Kallekulangara Hemambika Temple

Kallekulangara Hemambika temple (Emoor Bhagawathy temple/Kaipathi kavu)
By
P.R.Ramachander
This temple is about 8 kilometers from Palakkad town.. The temple also is called Emoor
Bhagawathy temple or kaipathi (hand) temple or Hemambika temple. In this temple the
hands of the Bhagawathy are consecrated. There are several different stories about the
origin of this temple.
1. “On their regular trek through the dense Vadamala forest to worship at the valley
shrine of Durga, one day Kurur and Kaimukku Nambudiris were granted a vision. The
golden Goddess stood beside an elephant under a tree.
When the aged Kurur was disheartened by his inability to undertake hazardous
pilgrimages, the Goddess assured him in a dream that he would find her in the
neighborhood. The next day witnessed the emergence of her hands in the middle of a lake
close by. When Kurur swam through to clasp them, the divine hands turned into stone.
The lake was filled and a shrine erected by the local ruler, whose descendent remains in
charge of temple administration” (Hindu , June 14, 2002)
.2. The goddess had once agreed to appear before a devotee on the condition that he will
not disclose it to anyone. The excitement led the devotee to disclose the fact to others.
When the goddess appeared before the devotee, she noticed many people along with him.
The displeased goddess vanished suddenly. By that time The devotees had seen only her
upraised hand and in the temple her upraised hand is worshipped
It is believed, the deity takes three forms a day – in the morning as Saraswathi, in the
noon as Laxmi and in the evening as Durga. The rituals vary according to the form of the
deity at the time of worship. (gansripar.blogspot.com/2008/07/emoorbhagavathygoddess-
hemambika.html
3.Emur Bhagavathy (Hemambika), the bestower of prosperity, boons and auspiciousness
raised her divine hands in the middle of the blessed pond Kallekulam. In a paroxysm of
devotion, her impatient priest jumped in to the pond and caught hold of those hands
before she fully manifested. The Devi stopped appearing. The priest got only the Devi’s
emerging hands. This is the great legend of the famous Hemambika Temple where the
Devi’s hands are enshrined in the sanctum sanctorum.
4.The temple with unique idol of only " two hands ".It is widely believed that the
"DEVI" the goddess emerged from the midst of pond to bless an ailing devotee, who out
of excitement caught hold of two hands before it could come out .Then a temple was
consecrated with those two hands as goddess. This beautiful temple surrounded by 5
ponds and paddy fields. a nature kissed
environment.wikimapia.org/1616355/Hemambika-Temple-Kallekulangara
5.The story or the belief, behind this unique deity of two raised The Hands was that a girl
(incarnation of the Goddess Parvathy), who escaped from molestation jumped into the
river, holding her hands for help. And the story or belief goes that she was helped by the
Lord Shiva, on seeing the hands floating above the river.
http://blogs.ibibo.com/jgopikrishnan/story-behind-the-congress-party-s-election-sy
Daily pooja timings are 0500 hrs to 1130 in the morning and 1700 hrs to 2030 in the
evening
This temple is the family deity of Palakkad kings. In fact the ariyittu Vazcha of the
king (coronation) used to be conducted here. Main attraction is the nine day festival of
shivratri. Thousands of devotees attend the festival with pomp and fanfare. The
celebration ends at the Kalpathy River. Apart from this in the month of may every year a
Laksharchana is conducted. The Navarathri festival also is celebrated in this temple. A
kalam ezhuthu pattau mahothsavam is celebrated every year in the months of Vrichigam-
Dhanu (From November 16th to December 25th).
There is the snippet about this temple. It seems the former Prime Minister of India ,
Indra Gandhi visited this temple after the Congress split along with Sri Karunakaran. She
was impressed by the goddess and made the palm of the goddess as her election symbol.