals in the wrong way. The harsh words of that person hurt Namboodiri and he
sends one of his assistants to the King. He has handed over a message also written in a palm leaf. The message was that the Namboodiri will not perform
Ganapathi Homam from the next day unless the king visited the temple and
witnessed the Homam.
Hearing the allegations of the public and receiving the message
from the Namboodiri, the king went to the temple immediately. He met Namboodiri
and asked the reason behind leaving the temple. Then Namboodiri told the king
that he is performing the rituals as per the methods he learned and the people
are complaining about it due to their ignorance on the matter. He requested
King to be present there and see the Homam through a small window with one eye
closed. King agreed.
The next day Ganapathi Homam started as usual and the king
and two of his bodyguards watched the entire thing through a small window with one
eye closed. At the end of the ritual, to their surprise, they saw an elephant
coming out from the holy fire. Namboodiri offered all the food articles
available there to that elephant. It ate entire food and went back after
blessing the Namboodiri with its trunk.
The king and his bodyguards could not believe their eyes.
Their eyes which were open to see such a holy and serene sight lost sight
and became blind. They came out and fell on the feet of the Namboodiri.
Kalloor Namboodiri blessed them and then told the king that
all the members of his family who are performing this Homam are witnessing the
same. Lord Ganesha will appear in front of them in the form of an elephant. He
cannot leave it half-starving and hence he is feeding it with entire offerings.
King got happy and even now Kalloor Namboodiri is performing
Ganapathi Homam at this temple.
