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Kodungallur
Bhagavathty Temples
- Kerala
The Bhagawati temple at
Kodungallur is of great renown throughout the state of Kerala.
Kodungallur situated on the west coast, was once a great port of the
Chera rulers of Tamilnadu, It was known by the Greek as the musris.Tiruvanchikkulam,
now a suburb of Kodungallur was a center of great historic
significance during the chera period. Cheran Senguttuvan is said to
have built the temple to Kannagi - a manifestation of Kaali or
Kotravai or Durga, here (Silappadikaaram).
It is believed to have been
a Shiva temple originally, as worship is offered first to Shiva
before being offered to Bhagawati, and there is a mandapam in front
of the shiva shrine, and there is none infront of Bhagawatis. The
image of Bhagawati is believed to have been carved out of a jack
fruit three. The face of the image is covered with a mask, and the
image is decorated with several pieces of jewellary.
Above image is believed to
be a personification of Kali, who had killed the demon Daaruka.
Daaruka is said to have worshipped Bhrama, and harassed the devas.
The goddesses created Bhramani, Vaishnavi, Maheswari, Kaumari,
Varahi and Indrani from Bhrama, vishnu, Mahadeva, Kumara, Yama and
Indra, and they were defeated by Daaruka, however Shiva created
Kaali and she killed Daaruka.The image of Kali faces east.
There is a crimson cloth
hung on the western wall of the sanctum and worship is offered here.
There is also a secret chamber east of the Kali image, with an
underground passage. Also is a shrine to Kshetrapala, the guardian
deity and Vasurimala associated with small pox.
The festivals of
significance at Kodungallur are Makara Sankaranti and the Bharani
Festival.
Makara Sankaranti
coinciding with Pongal in Tamilnadu is one of the important
festivals at Kodungallur. As in Taminadu, the day prior to Pongal is
celebrated with the burning of unwanted belongings in a bonfire.
Makara Sankranti brings
with it 4 days of colorful fanfare, with processions twice a day on
elephants to the accompaniment of music, fireworks. The final day's
procession is marked by the accompaniment of several women carrying
plates of rice and coconut. In fact, the centermost entity in the
procession, is a plate containing these offerings, on an elephant. A
grand reception os offered to this procession when it reaches the
temple. The procession rleaves from the original location of the
Bhagawati temple, (the Kurumbayamma shrine in Kodungallur).
The Bharani festival at the
Kodungallur Bhagawati temple is one of the grandest in Kerala. It is
a month of festivities from the Bharani asterism in the month of
Aquarius to 7 days after the Bharani asterism in the month of
Pisces. Traditionally the temple (especially during the Bharani
festival) has been associated with a lot of animal sacrifices. These
customs have been done away within the 20th century. The blood of
the sacrificed used to be spilled over two stones in the prakaram,
and as mentioned above, this practice is now stopped.
Temples
Guruvayoor
Temple || Irinjalakuda
KoodalManikyam Temple || Padmanabha
Swami Temple
Kodungallur
Bhagavathy Temple || Vadakkunnathan
Temple
Sabarimala
Temple
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