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| Manappully Kavu, Rivar Residency, Palakkad, Kerala |
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| Palakkad, Kerala manappullybhagavathydevaswom.com |
Legend has it that the Bhadrakali was created from the sacred "Jada" (matted hair) of Lord Shiva during Dakshayaga. She is black in colour, with three eyes and four hands, each one having Soolam, Kapalam, Gadkam and Khedam. She was created to kill the Asura (demon) by the name of Neelan who terrorized the people and sages. Lord Parasurama advised the people to pray to Lord Shiva to subdue the Asura. Here, Manappulli Sree Bhadrakali Amman is a powerful Goddess. When approached her with deep trust and devotion, she never fails to get rid of people's problems and mental agony and bless them with prosperity and tranquillity. Yet another vital fact is she protects the devotees from evil forces and also evil spells cast by enemies. The consecrated deity is in ‘Shanta Bhava’(compassionate- looking). During ‘Chandattam’ ceremony she turns to ‘Rudra Bhava’ (fierce-looking) and becomes ‘Shanta Swaroopini (quiet composed) ‘after accepting the ‘Kadummadura Payasa Nivedyam’. No doubt, as mentioned earlier, she never lets her devotees' leave her temple with desires, hopes and aspirations unfulfilled and shields them from the effects of evils.
For numerous families, Manappalli Bhagawathy Amman is a family deity and so when they conduct important family functions such as wedding, Grahapravesam (entering a newly built home), etc, they visit the temple first and invoke Bhagavathy Amman's blessings. Newly wedded couples visit the temple positively after wedding for the welfare and prosperity of their family and soon to be blessed with a baby.
In this part of Kerala the staple food is rice and it is quite natural Palghat district is a major paddy producing field and many social and cultural traditions have a close link with paddy cultivation and related activities. As in Tamil Nadu, people strongly believe that the Goddess of Kavu (temple) guards them and their ‘Thattakam’(place surrounding the temple). It is quite obvious that they make agricultural produces from their lands as offerings to the Goddess.
The farmers celebrate ‘Kathir’ in the third Friday of the Malayalam month of ‘Vrichikam’. The procession carrying ‘Sarodam’ with fine decoration is a great event in the evening starting from temple of Lord Muniyappan located on the south side of the Bhagavathy temple and ending at the Manappully Bhagavathy temple at dusk. An interesting part of the procession is the carrying of colorful and decorative umbrellas made of palm leaves tied to freshly cut bamboo poles to the accompaniment of ‘drum beating’. Included in the procession is what is called ‘Kathir Koodu’. They are small balls made of tender palm leaves containing freshly harvested ‘Nel kathir’ (paddy bunches). Tradition has been that they are given to all the houses in the area to be hung in the front yard till the next ‘Kathir season. After this ritual, the next one is Kodiyettam (flag hoisting), a part of Vela festival that falls in the last week of February and first week of March based on the Malayalam Calendar year. ‘Kanyar’ is conducted on the Ist Friday of the Malayalam month ‘Kumbam’ and the Vela is held on the 14th day after ‘Kanyar’ (Kodiyettam). A flag-post made of freshly cut bamboo pole is put up and a typical flag - Koora is hoisted in front of the temple. This marks the beginning of the festival.
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| Sree Manappully Bhagavathy temple. Pilgrimaide.com |
Sree Manapullikavu Vela is a famous festival and there will be at least 17 caparisoned tuskers taking part in the function. There will be colorful fireworks as Kali was born with fire and thunder, Panchavadhyam performances, Kathakali, dance performance, Ottam Thullal, etc. Normally such temple festivals give due importance to tradition-oriented cultural arts forms native to Kerala and the temple festivals keep them alive. Here, the cultural events will last for 14 days, each day dominated by certain groups of folk and dance artists. Such events attract huge gatherings.
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| Palakkad, Manapulli kavu vela mahostavamYouTube |
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| Vela festival. Sree Manappully Bhagavathy temple youtube.com |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manapullikavu