Keraladeeshapuram temple: A place before Kerala

 

The beautiful land of Kerala as per myth was created by the warrior sage Parasurama who had to please Brahmins by providing them land so that he could repent for having slaughtered weak Kshatriya kings. To undertake this he is said to have travelled from Gokarna to Kanyakumari & based on the direction of Varuna – king of oceans, he threw his axe into the sea which lifted land from the sea till the western Ghats to create Kerala. During Kaliyuga, the land created was from Gokarna to Kanyakumari & was called Parasurama Nadu. This land was a long stretch & it is said that there is a point at the center of this land which divides it equally. This place is where the beautiful temple of Keraladeeshapuram dedicated to lord Sri Krishna stands. The place was actually called Kerala ardhaeshwaram Kshethram (middle land of Kerala)

The temple stands in the serene village of Mulakkal in Tanur and one visit to the temple as you travel along the narrow roads surrounded by groves will take you back centuries. The temple is considered to be the royal temple of the Vettathunadu kingdom which ruled these parts of Kerala from the 13th century. The Vettathunadu king’s were more of feudal lords who were ruling the vassal areas of the Malabar kingship of Zamorins. The relation of the Vettathunadu king’s with that of the Zamorins were quite formal and in centuries, the relations did sour. The arrival of the Portuguese by the end of the 15th century and the subsequent battles with the Zamorins on trade gave the king’s of Tanur the opportunity to attain more power over the Zamorin. The Vettathunadu king’s later in the 16th century joined hands with the Portuguese in military assistance to fight the Zamorins. For some years they did succeed in keeping the Zamorins at bay but the loss of the Valluvanad king’s at the hands of the Zamorins & their taking over the Mamankam festival made the Tanur King less important. It was only when the Dutch annexed power from the Portuguese that the fight between king’s was kept under check. When the British took over, they overhauled all the powers and made smaller provinces their vassals and ruled over them. The Keraladeeshapuram temple thus was taken over by the British but it’s upkeep was not their priority so the rights of the temple were handed over to the Zamorin which still continues to this day.

The story of the temple & its origin is all a legend but what is important for all to know is that this temple may look quite humble with no special charm of opulence today but in its past it was a temple of huge wealth. The temple one sees today is a simple architecture with a quadrangular structure having two entrances which houses sanctum & beautiful idol of Lord Krishna. The idol is a Krishna Shila and the idol depicts the lord as the naughty child who loves butter. The idol actually has a ball of butter in his hand & is considered to be a one of its kind. The terracotta tiles are lined all around the temple roof but the wood carvings around have lost its grace over time. One cannot find a lot of opulence in the design but it certainly is an example of the old culture where temples were built to provide solace to devotees and a place for all to find peace. In the front of the temple one can see a stone lamp (kalvilakku) which as per legend was placed here by Parasuraman himself on his visit. One view of the temple and it is quite common for all to think that it is not of much importance but in reality the temple is one among five major temples in the Malappuram district.

Today the temple celebrates its heritage by conducting the annual festival which attracts a large crowd . The reverence of the temple may have lost in time but the small community of people who are attached to the temple under the guidance and care of the Zamorin family still consider it their duty to pray to the most beautiful form of the Lord Krishna. Come to the temple not just to pray but to be around a sacred land which finds its place in the history of Kerala itself.