Kanichukulangara Temple / Kanichukulangara Bhagwathy Temple

Overview

The Kanichukulangara Temple (also known as Kanichukulangara Bhagwathy Temple) is a renowned Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Bhagawathi Devi. The temple is located near the town of Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India.

Legend and Stories

According to legends, Devi Bhagavathi who is regarded as the charming Goddess of beauty, fertility and prosperity was once enjoying a boat ride alone. She suddenly was washed ashore in a shipwreck. Ever since the deity has been installed at this spot. Very near to this temple is a pond, where the remnants of the ship can still be seen at its edge. This pond is also claimed to have divine magical powers. Prayers for both the deity as well as the pond are performed in his temple in the form of “Arattu”.

During the renovation and cleaning up of the pond, few artifacts wet found from the pond which dates back to many centuries.

There is one another tale associated with the origin of this shrine. It is said that there were two brothers who had ownership of the temple and its surrounding lands.

They were responsible for the temple management, which was handed over to them by inheritance. In the past, when Tipu Sultan had attacked Malabar region, the native Hindus started migrating southwards. They mostly got settled around the interiors, which was under the control of the Vendad. There the Hindus carried their ruling duties and attacked those who invaded the land by sea. The invaders were shipwrecked on the shores near Alappuzha. The Hindus installed the vigraha of their deity Devi Bhagavathi and started the temple construction works. Thus this temple is said to have been built by those people who settled in that region around the year 1773 to 1790.

Later the temple management fell in the hands of those two Namboodari brothers by inheritance. They were bestowed with management as well as the ownership of lands all around. The older brother fell in love with a commoner or ‘ezhava’ girl who was very beautiful. The lady ended up being pregnant. When the villagers came to know of his news, the elder brother was ostracized. He left Kanichukulangara, upon writing a will, transferring all his properties to his lady love. Aggrieved by this, the younger brother committed suicide in the nearby pond. Both the lady and the child died during childbirth and hence the entire property was inherited by the ezhava family who took over the management of the temple.

This has been the main reason that has been attributed for the temple being so lenient in allowing people of all castes and creeds into the temple. The Padu Kanichukulangara family subsequently got the inheritance of the temple which was considered a major step. Till date, the descendants of this family have been updated of all major events of the year in this temple. No festival is complete without this family being formally informed of the event, first and foremost.

In the year1908, a Christian opinion leader, Acho John helped the people to take over the management of the temple. They formed an Executive Committee comprising of seven members. The body had an initial tenure of one year, after which the board has to elect members every year subsequently. Later from the year 1964, the duration of the committee was extended to three years.

Festivals

This temple is renowned for the sacred ‘Mura oath’ which is taken ceremonially every twelve years. The entire programme goes on for a full forty one days. A number of rituals are performed on these days to purify the premises. Even the priests are served ‘homam’ or purificatiory. In some cases one of the rituals tends to become rather violent and crude. Many of the members of the General Body sought to abolish this ritual of ‘Velapadayami’ in 1975. In its place the ‘Arrattu-Utsavam’ began to be performed. Other social welfare activities that were taken up by the committee included the setting up of an English medium school.

The “Maha” festival is one of the prominent festivals of the temple, which usually last for twenty one days. This festival was initiated in the ‘Kumbam’ month according to the Malayalam Calendar. The special events of this festivial are the ‘Kumba Kudam’ and ‘Thalpoli. The former ritual is associated with offerings of oil, ghee, honey, turmeric powder and Kumkum. The ‘thalapoli’ is a decorative tray with having colourful items as offerings to the deity. These are offered at ten o clock at night amidst the chanting of hymns and several mantras.

The temple also celebrates a special occasion where on the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth day of the festival ‘rangolis’ or colourful patterns at drawn in the temple premises. Women from nearby areas gather and perform rituals to appease the snake god in the form of Sarp or divine snake image. They sing a ‘Pulavar pattu’. Then on the fortieth day the deity is anointed, dressed in new clothes and jewellery to attend the ritual ceremony that lasts for about five days. These special rituals are mainly performed to please the Shastravahu.

These twenty one days are most significant for women who are going to have children or desirous of having children. This is because, the temple and its deity is known to bless her devotees with child boon and prosperity. Another holy ritual done at this temple, is the ‘Arikuthuvazhi Padu’ that is believed to gives immunity from diseases. The ‘Maha Kuruthu’ is the closing ceremony of this great twenty one day rituals rich festival.

How To Reach Kanichukulangara Devi, Alapuzzha

Airport

The Cochin international airport is the nearest located airport. From there a bus or taxi can be taken to reach Alapuzzha.

Railways

Direct trains are available to Alappuzha from cities like Thiruvanthapuran and Ernakulam, from where again a taxi or auto rickshaws can be hired by the pilgrims to reach the temple.

Road

There are numerous Bus services to this temple from all the major cities of Kerala like Cochin, Kozhikode, Thrivanthapuram, etc. Bus services to Thais place is not only economical but also efficient.

Temple Address

Kanichukulangara Temple / Kanichukulangara Bhagwathy Temple,
Cherthala, Alappuzha District,
Kerala.