Kadampuzha Temple: Story of beliefs

 

This temple in Malappuram is unique due to the absence of an idol which is unseen in a Hindu temple. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Kiratha Parvathy. It is said that the Goddess vanished after giving darshan to the revered sage Adi Sankaracharya. The temple was consecrated by him in the 8th century which is the time he was said to have lived. The Goddess is worshipped here in the form of Vidya Durga in the morning, Vanadurga in Twaritha form in the noon & Aadi Durga in the evening. The three forms of Goddess Parvathy blesses her devotees with good health as Durga, Saraswathi blesses all with good intellect & Lakshmi invokes prosperity.

Sankaracharya who is known to have consecrated many temples on his pilgrimage along the land was once travelling from Mookambika in the North to Chottanikara in the south when he stopped along the path as he felt a divine presence. It was unclear to him what it was & to know better sat in meditation. Sankaracharya had attained the Sarvaknanapeedom which made him know all. His inner conscience was filled with an ego of fulfilment which stopped him from understanding the divine presence. He kept meditating but his inner conscience would not allow him to find anything new & Sankaracharya understood the situation. He could now know why God was testing him & so sat in meditation to clear his mind of all egos & surrendered himself to God as a pure humble child as he was before. The divine presence he had felt became a reality when the Goddess appeared before him in the presence of Lord Shiva. The divine presence emanated from a hole in the ground & so consecrated the temple

The name of the place where the temple stands finds its origin in the story of Mahabharatha. As per legends, during the exile of the Pandavas Lord Krishna approached Arjuna & asked him to collect all powerful weapons from the Gods to defend his side in the inevitable war with Kauravas. The one weapon which would help in this was the divine astra of Lord Shiva – Paasupathastra. To attain this weapon, Arjuna conducts a penance & Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvathy come to the forest to test his will. Disguised as a hunter, Lord Shiva takes the form of Kiratha & Goddess Parvathy becomes his consort – Kirathi. Lord Shiva mocks Arjuna by challenging him for a duel to show whether he is a capable archer. Filled with ego, Arjuna enters into a battle with Kiratha & there ensues a fierce battle between the two warriors. Goddess Parvathy grew concerned as the battle went forward to a long duration as the rage of Lord Shiva meant destruction for all. Goddess Parvathy decided to end the battle by turning the arrows of Arjuna into flowers & leaves which fell on Lord Shiva. This made Arjuna realise that he was fighting a battle of no ends & gave up his Gandiva to prostrate before Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva recognises Arjuna’s worth & gives him the weapon but this moment is made possible by the immediate intervention of Goddess Parvathy who is thus worshipped as twaritha – one who is quick to grant blessings & favours to her devotees.  During their walk along the forest before they met Arjuna, Goddess Parvathy felt thirsty & Lord Shiva is said to have directed an arrow from his bow to the ground which brought the Holy Ganga out of earth & quenched the thirst of Goddess Parvathy. This event made people know the place as Kaatan-Ambu-eitha-ala, which means the hole made by the hunter which over the time became Kadampuzha. One among the important rituals at the temple is based on this legend by the name of Poomoodal where the idol of Lord Shiva is showered with flowers which was done by Goddess Parvathy to contain his anger.

The temple is a beautiful example of traditional Kerala architecture & the sanctum sanctorum was built using a complex calculation known as Siddharthakam. Adi Shankara built the temple over the hole in the method prescribed by Thachu Sastra and on the stone right in front of this where the divine presence of Lord Shiva was perceived, he consecrated Narasimha Moorthy and the Sudarshana Chakra each facing South and North respectively. On the South side of the temple Naga Kanya was consecrated and Shastav on the North. The temple based on prasna placed a Thidambu (Arch) over the hole to help devotees pray & it is only removed during Poomoodal ceremony & exposes the hole. The temple is known among the devotees all around for a unique ritual of Muttarukkal which is when devotees make offerings to the Goddess to cut away any obstacles which may be part affecting a person in his or their families life. The devotee has to bring or purchase a coconut devoid of any husk which is the Muttu & it is said that when the coconut is broken in perfect halves the obstacle wished to end will be fulfilled. If the coconut breaks unevenly, the devotees have to continue breaking more coconuts until they break evenly. The devotees after providing the coconuts to the priests have to pray with their mind devoid of any unwanted thoughts & ego just as how Arjuna & Adi Sankaracharya were in search of the divine presence. 

The Goddess is considered to be Twaritha Devi who is known to hasten all the wishes of her devotees but the same can be done only once the person gives up all his or her desires to just attain ways to ward off the impending obstacle one deals with. Come to this ancient temple & perform the Muttarukkal ritual for divine intervention.