Temples of Pallipuram Agraharam , Palakkad

Temples of  Pallipuram  Agraharam  , Palakkad

By

Rajeswari Ranganathan

(My heart felt thanks to Smt Rajeswari for  permitting this  great  write up to be put in my blog.God bless her)

Pallipuram Agraharam ( my native agraharam) in the heart of Palakkad town is a settlement of Vaishnavites.. The Lakshmi Narayana Swamy temple in the agraharam is one, believed to be constructed by the immigrants who came here presumably 700 years ago. Inside the prakaram of Lakshminarayana Swamy temple, Poorna-Pushakalamba sameta shri Hariharaputra ( Ayyappa) sannidhi was also built years ago.The natives of pallipuram are followers of Sri Ahobila Mutt and Vaikanasa panchangam.

The temple is unique in its construction because the rising sun's rays on the mEsha Sankramam Day, falls on the lotus feet of the Deity. The unique "jala Pradhishta" of the murthy might have been done realising the difficulty in providing a sea bed to lord Narayana. The Deity is in a sitting posture with Mahalakshmi seated on the left lap". Kodiyettam for ( flag hoisting in Dwajasthambam) begins on the first day of mEsha sankramam ie on Vishu. And Rathotsavam is celebrated on the 9th day.

"Legend says that centuries ago when the village houses had thatched roofs, there were frequent fires and the villagers were put to lot of hardships. They did not know what to do and decided to perform Sahasrannama japam for a mandalam period at Brahma Muhoortham after taking holy bath in the temple tank.

During the course of the parayana, one of the villagers suddenly got inspired and said " to remedy this fire havoc, go to kurichimalai (2 kms away from Pallipuram) and bring the idol of Lord Ayyapa which is visible on the foot steps of the hill and install the idol on the right side of Lakshminarayana Swamy inside the prakaram." The villagers immediately rushed to the spot and found the idol and installed it".

Here Ayyappa is worshiped as Hariharaputra along with Purna and Pushkala. Every year in the month of Dec/Jan, the agraharam celebrates ShAshtaprIti (Ayyappa Festival) At the time of main DeepAradhana, the entire Payasam ( 2 different types of Kheer/pudding) is offered as naivedyam.

Until 3 decades ago, majority of the settlers were in business, banking in particular.As a result, the agraharam is known for it's hospitality and the Rathotsavam in the month of April and Ayyappan festival feast of the Pallipuram agraharam is quite popular. Majority of the natives lost their land holdings after the Land Tribunal Act.Slowly they began moving out in search of better opportunities.

The annual Shastapriti festival ( Ayyappan festival) falls today. Lord Ayyappa is offered the two payasams ( pudding) as Naivedyam. Thereafter the payasams are served during Anna-dAnam.

PS: The picture was snapped during last year's festival.