kirAtharUpinI durgA katampuzhA bhagavathI(My trip to Kerala)--Part-2

December 24, 2009

Dear All,

I would continue my narration from where I had left in my old e-mail.Im now, offering my services unto my gurunAthar,ambA and Her dear children with this new e-mail ID and name.

BhagavathI Rakshathu mahyam sadhA!

katAmpuzhA temple is situated about 2 Kms to the east of Vettichira, a hamlet midway between Kottakkal(famous for kerala AyurvedA) and Valanchery on the National Highway connecting Kunnamkulam and Kozhikode.Those coming from the North of Kerala(Kozhikode side) can alight by train @ Thirur and those from South(Shoranur side) can alight the train @ Kuttypuram.They can then take one of the various Buses,Autos or Taxies available at these stations.

The popular notion of the word "katampuzhA"(ta and da are synonymously used )means

"kAtu"=Forest

"puzhA"=River

But one strange thing was that there was no river as such nearby!

So, I made further enquiries to satisfy myself,I came to know that

kirAtha means forest and thus kAta/kAtu/kAda/kAdu came about

Ampu/ambu means arrow

and

AzhA means a quiver

So, this place might have been named: kAta+Ampu+AzhA

But got confused with other "puzhA" nomenclated piligrim spots in kerala to give it a name ending in puzhA...as in kadAmpuzhA/katAmpuzhA/kadanpuzhA/katanpuzhA

This temple opens @ 6:30 A.M and is closed @ 11:00-12ish roughly(sometimes @1 pm) It is again opened @3 pm and closed by 6:30 P.M.Only when there is heavy rush the offerings goes on till late evening.No festivals are conducted for this temple.

Currently an Embrandhiry Brahmin family is vested with the right to conduct the pUjAs in the temple.

pUjAs done are:

Muttarackal: Meaning removal of obstacles.Coconuts are broken in front of the deity for various maladies.The priests do pUja and chant the name of the devotee,his star,etc to be written in malayAlam and submitted to the Embrandhiry.This tradition has been going on for more than thousand years in the temple it seems.If the coconut breaks well,then it is considered an auspicious sign.The devotee has to offer a coconut with the husk removed and purified in the temple water-tank by dipping..

pUmUdal:This is performed only once @ 10:30 am.It lasts for one hour or more and no other offerings are accepted.The devotee who is making the offering and his famly alone are allowed to worship at that time,the rest wait patiently in the queue to make offerings.The bookings for this pUjA have been made for the next forty years it seems!It involved covering the hole and the devi's representation with flowers.

Other kind of offerings are: dehapushpAnjali(for good health),rakthapushpAnjali(for protection from enemies) and other 17 different pUjA regimens for various purposes.

These offerings and pUjas(except choorunnu(annaprAsanam)/rice-giving ceremony to children can be made by post and also by money order,etc addressed to:

The Manager,

Sri Katampuzha Bhagavathy Devaswom

Katampuzha,Malappuram District

Kerala PIN:676553

For people who are visiting GuruvayUr,one can engage an auto and go there conviniently.Care must be taken to communicate well with the autodriver.My father-in-law knowing Malayalam well and coming from Thrissur had no problem in negotating a good price to go there but I believe if someone does not know Malayalam there and portrays himself/herself as a Greenhorn,he or she would be taken for a ride(Pun-unintended!).Know Malayalam,Know love; No Malayalam,No love!(Nay! Justkiddin....my wife will kick me and abuse me as a Golti if I say such things.....Ouch that hurt!)

Anyways, my moronic sense of humour and digression apart, the legend has it that the temple is closely related to the famous "kirathA story"(kirAthArjuneeyam) in mahAbhArathA.The PandavAs,as many of us know, after losing the Game of dice with the KauravAs were forced to live in exile in the forests for 12 years and then incognito for another 1 year.

Now, during that dead-pan time,arujunA used it to reclaim some usance to the time by engaging Himself in tapas.Often, people who are spiritual or brave,I have seen never waste time.Even if adversities claim them or they need to wait before the going gets good,they don't waste it.They put it greater use and it is like how the African Americans call "Turning Shit to Sugar"(or more grossly gangstaa-talk "Turning thaa crack to cold cash")

arjunA's penance(a sculpture in mahAbalipuram)

Now, arjunA was engaged in one such turning his time to gold by meditating on Lord ShivA to get pAsupathAstrA(which was used most effectively to win the epic war).

The area where this temple is situated was called in days of yore as "kAmyakAvanA"(the wish(fulfilling) forest).

As I mulled this story in my mind, I brought myself to see the natural scenery in the temple.The trees looked really really old.Maybe they survived a cataclysm and stood there are mute witness to the turn of yugAs.They see ambA daily there.What a good fortune these trees have to see ambA day-in and day-out.What greatest good fortune have they done to see Her resplendent form in the night,roaming about there as kirAtharUpini durgA?

A slight breeze stole across my forehead as my woolgathering session with the trees came to an abrupt end.I was jostled by the din of the crowd ever rapacious to see the deity,with sweaty palms and oily faces.I collected my thoughts yet again...

duryOdhana,who was ever bent upon wreaking evil on pandavAs, decided to destroy arjunA and engaged a demon by name mUkA(there are many mUkAs in epics and so please don't get confused).Now, this mUkAsura transformed into a wild boar(varAhA) and entered the blissful spot where arjunA was in deep meditation and wanted to attack arjunA but lay waiting for sometime in hiding.

arjunA, the ever-vigilant,was engaged in the most intense form of austerities,so much that the tapO-ushnA(coherent beams of energy formed by the intense concetration of mindwaves during prolonged meditative sessions producing heat--this has been scientifically recorded too) that it frightened Indra and other rishis to see such unbridled power emnating from earth.When anything goes unbridled,the resultant effect is chaos,cataclysm and catastrophe.So naturally, frightened out of their wits and shaking like the aspen leaf in a strong zephyr,they approached Lord s'ivA.

But lo behold! s'ivA was Himself in depe meditation and thus did not answer,so they took refuge in the Sweetest Mother ambA durgA to help them out of the predicament.She took pity on the supplicants and interceded with the Lord on their behalf.

Lord sivA finally came down from His mediative stance and acceded to Her plea.

He also felt that arjunA needed some humbling for being egoistic of his skills in archery.

So, shivA and durgA devI took the form of KirAthAs(forest dweller/hunters) and entered the kAmAkhyA forest.sivA was followed by his ganAs(attendents) with bows and arrows.

In the forest, they saw mukAsurA hiding and hen trying to pounce upon arjunA to devour the later.Instantly, arjunA being a kshatriyA and His senses fine-tuned to dangers around always,instinctively broke his penance and sprang up to action.He shot an arrow at the juggarnaut-of-a-boar coming towards Him.

Lord s'ivA purposefully shot another arrow the very same moment and both of them hit the boar.Thus, mUkAsurA in the form of boar, now lay vanquished abeit with 2 arrows.

arjunA gloated on his skill of archery and went to caim the body of the boar but was surprised to see another arrow!

Suddenly from the bushes the kirAthA(Lord s'ivA in disguise) came and claimed the boar as His and that it was his arrow that had saved arjunA.

arjunA's pride took a beating.So, He said, "Look hunter! If you want you can take this varahA's dead body and cook a nicedish for yourself but don't claim that you killed the boar and saved me.I killed the boar and gave it as a prized item for you to eat.So go and enjoy!"

The hunter thumped his chest and roared, "Hahaha! you are something! You abuse your saviour what kind of man are you? The arrow hit by me was first and it killed the boar.If you want I can give you this boar.You look emaciated and weak,so cook for yourself some good food and eat it."

arjunA's kshatriyA and archer pride was terribly hurt,soon the arguments gave way to a fierce battle between them.The fight was long and hard, but arjunA could not vanquish the hunter who was fighting him with arrows like a man possessed.

"Who could this be?" thought arjunA.I have never seen such an archer.

So he took refuge in shastrAs.

Now, astrAs means physical weapons and shastrAs mean weapons which are mantrically energized.So, arjuna sought umbrage in subterfuge to kill this demonically possessed strange hunter-archer..

"There should be only one arjunA" thought arjunA.

kadanpuzhA forest range

When he left the first shashtrA.The hunter exclaimed in mock anger, "Oh you cunning man you release mantriacally energized arrows at me? Ok let me handle this..."

The arrows fell upon kirAtharUpA s'ivA as flowers.durgA devi beside s'ivA was smiling at this.arjunA felt even more insulted.

Scene from the kirAthArjunIya yuddham

Suddenly, She made all arrows in arjunA's quiver to dissappear and no shashtrAs materilized in His hands.(shashtrAs do not need to be placed in a quiver and can be brought down from their etheric realms.Infact, some shAshtrAs like brahmAstra,pAsupathAstra,etc have an entity and prAna alike human form.)

Devi chuckled, "Ah..ah...no such tricks with my Husband..."

So arjunA used his fists and entered into musthi-malla-yuddhA with the hunter,who looked really formidable.

The hunter exclaimed again in jest, "Dearsy wife, look at this puny fellow he is trying to attack me with his child-like fists...Hahaha!"

Then suddenly arjunA took his bow and tried to hitthe kirAthA on his head but gangAdevi,the second consort of Lord shivA who was watching the fight in sUkshma rUpA caught hold of the bow and made it to vanish,before it could even touch her Beloved.

The fist fight then resumed and the Lord had enough of this rigmarole and thus lifted arjunA with his hands and threw him on the ground.

This pulverized arjunA's spirit and body.He could not move a limb and was writhing in agony.He then realized his mistake of claiming to be the best archer and fighter and that there was always someone God sends to vanquish one's immense ego when one goes overboard thinking about oneself.

So, though helplessly lying on the forest ground,he began to mentally pray to Lord sivA and plucked nearby flowers and worshipped him in that sprawling position itself by making a lingA out of mud..He then saw amazingly that whatever flowers were beng offered were falling on the kirAthA.The truth then dawned in the mind of arjunA and the mAya was removed like the morning sun scorching the morning dew on leaf tips of trees instantly.

He prostrated before Lord Shiva and durgA devi and begged forgiveness for his folly.Lord s'ivA, the BholAsankarA, forgave him and granted him the pAsupathAstrA.Goddess gangA was pleased too and gave back to arjunA, now made more powerful with Her blessings and mantrical power, the bow back.

(Intresting tidbit:A boy named Devalan, victim of a curse and a Nagarshi wanders about seeking a means to redeem himself from the curse. He comes across this Siva Linga made by Arjuna and takes it with him. After taking holy dips in the sacred rivers and praying at temples he arrives at "Rishinakulam"

- the ancient name of present Ernakulam. Finding that the place is suitable for Shiva Prasada, the Nagarshi placed the Shiva Lingam on the ground and offered poojas.

However, the locals harass him and he decides to leave with the Shiva Linga. On attempting to lift the Shiva Linga he found that it had become fixed to the ground and could not be moved. It is this Shiva Linga we see as Kirathamoorthy on the northern side of the Ernakulathappan temple in ErnAkulam.)

After this incident with arjunA,the kirAtha couple still wandered the area and durgA in the kirATha rUpA was enthralled by the scenic beauty of the place.She felt a bit thirsty and the Lord shot an arrow on the ground and gangAjala sprout forth in the place with which She quenched Her thirst.She decided to stay in the forest in the kirAtha rUpA permanently and till date She is reported to be roaming in the pristine forests in the region and meditating during the morning in an underground cavern-like hole.

jagadguru AdishankarA during his wanderings(shankara dig vijayam) over the country happened to pass a little to the west of the spot.Lord s'ivA did not want Adishankara to see Him so moved a little away from the spot but adviced ambikA to give Her darshanam to Him.durgA devi showed her presence and when He took Her blessings ,he noticed a glow coming from the east by His gnAnachakshU(divine eye) and so trie to approach it but could not do so, due to intense heat from the same.

Actually s'ivA was in deep meditation and only durgA devi was keeping the place cool with Her powers.The presence of shakthI near s'ivA is to absorb the yOga-ushnA from Him and protect the world in a motherly fashion.

The phrase used by tamizhas and malayAlis as : s'akthi illA s'ivam s'avam(sivA without shakthi is but a corpse) metaphorically that the yogA ushnA emnating from Him would make everyone into dead bodies but for Her presence and not to be taken literally to mean that sivA would be dead without s'akthI.

So, AdishankarA meditated upon durgA bhavAni and so when He approached the glow after the meditative seance,He found the glow to diminish in size and gradually and finally disappear into a hole in the ground alongwith bhavanI.With His divine power,AdishankarA cognized the twaritha-bhAvA(fast acting power) of the Goddess kirAtharUpini durgA being abundantly present in the glow(mixed with shivA's yOga-ushnA) and thus thought a temple here would benefit people of kaliyugA who are ever in search of fast results.

Thechi flowers

Another variety...Chethy/Thethi flowers are called bandhUka pushpA in samskruthA and thus the nAmA in lalithA sahasranAmA..."bandhUka-kusuma-prakhyA...." and "bandhUka varna samkAshA" become noteworthy here.

So, the jagadguru asked his disciples to go to a nearby brAhmanAs house and collect pUjA materials.Getting water from a nearby spring,the AchArya did the abhishekA and performed an elaborate pushpAnjali pUjA for the goddess with Thethi(Chethi) flowers.

Till this date the same worship procedures and stictness is followed for the devI.

The legend also goes that pUmUdal(covering the hole with flowers) is considering th most important and most pleasing to the Goddess in dhAynA during the day-time in the cavern beneath the cave.

No one has seen the Devi come out of the aperture and roam in the forest in the night.However, some great upAsakAs have seen Her in visions.

White hibiscus Flower

The uniqueness of the cave-temple is that there is not proper idol for the deity. And a smll metal vigraha is placed before the hole(6 cms in circular dimensions).In place of a leaf used to cover earlier a white hibiscus flower used to be placed.But nowadays because of some benevolent devotee's contribution a silver plate on whih a hibiscus flower has been carved with a deression and holes for abhishekA water to flow down is used over which the panchalohA Idol(called TitampU in malayAlam/akin to utsava mUrthy) is placed to represent the Goddesss.

The pUmUdal is ceremonially done with white hibiscus flowers on the KirthikA day of Vrischika Malayali-Month(November-December) and this day is also celebrated as the prathishtApana dina(installation day) of the temple.

As it was a vAriyar who brought the pUja materials like rice,firewood,etc for the jagadguru,it is said the jagadguru entrusted the future care of the temple to the vAriyAr and his family.The belief prevelant is that the daily pUjAs came to be performed here from then onwards.

There are other related stories which would make this posting too long regarding the divine temple like:

Lord sivA meeting a mAtampi(forest dweller in Malayalam) and the direction He gives so to a Nair Landlord to build a temple for Him inKirAtharUpA and VilluchArthal(offering of bow) is done here to please the Lord.So, some to fulfill their desires first offer coconuts and then go to this temple for villuchArthal.

jagadguru found that the ushnA(heat) emnating from the place was exceedingly great and so prayed to both narasimhA and sudarshana murthy & thus he melded both the deities into one vigrahA and installed it nearby with narasimhA facing south and sudarshanA facing north on a raised platform just outside the garbhagrihA so that the deity might shed more benign rays to protect Her devotees.It is very unusual to have two murthIs melded into one single stone and only an AchArya could have consecrated them on the same as an idol.

Vilvamangalam Swamiyar or Leelasuka,the author of srIkrihnakarnAmrutham fame, a saintly figure and a great devotee of Lord srIkrishnA(guruvAyurappan) once happened to visit the temple and perform the pUjA here.This shows the greatness of saints who do not differentiate between their upAsanA murthI and other deities.

There is the nAgakanya,ganeshA,Mahavishnu for whom there are pUjAs done but no vigrahAs done.It is mere sankalpa pUjAs.However,there is a shAstha prathishtA outside the Southern entrance.

I hope all of you enjoyed these 2 parts.

You must not derive mere arm-chair reading pleasure but must actually plan to make a trip to this place somehow and be absorbed in the radiance of kirAthanarUpini durgAdevi there.

Om kAmyakhavanavAsinyai namaha!

Om ShreekirAtharupinI durgAyai namaha!

Om SreekAttAmpuzhA Bhagavathiye' namaha!

Yours yogically,

Mythreya Sreeraam Bhallyjayappalle

P.S. And yes, I did manage to learn to wear the Mundu and Neriyathu properly by the end of my kerala trip!